It was this very individual who conferred upon Édouard-Charles priestly ordination on January 23, 1850. He was then appointed vicar at Sorel where he worked for two years, then as a parish priest in Pointe-Claire for another two years. He was called back to the bishopric in the fall of 1854. One year later, on December 25, 1855, he was installed titular canon of the Cathedral; he was twenty-eight years old.

Thus, a varied ministry began for him; one that would last eighteen years. He collaborated in diocesan administration, was chaplain to medical students, and preached retreats in many parishes and educational houses. He showed in these charges remarkable qualities: lively spirit, sense of charity, prodigious memory, composure, gifts of oration and improvisation; he was a pious priest, worthy, smiling, simple, frank, and unrelenting to sorrow.