After a temporary location away, Oblate missionaryFather Constantine Scollen, on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church, founded the permanent location in 1875. In 1883, Oblate missionary Father Albert Lacombe, returning after a ten-year absence, obtained two quarter sections of land for a "Mission district" to ensure a strong French speaking Catholic community. Father Scollen who had lived in the area since 1862 and who had witnessed Treaty Six with the Cree Nation and Treaty Seven with the Blackfeet Nation left for Edmonton and then the U.S.A. After obtaining the rest of the land that is now Mission, the area was incorporated on November 2, 1899 as the Village of Rouleauville named after Charles Rouleau. The village was founded in what was then the Northwest Territories. Despite Lacombe's desire to preserve the French language and culture, Rouleauville progressively lost its French character, becoming overwhelmingly English. In 1907 the village was annexed by Calgary. In the process all the French names of streets were replaced by Calgary's street numbering system. Mission is one of many Calgary neighbourhoods impacted by flood events. In 1929, the area was submerged when the Bow overran its banks. The area was again impacted by floods during flooding in June 2013. An evacuation was ordered on June 20 for a minimum of 72 hours.
Institutions
In the latter part of his life, Lacombe helped found a number of Catholic schools throughout the West, including St. Mary's School in 1885, initially using a two-storey log cabin convent in Mission district. It is now the oldest school still operating in Calgary. Repsol Sport Centre is also located in this neighbourhood. In 1889 St. Mary's Church was founded, and in 1912 it became St. Mary's Cathedral when it became the seat of the newly formed Diocese of Calgary.
Demographics
In the City of Calgary's 2012 municipal census, Mission had a population of living in dwellings--a 0.9% decrease from its 2011 population of. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2012. Residents in this community had a median household income of $37,040 in 2000, and there were 25% low income residents living in the neighbourhood. As of 2000, 20.1% of the residents were immigrants. A proportion of 94.6% of the buildings were condominiums or apartments, and 70% of the housing was used for renting.
