The Jesuits were among the first missionaries modern day Ontario saw dating back to the early 1600’s.

In 1883, the westward expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the Sudbury area.  The railway established a construction camp in Sudbury, which was initially meant to be temporary with the terminus of the railway being in Cartier.  It was not until the discovery of the vast mineral wealth in Sudbury did the area explode as the economic centre of the area.

It is difficult to talk about our parish history without talking about the railway.  It was the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway that saw the Jesuit missionaries come to the Sudbury area. The Jesuits came to Sudbury at the request of Bishop John Francis Jamot, who was the first Bishop of the vicariate created by Pope Pius IX in 1874 which encompassed the northern part of the Diocese of Peterborough and the vast territory of the future Dioceses of Sault Ste Marie and Thunder Bay. The chancery of the vicariate was established in Sault Ste Marie.  Bishop Jamot tasked the Jesuits with this missionary work out of concern for the pastoral care of the construction workers building the railway.

With the arrival of the railway in Sudbury, the Jesuit missionaries established St. Anne’s parish which became the responsible parish for the regions of Sudbury to Chapleau, Espanola and the Sturgeon Falls area.  St. Anne’s parish was itself, part of the greater Jesuit mission of Wikwemikong located on Manitoulin Island (established in 1836).  Father Perth first celebrated Mass at St. Anne’s Parish in late March of 1883.

The rail line through Sudbury was completed in November of 1884 with the first through train service between Montreal and Winnipeg occurring in November 1885.

In 1893, the Jesuits built the residential mission church St. Francis Xavier in Cartier.  St. Francis Xavier remained a mission of St Anne’s until 1925 when St. Francis Xavier became an independent parish under the Diocese of Sault Ste Marie. The new parish took over the responsibility of the mission churches in Larchwood, Vermillion Lake, Levack (Levack Station), Benny and Biscotasing.

In 1936, St. Bartholomew residential church was formed under the responsibility of St. Francis Xavier.  St. Bartholomew’s remained a residential church until 1942 when it became its own parish.

In 1948, the responsible parish for the Dowling and Larchwood areas was transferred from St. Francis Xavier in Cartier to St. Joseph’s parish in Chelmsford.

In 1963, the Parish of St. Stephen the Martyr was formed in Dowling with the first Mass being said on Christmas Eve.

In 1988, the parish communities of Cartier and Levack were amalgamated into one parish.  The rectory in Cartier was closed and was later sold in 1991. The Convent and School in Cartier had been previously closed and sold. The new combined parish continues responsibility of pastoral duties for Benny (Former St. Anne Church; 1923-1964) and Biscotasing (former St. Paul’s Church) primarily for funerals and internments in the local cemeteries.

In 1996, the parish community of Dowling was amalgamated into the parishes of Cartier and Levack forming the current day Parishes of Onaping Falls and Cartier with one common rectory and office (both located beside the church in Levack). The new parish continues to provide pastoral duties for Benny and Biscotasing.

In 2017, the rectory/office in Levack was demolished due to its deteriorating condition and high cost to maintain. The parish priest now has a private apartment in Levack.  The sacristy was renovated to include a space for the office.