Although the school was established by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn from New York City in 1941,[1] the yeshiva had an extensive history (not only in its hometown of Montreal, but in Eastern Europe as well).
The history of the institution began with the arrival of 9 Yeshiva students from Shanghai, China who fled Poland during World War II.
Another set of teachers and students arrived from a Canadian POW holding camp in New Brunswick, (Austrian Jewish citizens deported from England during the war).
Many of the students in the 1940s were immigrants who has fled Europe, establishing a small traditional Jewish community in Montreal.
The school was initially located on Avenue du Parc, in the Plateau Mont Royal district.