Laverdière was born in Château-Richer, East of Quebec City, on 23 October 1826. His parents, Charles Cauchon, dit Laverdière (Laverdière never used Cauchon as his family name) and Théotiste Cauchon, were farmers. He studied at the Séminaire de Québec from 1840 onward, and proved brilliant, being promoted to assistant professor of physics and collaborating to the foundation of the student newspaper, through which he published several collections of canticles. He was ordained in 1851.
