The province is a unit of the congregation consisting of members in local communities under the leadership of a province team. Each province focuses the response of the congregation to the needs of the church and society in particular areas of service to "the dear neighbor". . Governance is the responsibility of the province team which is assisted by a council. With wisdom, love and vision the province leadership  encourages the members to respond more deeply to their vocation as Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

In 1836 the first six Sisters of St. Joseph arrived from France at Carondelet, a village on the outskirts of St. Louis that became the origin of the congregation in the United States..

Provincial headquarters were placed in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Troy, New York, later shifting to Albany. The fourth province was added in 1876 with provincial headquarters in Tucson, Arizona moving to Los Angeles in 1903.