In 1904 a humble Montreal monk named Brother André had a dream: to build a shrine to St. Joseph. The corner stone of the oratory was laid in 1924, but it was not until 1955 that the basilica was inaugurated. The interior decor was finally completed between 1964 and 1967. Built of granite, the exterior architecture is of Italian Renaissance styling.
Columns of green Vermont marble rise up to the semicircular ceiling of gold-leafed ceramic in the Holy Sacrament Chapel.
The building's dimensions are as follows:
- Total length: 105 m (341 feet)
- Width at the transepts: 65 m (210 feet)
- Width of the nave: 37 m (120 feet)
- Height from floor to top of interior dome: 60 m (195 feet)
- Height from floor to top of exterior dome: 97 m (319 feet)
The organ is impressive in its own right.
o The case measures 44' wide by 60' high.
o It has five manuals;
o the action is entirely mechanical, except for the combination action;
o total number of pipes is 5,811.
It is also one of the rare instruments that has a 32' pedal open diapason in the facade. In this respect, it is one of the largest mechanical action organs in the world, with a weight of more than 40 tons