Districts
Understand
Situated on an island in the St. Lawrence River just at its highest navigable point, Montreal has been a strategic location since before the arrival of Europeans in Canada. A thriving First Nations Mohawk community called Hochelaga was on the site of present-day Montreal when explorer Jacques Cartier first visited in 1535. A hundred years later, in 1642, the tiny town of Ville-Marie was founded as a Sulpician mission, but soon became a centre of the fur trade. After its capture by the English in 1762, Montreal remained the most important city in Francophone Canada, and was briefly capital of the province in the 1840s.
Prohibition on sales of alcohol in the United States during the 1920s and '30s made Montreal a mecca for cross-border fun seekers from nearby New England and New York. The city built up a seedy yet playful industry in alcohol, burlesque, and other vices. In the 1960s, an urban renewal drive centred around Expo 67. The World's Fair in Montreal brought a subway system and a number of attractive urban parks, and is considered to be one of the most successful World Fairs. Over 50 million visitors gathered to Montreal during this memorable summer. The 1976 Olympics left a strikingly idiosyncratic stadium and many other urban improvements.
The opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959, though much lauded as an economic boon, spelled the beginning of the end for Montreal's economic dominance in Canada. Once the transition point between western railroads and eastern sea carriers, Montreal watched helplessly as some of this business moved farther west, up the now navigable Seaway, to ports in Ontario and on Lake Superior. The Quebec Sovereignty movement, which began to pick up steam in the 1960s, further chilled the atmosphere for Canada-wide businesses, many of which moved their headquarters to Toronto.
After an economic depression in the 1980s and 1990s — due to automotive and aerospace plant closures in the surrounding area — Montreal today has become more secure in its place in North America and the world. It remains a centre of culture, arts, computer technology, aerospace, the biotech industry and media for all of Canada and for the French-speaking world.
Get in
By plane
Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport () (formerly Dorval Airport) is about half an hour west of the city centre on highway 20. Note that travel time to the airport from the city centre can be as much as an hour, depending on traffic. The airport is served by all major Canadian and U.S. airlines, and is a major hub for Air Canada and WestJet . There are multiple daily trans-Atlantic flights to and from (amongst others) London, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, Munich, Moscow, Cairo and Casablanca.
The taxi fare to and from downtown is a fixed price of $35 (a sticker on the window behind the driver gives the boundaries of the zone where the flat fare applies; for origins and destinations outside this zone, you will have to pay a metered fare). The Aérobus is a shuttle running from Dorval to the aérogare Centre-ville (777 De La Gauchetière, angle rue University) and to the city's inter-city bus station, Station Centrale (505 boul. De Maisonneuve East, above the Berri-UQAM métro station) via a number of downtown hotels. It departs every half hour from 7 AM to 1 AM. Tickets are C$14 one-way; a return (round-trip) ticket is C$24.52.
Alternatively, public bus no. 204 (STM ) leaves from outside arrivals every half hour to Gare Dorval (Dorval train station - check with the driver which direction he is going in, as both bus routes stop at the same pier). From Dorval, you can use your transfer ticket to catch express bus no. 211/221 to the Lionel-Groulx métro (subway). Your transfer will then let you into the métro. This costs only $2.75 but exact change must be provided to the first driver.
Another option is to take the VIA Rail AirConnect service from the airport terminal to downtown by shuttle and train. This service runs infrequently but costs only $11. The same trip can be made on the AMT commuter train for $4.25 if you can figure out how get to nearby Dorval Station from the airport, but check the schedule first.
There is construction currently underway for the train to be rerouted through the actual terminal, similar to Charles de Gaule in Paris. This should open by 2009.
The Montreal region is also served by an airport one hour south on the U.S. side of the border in Plattsburgh, New York. Plattsburgh International Airport serves as a secondary airport for southern Quebec and northern New York.
Montreal has another airport, Mirabel (the second largest airport in the world by area, incidentally) about an hour north of the city centre. Since October, 2004 it has been used exclusively as a cargo terminal.
By car
From Toronto, take Highway 401 east for about 5 hours until it becomes Autoroute 20 on the Quebec side of the border. Highway 20 takes about an hour to get to downtown. Be alert for frequent speed-limit changes along this road. To reach downtown follow the Centre-Ville signs and take Highway 720 (Highway 20 continues over the Pont Champlain bridge to the South Shore).
From Ottawa, it's about 2 hours east along Highway 417 (which becomes the 40 in Quebec) to Montreal.
From Quebec City, it's about 2.5-3.5 hours west on either Highway 40 or 20.
From New York City, take Interstate Freeway 87 north through Albany and the eastern half of New York State for about six hours. After the border crossing near Plattsburgh, the freeway becomes Highway 15, which leads directly into downtown Montreal over the Pont Champlain — the most beautiful approach to the city. The drive time from Plattsburgh to downtown Montreal is approximately one hour.
From Boston, take Interstate Highway 93 to Highway 89 in Concord, New Hampshire, through Vermont to the border crossing near Burlington, where it turns into Highway 133 which intersects Highway 10, which taken west leads directly into downtown Montreal. The whole trip takes about 6-7 hours.
NOTE: If you really want to save money you can rideshare, which is essentially carpooling. For example, there are daily rides from Toronto to Montreal and back for $30-50, which is cheaper than any other means of transportation between the two cities. You can see a listing at places such as Craigslist .
By train
Montreal Central Station (Gare Centrale) is at 895 De La Gauchetière West, one block west of rue University, and is served by the Bonaventure metro (subway) station.
VIA Rail Canada operates fast and comfortable passenger trains from Montreal along the busy Quebec-Ontario 'corridor' and to destinations in northern Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. All fares below are five-day advance booking prices for one way travel in 'Comfort' (coach / economy) class, expect to pay almost 50% more if you book on the day of travel. 'VIA-1' (first / business) class is available for a premium, and includes refreshments, snacks and pay-per-use wireless internet in both station lounges and on board the train. An ISIC student card can obtain a discount on all services (both VIA and Amtrak).
Six evenings a week, VIA's ‘Ocean’ service departs for the overnight journey to New Brunswick (fifteen and a half hours, from $110 coach, $162 upper berth, $219 bedroom) and Nova Scotia (twenty hours, from $133 coach, $187 upper berth, $245 bedroom). The choice of sleeping accommodation varies according to the season. Along with trains between Montreal and Quebec, the Ocean is now almost exclusively operated by modern 'Renaissance' trains that were originally built for the aborted Channel Tunnel sleeper services between Great Britain and France.
Three evenings a week, the Ocean also pulls the ‘Chaleur’ train as far as Matapedia. The train divides in the early morning, and the Chaleur follows the southern shore of the Gaspé peninsular as far as Gaspe (seventeen and a half hours, from $106 coach, $165 upper berth, $215 bedroom).
VIA also offers three weekly round trips to Senneterre, in Abitibi (eleven and a half hours, from $81) and Jonquière, in the Saguenay (nine hours, from $55). Both trains operate as wilderness services: a request stop may be made at any point along the route for those who want to hike and kayak in the remoter regions of Quebec that the train passes through.
Amtrak's 'Adirondack' service to New York (ten hours, from $55) departs daily, with connections in Schenectady to (but not from) Chicago (twenty four hours, USD$114) and in New York to Philadelphia (thirteen and a half hours, USD$97) and Washington, DC (fifteen and a half hours, $120). The Adirondack is slower, but cheaper than Greyhound (see below). The train also passes through much of upstate New York and hugs Lake Champlain for a large part of the trip. South of Albany, the route follows the Hudson River and passes a number of historic sites.
Amtrak no longer offers a Thruway Motor Coach connection from Montreal to St-Albans, Vermont and the 'Vermonter' service.
By bus
There are extensive services to Montreal from cities in Ontario, Quebec, New York, Vermont and Maine. Buses arrive and depart from the Station Centrale (not to be confused with the Gare Central or central train station) at 505 boulevard De Maisonneuve Est, (directly above the Berri-UQÀM métro station]. Call 514-842-2281 for schedules and prices.
Intercity bus services to Montreal are offered by: Greyhound Canada , Coach Canada , Vermont Transit and Orléans Express . Orléans Express is the principal bus carrier for the province of Quebec, and is the sister company of Acadian Lines , who provide connections from northern Quebec to destinations in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Greyhound offers five daily direct services from New York (eight hours, from USD$76.50) and five from Boston (seven hours, from USD$72). Note that there is no student discount on the Montreal-New York service: the train is slower but significantly cheaper.
By Bicycle
Get around
Montreal has historically been divided into east and west by boulevard Saint-Laurent. Numbered addresses on streets that cross Saint-Laurent start there and increase in either direction; most addresses are given as "rue Saint-Quelqu'un Ouest" (west) or "rue Saint-Quelqu'un Est" (east). Many streets are named after Catholic saints and figures from local history, both well-known and obscure.
On foot
Walking is a favoured way to get around the densely packed downtown and the narrow streets of Old Montreal, especially during the warmer months. Beware the winter, however: sidewalks can be icy and extremely hazardous after winter snow and ice storms; winter boots with good grip are essential for surviving pavements that have not been cleared. Beware also (as much as you can) of thawing ice falling from overhanging balconies and roofs.
Jaywalking is widespread and rarely punished: be aware that drivers will usually not stop or slow down if a pedestrian steps out in front of them. Note that at an intersection, however, a pedestrian will have right of passage before turning traffic across a side street, and most drivers respect this. Despite Montreal drivers' reputation for aggressiveness, they generally respect pedestrians.
But you can always take the stairs down to Montreal's famous "Underground City" (Montréal souterrain), called RÉSO , a network of pedestrian corridors connecting métro (subway) stations, shopping centres and office complexes.
Rue Prince-Arthur east of Saint-Laurent is pedestrian only. A good trick for navigating downtown Montreal is to remember that streets slope up toward Mount Royal, which is just north of downtown and easy to see from most locations.
The districts surrounding downtown Montreal are especially delightful by foot. To the south is Old Montreal (Le Vieux-Montréal) -- its narrow streets and buildings dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries really can make you feel like you're in Old Europe -- and the Old Port (Le Vieux-Port) , a waterfront strolling park with exhibits and boat tours, is very popular with the locals. Just west of downtown is affluent Westmount, a perfect example of 19th-century English-style homes and gardens (inhabited to a great extent by English-speaking people) climbing the slopes of Mount Royal's western part (the higher you climb, the larger the old mansions). Just east and northeast of downtown are the mostly French-speaking Le Village Gai and Le Plateau districts, both street after street of turn-of-the-19th-century row duplexes and triplexes, replete with famous Montreal outdoor staircases, overflowing front gardens (or snow-covered gables, depending on the time of year) and tiny shops tucked into every nook and cranny. For people who like to see a culture where it lives, Le Plateau is the place to wander about in.
By car
Driving (SAAQ) in Montreal can be a challenge for many North American motorists. It is most important to note that all road signs use symbols and that pedestrians have a much greater confidence in your ability to brake than you might. This is because driving in Montreal works on a "first-come first-serve" basis and hence you have to be proactive if you want to cross the road. (Note: Although turning right on a red light is authorized across Quebec (except at intersections where a sign indicates this is not permitted), rights on reds are strictly prohibited on the island of Montreal.)
The use of salt to provide grip during severe winters takes its toll on the roadways, which are either heavily potholed or subject to perpetual construction. Downtown traffic is dense. Street parking can be rare in certain areas and subject to restrictions that can be difficult to understand (tourists are advised to consult with a local before parking, especially on narrow residential streets). Be careful to observe all parking notices, since parking meter attendants can issue tickets (fines) even if the meter has just expired, and they patrol twenty-four hours a day. Parking tickets can only be contested in court by the owner of the car that was subject to the infraction, so if a rented car is ticketed the person who rented may be unable to contest the charge. Car parking downtown costs $5 to $25 per day at parking meters and parking lots.
During the winter months, heavy snowfalls are common. In the aftermath of a snowstorm an intensively prepared 'déneigement' (snow removal) process begins, with intimidatingly large snow ploughs and trucks clearing, chewing up and transporting away the snow. If you leave your car parked on a street, pay close attention to any orange signs that might appear on the banks of snow on the sidewalk, and listen out for horn sirens: this is the announcement that a street is about to be cleared and that all parked cars should be moved. If you do not move your car, it will likely be towed to the nearest street with space (with a $100 fine) or it could be impounded.
Many downtown streets are one-way, which can complicate navigation. If you see a sign at an intersection that has direction arrows in a green circle, that means those are the only directions you are allowed to go. Most left turns are prohibited, although a flashing green light indicates a left-turn priority. Autoroutes (expressways or freeways) can be challenging for visitors, as signage is mostly in French. Learn the words for North, East, South, West, Exit, and Bridge (nord, est, sud, ouest, sortie, pont) and you will make out fine!
Do not be ashamed if driving is too challenging: park your car and take the Metro or rent a bicycle or rollerblades. That's how most Montrealers travel.
By bike
Cycling and in-line skating are very popular once the cold winter weather is over. The city is criss-crossed by 660km of well-maintained cycle paths, including some which cross the St. Lawrence onto the island of Montreal. By far the nicest path is the Lachine Canal path that stretches from Lachine, along Lac St-Louis, down to Old Montreal along the canal. You can cross over to the South Shore either on the Jacques Cartier bridge, Ile Notre Dame, or via the Estacade ice bridge from Nun's Island.
Even if you are on a bike path, beware of drivers as they are not always aware that there are bikes around. Some downtown bike paths are separated from the road by parked cars, which decreases your visibility. If one is comfortable driving in Montreal, one generally can feel comfortable biking there as well. While wearing a helmet is not required under the law, it is highly recommended.
Skate and bike hire shops are common, particularly in the Old Port and the Plateau. Visit La Maison des Cyclistes (the cyclists's house) at 1251 rue Rachel Est for all info on cycling in Montreal. (See Do for specific bike paths)
By metro or bus
The public transit system, run by Société de transport de Montréal (STM) , is safe, efficient and pleasant to use. Tickets valid for one trip (including transfer) on the metro and buses cost $2.75 each, but are also available for 25% less in strips (lisières) of six for $11.75. On the buses, it is important to have the correct change as the driver does not give change. The buses are being fitted with new machines that register the accuracy of the coins that you place in them, so be certain to get the price right or the driver will ask for additional money.
Tourist passes offer unlimited travel on the bus and metro for periods of one day ($9) or three days ($17) and are well worth it. They are available from most downtown metro stations during the summer, but only at Berri-UQAM, Peel, and Bonaventure stations on the off-season.
Weekly ($19 regular, $10.75 students) and monthly ($65 regular, $35 students) passes are also available. Only students studying at a recognised academic institution in Montréal may benefit from student fares, and a special card must be obtained from the STM.
The STM website offers an on-line trip-planner service called Tous azimuts. Metro system maps are available from the ticket booth at metro stations.
By train
Montreal has a commuter train system run by the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) with termini at the Montreal Central Station (Gare Central) and at Lucien L'Allier (both are accessible from the metro). Commuter trains are handy for getting to suburbs and neighbouring towns.
Commuter train stations are divided into six zones that radiate out from downtown. Stations have automated machines from which you must purchase a ticket appropriate to the zones of the station you are traveling to or from, whichever is farther (e.g. a trip from Zone 1 to Zone 3 or vice versa would require a Zone 3 ticket). Trips in zones 1 and 2 can be reduced in price if you have an STM transfer from the city bus or metro. You must then purchase the tarif combiné ticket at a lower cost. Pre-purchased tickets must be validated in the stamping machines at the entrance to the platform. In general, reduced fares (for students and seniors) require ID that is not available to travelers.
There are no ticket machines on the train and ticket inspections are random. If the ticket is not valid, the customer can get a fine of up to $400. In some cases, incorrect tickets will go unnoticed because the security agents pass through only occasionally. Note that instructions for paying are clearly displayed in French only.
Map
MapArt produces an excellent map of downtown Montreal and environs, including Vieux Montréal, Mt. Royal, the Plateau as well as areas as far north as the University of Montreal and as far south as Parc Jean-Drapeau. This is handy so you don't have to keep folding a map of the whole island.
Below is a basic map of the primary areas of interest to visitors.
See
Do
Bike
An interactive map of the cycle path network is available at the Vélo Québec website. Particularly pleasant places to cycle and skate include:
Parks
Festivals
Montreal has a bewildering variety of festivals, ranging from one-day ethnic fairs to huge international productions running two weeks or more. They are generally held in the summer and autumn, though increasingly they can be found throughout the year. Here are some of the larger ones:
Sports to watch
Learn
Montreal has the continent's largest proportion of students, due mainly to its four urban universities and a large number of CEGEPs, a kind of pre-university college and technical school.
Montreal is home to one of Canada's oldest and most prestigious universities, McGill. Concordia University is the city's other English-language university and has over 30,000 students. Its student population is generally more multicultural than McGill's, and the school's origins in and continuing emphasis on adult education make it popular for mature students, since it still holds many graduate-level courses at night.
The Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM) and the Université de Montréal cater mainly to Francophone students. The Université de Montréal is the second largest French-language university in the world, after the Sorbonne in Paris, and is one of the largest research institutions in Canada. The Université de Montréal has two affiliated schools, Polytechnique Montréal (engineering) and HEC Montréal (business school) that offer undergraduate and graduate studies.
Université Laval and Université de Sherbrooke also have campuses in the Montreal area.
Work
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allows skilled U.S. and Mexican professionals to easily obtain Canadian work visa provided they are qualified in certain professions. The American Consular Services website , provides an up to date list of qualifying professions.
If you are a U.S. Citizen aged 18-30 and a full-time student, you can obtain a Canadian work visa valid for 6 months through BUNAC . Students from France, Britain, New Zealand and Australia can also benefit from BUNAC work programs. As well, if you obtain a degree from a Canadian university, you are eligible to remain in Montreal and work for up to 1 year.
For anyone else, Immigration Canada's (CIC) website explains a number of ways foreigners can legally work in Canada. As Montreal is located in the province of Quebec, which has its own immigration policies, persons wishing to work in Montreal will have to go through two processes, once with the Canadian government, then finally with the Quebec government. If you are employed with a foreign company which has a Montreal office, you can seek a transfer. You can also seek a job with a Montreal employer and they can sponsor you for a temporary work visa. If you are a skilled worker (see CIC website) you can immigrate based on your own skills.
Illegal factory work paying around $7.50 per hour (Canadian) is fairly easy to find in Montreal, but painting during the summer and moving furniture in June can be better alternatives. McGill and Montreal universities are always in search of research subjects, and so are Montreal's many biotech firms.
Buy
Although Montreal's economy has been booming in recent years, the city remains remarkably affordable compared to other major cities in Canada and the United States. There's shopping for every taste and budget here.
General
Rue Ste-Catherine, between rue Guy and boulevard St-Laurent, has most of the big department and chain stores as well as a few major malls. Avenue Mont-Royal has funky consignment and gothic clothing stores from boulevard St-Laurent to rue St-Denis, and a mixed bag of neighborhood stores, used record shops, and gentrified boutiques heading east towards avenue Papineau. Rue St-Viateur is one of the city's most interesting streets, with its amazingly varied range of businesses crammed into the short stretch between St-Laurent and avenue du Parc. Boul. St-Laurent remains one of the city's prime shopping streets, more or less along its whole length. Just about anything can be found there, with different blocks having different clusters of businesses (Asian groceries and housewares near de La Gauchetière, cheap electronics a little farther up, hip boutiques between Prince-Arthur and des Pins, anything and everything Italian between St-Zotique and Jean-Talon, etc.). Rue Sherbrooke, west of the Autoroute Decarie, boasts an increasingly interesting concentration of largely food-oriented businesses.
Luxury
Trendier boutiques can be found on rue Saint-Denis, north of rue Sherbrooke and south of avenue Mont-Royal. Rue Sherbrooke itself has a number of high-end stores (notably Holt Renfrew) and commercial art galleries in a short strip running approximately from McGill University west to rue Guy. Farther west, Sherbrooke intersects with Greene Ave. in Westmount, which boasts a short but luxurious retail strip. Rue Laurier, between St-Laurent and its western end, is one of the city's prime spots for eating and shopping in high style, though there are still a few affordable spots here and there.
Furniture and antiques
On boul. St-Laurent, a cluster of high-end home furnishing stores has grown up in recent years. It starts roughly at the corner of rue Marie-Anne and is very prominent in the block between Marie-Anne and avenue Mont-Royal, with sparser but still interesting stores as far north as rue St-Viateur. Antique buffs will find interesting stores all over the city, but they'll want to make a special pilgrimage to rue Notre-Dame, heading east from avenue Atwater. Rue Amherst, in the Gay Village, also has a significant concentration of antique dealers.
Eat
Montreal is a culinary mecca and has a huge variety of food options, from diners and fast food to low-cost ethnic restaurants to haute cuisine. The city was recently ranked 2nd best dining city in North America after San Francisco and ahead of New York. The large local Jewish population has contributed local specialties including huge smoked meat sandwiches (beef brisket) and small, crusty bagels, of which the sesame variety is the most popular, poppy a distant second and all others decidedly marginal (worth remembering — Montreal bagels are best when very fresh). Other specialties are "all-dressed" pizza (pepperoni, mushrooms and green peppers), pizza and spaghetti with smoked meat, and Quebecois favorites like split pea soup.
No visit to Montreal is complete without at least one plate of poutine (possibly from a French word meaning "mess"). This unique dish is a plate of French fries drowned in gravy and topped with chewy curds of white cheddar. There are variations on the theme — adding chicken, beef, vegetables or sausage, or replacing the gravy with tomato sauce (poutine italienne). Every Montrealer has their favorite poutine restaurant where you can get "the real stuff."
Many Montreal restaurants allow you to bring your own wine (you'll see an apportez votre vin sign in the window). This may sound like a hassle, but you end up paying much less for wine with dinner if you bring it yourself. Note that if you can bring it yourself, you can't buy it there; conversely, if the restaurant is licensed to sell wine, you can't bring your own. There's usually a SAQ (government liquor store) or a dépanneur (convenience store, with a limited selection of typically inexpensive wine) nearby; ask your waiter. Your waiter will open your wine for you; corkage fees are rare, but don't forget to factor this service into your tip. In some cases, you may be able to bring beer instead of wine, but check first — it's not a given.
To buy your own food or regional products, the Jean-Talon public market, 7075 avenue Casgrain (metro Jean-Talon or De Castelnau), is the place to go. Open daily from 8 AM to 6 PM. The Jean-Talon market is especially noteworthy for its selection of produce; though not strictly part of the market, the many stores lining it on the north and south sides complete it wonderfully with superb selections of cheese, meat and just about anything edible. In particular, a store specializing in Quebec products (Produits du terroir), Le Marché des Saveurs, is located near the southeast corner of the market. On the north side, Fromagerie Hamel has a terrific selection of cheeses. The surrounding streets are heavily Italian-flavored and feature a number of excellent grocery stores, butchers, bakeries and restaurants. Across town, the Atwater Market is also superb, though quite different from (and much smaller than) Jean-Talon. Here, you'll find the city's best butchers, as well as good selections of cheese, fish and produce. Located on avenue Atwater, just south of rue Notre-Dame (metro Lionel-Groulx).
Separate bills ("addition" in French) are common, and you may be asked ensemble ou séparément? (together or separately?) The standard tip for acceptable restaurant service is 15%, and is not included. The calculation is less easy now that the combination of the provincial and federal sales taxes has dropped to 14%, but at least that figure gives a rough idea of what the tip should be.
Never call a waiter "garçon"! Use "monsieur" or "mademoiselle".
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Montreal, or Montréal in French, (pronounced in Canadian English, in Quebec French, and in European French) is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie (" Literally 'City-Mary', translated 'Mary's City' or 'City of Mary'"), the city had come to be known as Montréal by the end of the 17th century, a name derived from the French Mont Royal ("Mount Royal"), the name of the three-head hill at the heart of the city.
Formerly the largest metropolis of Canada (a distinction acquired by Toronto in 1998), it is the second-largest French-speaking city in the Western world after Paris. As of the 2006 Canadian Census, 1,620,693 people resided in the city of Montreal proper. and 74th-largest in the world. In 2007, Montreal was ranked as the 10th cleanest city in the world, tied with Vancouver.
History
Archeological evidence suggests that various nomadic native peoples had occupied the island of Montreal for at least 2,000 years before the arrival of Europeans. With the development of the maize horticulture, the St. Lawrence Iroquoians established the village of Hochelaga at the foot of the Mount Royal. The French explorer Jacques Cartier visited Hochelaga on October 2, 1535, claiming the St. Lawrence Valley for France. He estimated the population to be "over a thousand".
Seventy years later, French explorer Samuel de Champlain reported that the St. Lawrence Iroquoians and their settlements had disappeared altogether from the St. Lawrence valley, likely due to inter-tribe wars, European diseases, and out-migration. Champlain, known as the father of New France, founded a permanent French settlement in Quebec City in 1608. He would established La Place Royale, a fur trading post on the Island of Montreal in 1611, but the indigenous Iroquois repelled the colonists.
In 1639, Jérôme Le Royer de La Dauversière obtained the Seigneurial title to the Island of Montreal in the name of the Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal to establish a Roman Catholic mission for evangelizing natives. Ville-Marie, the first permanent French settlement on the Island, was founded in 1642 at Pointe-à -Callière. Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve would act as governor of the colony, and Jeanne Mance built the Hôtel-Dieu, Montreal's first hospital. Marguerite Bourgeoys would found the Congrégation de Notre-Dame, Montreal's first school, in 1653. In 1663, the Sulpician seminary became the new Seigneur of the island.
Complimenting its missionary origins, Ville-Marie became a centre for the fur trade and a base for further French exploration in North America. The bloody French and Iroquois Wars would threaten the survival of Ville-Marie until a peace treaty (see the Great Peace of Montreal) was signed at Montreal in 1701. With the Great Peace, Montreal and the surrounding seigneuries nearby (Terrebonne, Lachenaie, Boucherville, Lachine, Longueuil, ...) could develop without the fear of Iroquois raids. Ville-Marie remained a French colony until 1760, when Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal surrendered it to the British army under Jeffrey Amherst during the French and Indian War.
The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ended the Seven Years' War and ceded New France to the Kingdom of Great Britain. American Revolutionists under General Richard Montgomery briefly captured the city during the 1775 invasion of Canada. United Empire Loyalists and Anglo-Scot immigrants would establish the golden era of fur trading centred in the city with the advent of the locally owned North West Company, rivaling the established Hudson's Bay Company. The English-speaking community built one of Canada's first universities, McGill, and the wealthy merchant classes began building large mansions at the foot of Mount Royal in an area known as the Golden Square Mile.
Montreal was incorporated as a city in 1832. The opening of the Lachine Canal permitted ships to bypass the unnavigable Lachine Rapids, while the construction of the Victoria Bridge established Montreal as a major railway hub. These linked the established Port of Montréal with continental markets and spawned rapid industrialization during the mid 1800's. The economic boom attracted French Canadian labourers from the surrounding countryside to factories in satellite cities such as Saint-Henri and Maisonneuve. Irish immigrants settled in tough working class neighbourhoods such as Point Saint Charles and Griffintown, making English and French linguistic groups roughly equal in size. Montreal would surpass Quebec City as the seat of financial and political power for both English and French speaking communities of Canada, a position it held for many years. By 1852, Montreal had 60,000 inhabitants; by 1860, it was the largest city in British North America and the undisputed economic and cultural centre of Canada.
Montreal was the capital of the Province of Canada from 1844 to 1849, but lost its status when a Tory mob burnt down the Parliament building to protest passage of the Rebellion Losses Bill.
After World War I, the Prohibition movement in the United States turned Montreal into a haven for Americans looking for alcohol. Unemployment remained high in the city, and was exacerbated by the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. Canada began to recover from the Great Depression in the mid-1930s, when skyscrapers such as the Sun Life Building began to appear.
During World War II, Mayor Camillien Houde protested against conscription and urged Montrealers to disobey the federal government's registry of all men and women. Ottawa was furious over Houde's insubordination and held him in a prison camp until 1944, when the government was forced to institute conscription (see Conscription Crisis of 1944).
After Montreal's population surpassed one million in the early 1950s, Mayor Jean Drapeau laid down plans for the future development of the city. These plans included a new public-transit system and an underground city, the expansion of Montreal's harbour, and the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. New buildings were built on top of old ones in this time period, including Montreal's two tallest skyscrapers up to then: the 43-storey Place Ville-Marie and the 47-storey Tour de la Bourse. Two new museums were also built, and finally in 1966, the Montreal Metro system opened, along with several new expressways.
The city's international status was cemented by Expo 67 and the 1976 Summer Olympics.
The mid-1970's ushered in a period of wide-ranging social and political changes, stemming in large part from the concerns of the French-Canadian majority about the conservation of their culture and language, given the traditional predominance of the English-Canadian minority in the business arena. The October Crisis and the election of the separatist political party, the Parti Québécois, resulted in major political, ethnic and linguistic shifts. The extent of the transition was greater than the norm for major urban centres, with social and economic impacts, as a significant number of (mostly anglophone) Montrealers, as well as businesses, migrated to other provinces, away from an uncertain political climate. The Bill 101 was passed in 1977 and gave primacy to French as Quebec's (and Montreal's) only official language for government, the main language of business and culture, and enforced the exclusive use of French for public signage and business communication.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Montreal experienced a slower rate of economic growth than many other major Canadian cities. By the late 1990s, however, Montreal's economic climate had improved, as new firms and institutions began to fill the traditional business and financial niches. As the city celebrated its 350th anniversary in 1992, construction began on two new skyscrapers : 1000 de La Gauchetière and 1250 René-Lévesque. Montreal's improving economic conditions allowed further enhancements of the city infrastructure, with the expansion of the metro system, construction of new skyscrapers and the development of new highways including a ring road around the island. The city also attracted several international organisations to move their secretariats into Montreal's quartier international: IATA, ICSID, Icograda, International Bureau for Children's Rights (IBCR), International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC) or UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). With developments such us Cennre Commerce Mondial (World Trade Centre), Quartier International, Square Cartier, and revitalization of harbor front, the city is regaining its international position as world class metropolis.
In 2006 the city was recognized by the international design community as a UNESCO City of Design, one of the three world design capitals.
Montreal was merged with the 27 surrounding municipalities on the Island of Montreal on 1 January 2002. The merger created a unified city of Montreal which covered the entire island of Montreal. This move proved unpopular, and several former municipalities, totalling 13% of the population of the island, voted to leave the newly unified city in separate referenda in June 2004. The demerger took place on 1 January 2006, leaving 15 municipalities on the island, including Montreal.
Geography
Montreal is located in the southwest of the province of Quebec, approximately 275 kilometres (168 miles) southwest of Quebec City, the provincial capital, and 190 kilometres (118 mi) east of Ottawa, the federal capital. It also lies 550 kilometres (335 mi) northeast of Toronto, and 625 kilometres (380 mi) north of New York City.
The city rests on the Island of Montreal at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. The port of Montreal lies at one end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, which is the river gateway that stretches from the Great Lakes into the Atlantic Ocean. Montreal is bordered by the St. Lawrence river on its south side, and by the Rivière des Prairies on the north. The city is named after the most prominent geographical feature on the island, a three-head hill called Mount Royal.
Montreal lies at the confluence of several climatic regions and thus the climate in Montreal varies greatly. In general, the climate is humid continental (Köppen climate classification Dfb).
Precipitation is abundant with an average snowfall of 2.25 metres (84 in) per year in the winter. It snows on average more in Montreal, than Moscow, Russia. Regular rainfall throughout the year averages 900 millimetres (35.3 in). Each year the city government spends more than C$100 million on snow removal. Summer is the wettest season statistically, but it is also the sunniest.
The coldest month of the year is January which has a daily average temperature of −10.4 °C (13 °F) — averaging a daily low of −14.9 °C (5.2 °F), colder than either Moscow (-10 ºC) or Saint Petersburg (-6 ºC). Due to wind chill, the perceived temperature can be much lower than the actual temperature and wind chill factor is often included in Montreal weather forecasts. The warmest month is July which has an average daily high of 26.3 °C (79.3 °F); lower nighttime temperatures make an average of 20.9 °C (69.6 °F) thus air exchangers often achieve the same result as air conditioners. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −42.0 °C (−43.6 °F) on 15 January 1957 and the highest temperature ever was 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) on 1 August 1975.
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Demographics
Hockey
The biggest sport following in Montreal clearly belongs to hockey – and the city is famous for its hockey-hungry fans. The Montreal Canadiens are one of the Original Six NHL teams, and boast the greatest number of Stanley Cup championships at 24. The only other team in the four major North American sports leagues to have this many championships is the 26 titles of baseball's New York Yankees.
Races
Montréal is also the site of two high-profile racing events each year: the Canadian Grand Prix, and the Molson Indy Montréal of the Champcars Series. Both races take place on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Île Notre-Dame. As of December 2006, NASCAR is in talks with city officials and the track promoter about a possible race date for the Busch Series in August 2007.
Football, baseball, soccer
The Montreal Alouettes of the CFL draw packed crowds at the small but picturesque Molson Stadium. University football receives increasing support, with the McGill Redmen, Concordia Stingers, and Université de Montréal's Carabins playing in Montréal. The city's USL First Division soccer team is called the Montreal Impact. Montréal has also been slated to have a Can-Am League team beginning in 2008. Montréal was home to the major league baseball team, the Expos, until they were relocated to Washington, DC in 2005 and re-branded themselves as the Washington Nationals. They played their home games at the Olympic Stadium.
Montreal Olympics
Montreal was the host of the 1976 Summer Olympics. The Montreal Games were the most expensive in Olympic history, costing over $5 billion (equivalent to $20 billion in 2006); bad planning led to the Games' cost far exceeding the budget, and the city just finished paying the debt off in December 2006. For a time, it seemed that the Olympics might no longer be a viable financial proposition. There was also a boycott by African nations to protest against a recent tour of apartheid-run South Africa by a New Zealand rugby side. The Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci won the women's individual all around gold medal with two of four possible perfect scores, thus giving birth to a gymnastics dynasty in Romania. Another female gymnast to earn the perfect score and three gold medals there was Nellie Kim of the USSR.
Montreal hosted the first ever World Outgames in the summer of 2006, attracting over 16,000 participants engaged in 35 sporting activities. They were the biggest sporting event in the city since the Summer Olympics of 1976.
The Montreal games of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 will be held at the Olympic Stadium.
Montreal has a well developed network of bicycle paths. Bike rentals are available at the Old Port of Montreal, as well as quadricycles, inline skates, children trailers, and segways. Five beaches around the island, in addition to a network of parks that include one on the Mont Royal, offer a set of recreational activities enjoyed by the local population.
Transportation
Montreal is a transportation hub for eastern Canada, with well-developed air, road, rail, and maritime links to the rest of Canada, as well as the United States and Europe.
Air
Montreal has two international airports, one for passenger flights only, and the other for cargo. Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (formerly Dorval Airport, the name still used by locals) in the City of Dorval serves all commercial passenger traffic and is the headquarters for Air Canada and Air Transat. To the north of the city is Montréal-Mirabel International Airport in Mirabel, which was envisioned as Montreal's primary airport but which now serves only cargo flights. In 2006, Montreal-Trudeau was the third busiest airport in Canada. It handled 11,434,070 passengers and 213,403 aircraft movements in 2006. Trudeau airport serves over 100 destinations worldwide making it one of the most connected airports in North America. Airlines servicing Trudeau offer flights to Africa, Asia, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the United States, Mexico and other destinations within Canada. It is the only Canadian airport that offers non-stop service to Africa and it also contains the second largest duty free shop in North America.
Other airports in the Montreal area serve military and regional use.
Rail
VIA Rail, which is headquartered in Montreal, provides several rail services to other cities in Canada, particularly to Quebec City and Toronto with several trains daily. Amtrak, the U.S. national passenger rail system also provides service to Montreal, operating its Adirondack daily between Montreal and New York City. Most trains operate out of Gare Centrale.
Public local transport is served by a network of buses, subways, and commuter trains that extend across and off the island. The subway and bus system is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal. The commuter rail system is managed and operated by the Agence métropolitaine de transport, and extends across several municipalities.
Bus and Metro
The STM bus network consists of 169 daytime and 20 night-time service routes, and provides adapted transport and limited wheelchair-accessible buses.
Each station of the Montreal Metro was designed by different architects with individual themes and features original artwork, and the trains themselves run on rubber tires, making the system quieter than most. It has 68 stations spread out along four lines. It was inaugurated in 1966 and completed in time for Expo 67. The project was initiated by Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau, who also brought the Olympics to Montreal in 1976. The metro system has long had a station on the South Shore in Longueuil, and has recently been extended to the city of Laval, north of Montreal.
Road
Like many major cities, Montreal has a problem with vehicular traffic congestion, especially from off-island suburbs such as Laval on Île Jésus, and Longueuil on the southeastern shore. The width of the Saint Lawrence River has made the construction of fixed links to the southeastern shore expensive and difficult. Accordingly, there are only four road bridges (plus one road tunnel, two railway bridges, and a metro line), whereas the far narrower Rivière des Prairies is spanned by eight road bridges (six to Laval and two to the north shore).
The island of Montreal is a hub for the Québec Autoroute system, and is served by Québec Autoroutes A-10 (aka the Bonaventure Expressway on the island of Montreal), A-15 (aka the Decarie Expressway south of the A-40 and the Laurentian Autoroute to the north of it), A-13 (aka Autoroute Chomedey), A-20, A-25, A-40 (part of the Trans-Canada Highway system, and known as "The Metropolitan" or simply "The Met" in its elevated mid-town section), A-520, and A-720 (aka the Ville-Marie Autoroute). Many of these Autoroutes are frequently congested at rush hour. However, in recent years, the government has acknowledged this problem and is working on long-term solutions to alleviate the congestion, such as re-routing traffic and expanding lanes. (Osirus Azer, "Montreal's Traffic Problems", 2006)
Since Montreal is on an island, the directions used in the city plan do not precisely correspond with compass directions, as they are oriented to the geography of the island. North and south are defined on an axis roughly perpendicular to the St. Lawrence River and the Rivière des Prairies: North is towards the Rivière des Prairies, and south is towards the St. Lawrence. East and west directions are defined as roughly parallel to the St. Lawrence River (which flows southwest to northeast) and the Rivière des Prairies. East is downstream, and west is upstream.
Saint Lawrence Boulevard, also known as "The Main," divides Montreal into east and west sectors. Streets
