The idea of a Redemptorist mission to Vietnam was first proposed following a call from Bp. Henri Lécroart for religious orders that specialized in preaching, retreats and missions to come to the Indochina region in 1923. In response, Redemptorist Cardinal Willem van Rossum and then-Superior General Patrick Murray reached out to Provincial Superior Thomas Pintal of the Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré Province proposing the mission to the province. Following a brief discussion, Fr. Pintal sent out a telegram on November 19, 1924 accepting the mission. On August 5, 1925 the names of the confreres appointed to the mission were announced: Frs. Hubert Cousineau, Eugéne Larouche, Edmond Dionne and Brs. Barnabé (Thomas Saint-Pierre) and Eloi Claveau. It was decided that the men would be sent in two groups, with the first consisting of Frs. Couisneau and Larouche, and Br. Barnabé leaving first, and the second group following a year later. Following a final farewell in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré on October 15, the group travelled across Canada and left aboard the Empress of Australia from Vancouver on October 29. They arrived in the city of Hué on November 30 where they were personally greeted by Bp. Eugène-Marie-Joseph Allys who had also invited them to stay in his home in Hué for as long as they might need.

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The early days of the mission were spent establishing themselves in the region. They began giving retreats to foreign missionaries as well as within the dioceses, and began to learn Vietnamese. Fr. Pintal visited the community at the end of 1926, and helped to establish the future direction of the mission as well as provide the promised additional personnel. Following his visit, construction on a monastery in Hue began on January 28, 1928. On March 25, 1929 the monastery and community of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was officially established with Fr. Cousineau as its first superior. In the same year, they also established themselves in Hanoi, and in 1933, they expanded to Saigon.

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One of the priorities established by Fr. Pintal during his visit was the immediate recruitment of Vietnamese personnel into the congregation to allow for a more stable presence in Vietnam. The first four students were accepted in 1927 and sent to at the An Ninh minor seminary. By 1928, their numbers had increased to 28 students, leading the missionaries to consider building a novitiate of their own and in 1929, that idea was realized and construction begun. By the end of 1930, the seminary was opened with 77 students. In 1934, they opened a studendat near Hanoi.

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With the monastery and seminary now established, the Redemptorists turned towards building on local apostolic activities alongside their organized retreats. Since 1929, Fr. Patrick Gagné alongside a number of other confreres and well-known speakers had also been giving lectures on a diverse range of topics, attracting large audiences.

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On January 13, 1933, construction on a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help began and by April 24, the newly constructed chapel welcomed the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. On June 23, 1935, they released the first issue of Our Lady of Perpetual Help magazine.

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They also began construction on a number of facilities that catered to the non-Catholic population. These included the Bach Ma guesthouse (1935), a library (1938), L’Accueil Hall (1938), the Nguyen Truong To dormitory (1941) and a reading house (1943).

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Following the Japanese defeat of the French in 1945, Vietnam declared independence and entered a prolonged period of warfare with France. During this time, Hue welcomed a large number of refugees from other regions, and the novitiate and L’Accueil hall were used to house these refugees. The Canadian confreres were also placed under house arrest at this point, and had to leave all the pastoral and educational work to be undertaken by Vietnamese confreres.

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Despite these conditions, the Redemptorists continued to expand. In 1951, they moved the studendat from Hanoi to Dalat and opened the FYAN Mission Centre there in 1955. They took on the new parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Hue in 1954 and also expanded to Na Thang (1959), Chau-O (1961) and Vung Tau (1964). In 1959, they found that the chapel built in 1933 no longer provided sufficient space, and so construction on a new church was started on June 20.

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The project was completed on August 12, 1962 with the consecration of the church and altar by Abp. Peter Martin Ngo, John Urruita, Dominic Hoang Van Doan. A number of government officials, including the president and vice-president, attended the ceremony.

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On May 27, 1964, under the then-Superior General William Gaudreau the Province of Vietnam was officially established with Fr. Francis Xavier Tran Tu Nhan as its first Provincial Superior. During it’s time under the French-Canadian Province of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, 66 confreres were stationed in Vietnam.