In 1935, Henry Hildebrand, a pastor of a small church in Briercrest, Saskatchewan, accepted a request to begin Bible classes for young people. The first year started with 11 students in a hotel. By 1940 over one hundred students were attending Briercrest Bible Institute. In 1946, after World War II, the college moved onto what was an air base near Caron-- this "Caron airport" was later named Caronport. The college enrolled 244 students in 1948. After decades of growth and expansion college enrollment now exceeds 700, making it the largest Bible College in Canada.