Everything about Montreal totally explained
Montreal, or
Montréal in
French, ( in
Quebec French, pronounced in
Canadian English, and in European
French) was the largest city in
Canada up until the 1970's and is now the
second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the
province of
Quebec. Originally called
Ville-Marie ('City of Mary'), some historians think the city takes its present name from the
Mont Réal (as it was pronounced in
Middle French, or
Mont Royal /
Mount Royal in present
French), the three-head hill at the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the
island on which the city is located.
The official language of Montreal is French as defined by the city's charter. It is among the five largest
French-speaking cities in the world. As of the 2006 Canadian Census, 1,620,693 people resided in the city of Montreal proper. In 2007,
Forbes Magazine ranked Montreal as the 10th cleanest city in the world.
History
There is archaeological evidence of various nomadic native peoples occupying the island of Montreal for at least 2,000 years before the arrival of Europeans. The
St. Lawrence Iroquoians established the village of
Hochelaga at the foot of 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-tribal wars, European diseases and out-migration.. 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.
Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve was the governor of the colony.
Ville-Marie became a centre for the
fur trade and a base for further
French exploration in North America. It remained a French colony until 1760, when it was surrendered to
Great Britain.
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. 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).
Montreal's population surpassed one million in the early 1950s. The
Saint Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, allowing vessels to bypass Montreal: a development that would in time help to spell the end of the city's economic dominance. However, the 1960s saw continued growth, including
Expo 67, the construction of Canada's tallest skyscrapers, new expressways and the
Montreal Metro system.
The 1970s 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. Despite hosting the
1976 Summer Olympics, Montreal lost its title of Canada's largest and most influential city to
Toronto.
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.
Montreal was
merged with the 27 surrounding municipalities on the Island of Montreal on
January 1,
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
referendums in June 2004. The demerger took place on
January 1,
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 167 kilometres (104 mi) east of
Ottawa, the
federal capital. It also lies 502 kilometres (312 mi) northeast of
Toronto, 407 kilometres (253 mi) northwest of
Boston and 530 kilometres (329 mi) directly north of
New York City.
The city is located on the central and eastern portions of 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 defined by its location in between the St. Lawrence river on its south, and by the
Rivière des Prairies on its north. The city is named after the most prominent geographical feature on the island, a three-head hill called
Mount Royal.
Montreal is at the centre of the
Montreal Metropolitan Community, and is bordered by the city of
Laval to the north,
Longueuil to the south,
Repentigny to the east and the
West Island municipalities to the west. The
anglophone enclaves of
Westmount,
Montreal West,
Hampstead,
Côte Saint-Luc, the
Town of Mount Royal and the
francophone enclave
Montreal East are all entirely surrounded by the city of Montreal.
Climate
Montreal lies at the confluence of several climatic regions. Usually, the
climate is classified as
humid continental or
hemiboreal (
Köppen climate classification Dfb).
Precipitation is abundant with an average
snowfall of 2.25 metres (84
in) per year in the winter. Regular
rainfall throughout the year averages 900 mm (35.3 in). Summer is the wettest season statistically, but it's 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 °C) or
Saint Petersburg (-6 °C). 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 −37.8 °C (−36.0 °F) on
15 January 1957 and the highest temperature ever was 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) on
1 August 1975.
2006 was noted as the only year in the history of Montreal when there was more rain than there was snow. There were 122.3 cm (48.1 in) of snow, and there were 122.5 cm (48.2 in) of rain. That year, Montreal received more rain than
Vancouver,
British Columbia.
Cityscape
Architecture
For over a
century and a half, Montreal was the industrial and financial centre of
Canada. The variety of
buildings included
factories,
elevators,
warehouses,
mills, and
refineries which today provide a legacy of historic and architectural interest, especially in the downtown area and the Old Port area.
Today there are also many historical buildings in Old Montreal still in their original form:
Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica,
Bonsecours Market, and the impressive 19th-century headquarters of all major Canadian banks on
Saint Jacques Street (formerly Saint James Street).
Saint Joseph's Oratory, completed in 1934,
Ernest Cormier's
Art Deco Université de Montréal main building, the landmark
Place Ville Marie office tower, the controversial
Olympic Stadium and surrounding structures, are but a few notable examples of 20th century architecture.
Pavilions designed for the 1967 International and Universal Exposition, popularly known as
Expo 67, featured a wide range of architectural designs. Though most pavilions were temporary structures, several remaining structures have become Montreal landmarks, including the
geodesic dome US Pavilion, now the
Montreal Biosphère, as well as
Moshe Safdie's striking
Habitat 67 apartment complex.
The
Montreal Metro is filled with a profusion of public artwork by some of the biggest names in Quebec culture. The design and ornamentation of each station in the Metro system is unique.
In 2006, the city was recognized by the international design community as a UNESCO City of Design, one of the three world design capitals.
Neighbourhoods
Downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal lies at the foot of
Mount Royal, most of which is a major urban
park, and extends toward the
St Lawrence River. It is located entirely within the
Ville Marie borough. The Downtown area contains dozens of notable
skyscrapers — which bylaws restrict to the height of Mount Royal — including the aforementioned
1000 de La Gauchetière and
1250 René-Lévesque. The Tour de la Bourse (Stock Exchange Tower) is also another significant building in Montreal, and is home to the
Montreal Exchange, which trades in derivatives such as futures contracts and options. The Montreal Exchange was the first stock exchange in Canada. In 1999 all stock trades were transferred to
Toronto in exchange for exclusivity in derivatives trading.
Place Ville-Marie, an
I. M. Pei-designed
cruciform office tower built in 1962, sits atop an underground shopping mall that forms the nexus of Montreal's
underground city, the world's largest, with indoor access to over 1,600 shops, restaurants, offices, businesses, museums and universities, as well as
metro stations, train stations, bus terminals, and tunnels extending all over downtown. The central axis for downtown is
Saint Catherine Street, Canada's busiest commercial artery. Other major streets include
Sherbrooke,
René Lévesque,
Peel,
de la Montagne,
de Maisonneuve and
Crescent. The downtown Ville-Marie borough includes two islands,
Île Ste. Hélène and
Île Notre-Dame. The man-made Notre Dame island hosts the
Canadian Grand Prix Formula One auto race, as well as a
NASCAR race.
La Ronde, the sole amusement park in the Montreal area, is located on Île Sainte-Hélène and is home to the
Montreal Fireworks Festival in the summer.
Old Montreal
Old Montreal (French: Vieux-Montréal) is a historic area located southeast of downtown containing many different attractions such as the
Old Port of Montreal,
Place Jacques-Cartier,
Montreal City Hall, the
Bonsecours Market, Place d'Armes,
Pointe-à-Callière Museum, the
Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, and the
Montreal Science Centre.
Architecture and cobbled streets in Old Montreal have been maintained or restored and are frequented by horse-drawn
calèches carrying tourists. Old Montreal is accessible from the downtown core via the
underground city and is served by several
STM bus routes and metro stations, ferries to the South Shore and a network of bicycle paths.
Old Montreal was once a worldwide port, but shipping has been moved further east to a new larger site, leaving the Old Port as a historical area. The newer port is now the biggest container port in North America. The riverside area adjacent to Old Montreal is known as the Old Port. It is now a recreational and historical area maintained by
Parks Canada.
Mount Royal
The mountain is the site of
Mount Royal Park (officially
Parc du Mont-Royal), one of Montreal's largest
greenspaces. The park, most of which is wooded, was designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed
New York's
Central Park, and
inaugurated in 1876.
The park contains two
belvederes, the more prominent of which is the Kondiaronk Belvedere, a semicircular plaza with a
chalet, overlooking
downtown Montreal. Other features of the park are Beaver Lake, a small man-made
lake; a short
ski slope; a
sculpture garden;
Smith House, an
interpretive centre; and a well-known monument to Sir
George-Étienne Cartier. The park hosts athletic, tourist, and cultural activities.
The mountain is also home to two major cemeteries, Notre-Dame-des-Neiges (founded in 1854) and Mount Royal (1852).
Mount Royal Cemetery is a terraced
cemetery on the north slope of
Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont. Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges is much larger, predominantly French-Canadian and officially Catholic. More than 900,000 people are buried there.
Mount Royal Cemetery contains more than 162,000 graves and is the final resting place for a number of notable Canadians. It includes a veterans section with several soldiers who were awarded the British Empire's highest military honour, the Victoria Cross. In 1901 the Mount Royal Cemetery Company established the first crematorium in Canada.
The name of the city of Montreal derives from
mont Réal, an
orthographic variant introduced either in French, or by an
Italian map maker ("Mount Royal" is
monte Reale in
Italian). The name had been unofficially applied to the city, formerly Ville-Marie, by the 18th century.
The first
cross on the mountain was placed there in 1643 by
Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, the founder of the city, in fulfilment of a vow he made to
the Virgin Mary when
praying to her to stop a disastrous
flood. Today, the mountain is crowned by a 31.4 m (103 ft) high illuminated cross, installed in 1924 by the
Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste and now owned by the city. It was converted to
fibre-optic light in 1992. The new system can turn the lights red, blue, or purple, the last of which is used as a sign of mourning between the death of the Pope and the election of the next.
Underground City
Extending all over downtown is Montreal's
Underground City (French: La ville souterraine), a set of pedestrian levels built to cross under streets, thereby connecting buildings to each other. It is also known as the indoor city (ville intérieure), as not all of it's underground. The connections are considered tunnels architecturally and technically, but have conditioned air and good lighting as any building's liveable space does. Many tunnels are large enough to have shops on both sides of the passage. With over 32 kilometres (20 mi) of tunnels spread over more than twelve
square kilometres (5
sq mi), connected areas include
shopping malls,
hotels,
banks, offices,
museums,
universities, seven
metro stations, two commuter train stations, a regional
bus terminal and the
Bell Centre amphitheatre and arena. There are more than 120 exterior access points to the underground city. Each access point is an entry point to one of 60 residential or commercial complexes comprising 3.6 square kilometres (1.4 sq mi) of floor space, including 80% of all office space and 35% of all commercial space in downtown Montreal. In winter, some 500,000 people use the underground city every day. Because of its Underground City, Montreal is often referred to as "Two Cities in One."
Government
The head of the city government in Montreal is the
mayor, who is
first among equals in the
City Council. The mayor is
Gérald Tremblay, who is a member of the
Union des citoyens et des citoyennes de l'Île de Montréal (
English: Montreal Island Citizens Union). The city council is a democratically elected institution and is the final decision-making authority in the city, although much power is centralized in the executive committee. The Council consists of 73 members from all
boroughs of the city. The Council has jurisdiction over many matters, including
public security, agreements with other governments, subsidy programs, the
environment,
urban planning, and a three-year capital expenditure program. The City Council is also required to supervise, standardize or approve certain decisions made by the
borough councils.
Reporting directly to the City Council, the executive committee exercises decision-making powers similar to that of the
cabinet in a
parliamentary system and is responsible for preparing various documents including
budgets and
by-laws, submitted to the City Council for approval. The decision-making powers of the executive committee cover, in particular, the awarding of
contracts or
grants, the management of
human and
financial resources, supplies and buildings. It may also be assigned further powers by the City Council.
Standing committees are the council's prime instruments for public consultation. They are responsible for the public study of pending matters and for making the appropriate recommendations to the council. They also review the annual budget forecasts for departments under their jurisdiction. A public notice of meeting is published in both French and English daily
newspapers at least seven days before each meeting. All meetings include a public question period. The standing committees, of which there are seven, have terms lasting two years. In addition, the City Council may decide to create special committees at any time. Each standing committee is made up of seven to nine members, including a chairman and a vice-chairman. The members are all elected municipal officers, with the exception of a representative of the government of
Quebec on the public security committee.
The city of Montreal is only one component of the larger
Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal (English: Montreal Metropolitan Community or MMC), which is in charge of planning, coordinating, and financing economic development, public transportation, garbage collection and
waste management, etc., across the metropolitan area of Montreal. The president of the CMM is the mayor of Montreal. The CMM covers 3,839 square kilometres (1,482
sq mi), with 3,635,700 inhabitants in 2005.
Economy
Montreal started out as the economic centre and largest city of Canada from the birth of the country up until the early 1970s when it was overcome by Toronto, due to political and economic crisis. Also, Toronto had been growing faster since the end of the Second World War. The loss of many headquarters and a large anglophone business community of about 300,000 people lessened Montreal's economic and social importance, and it stayed in a decline for over 15 years.
In the early 1990s, Montreal's economic recovery helped to place it as an important centre of commerce, industry, culture, finance, and world affairs.
Montreal industries include
aerospace,
electronic goods,
pharmaceuticals, printed goods,
software engineering,
telecommunications, textile and apparel manufacturing,
tobacco and transportation. The service sector is also strong and includes
civil,
mechanical and
process engineering,
finance,
higher education, and research and development. In 2002, Montreal ranked as the 4th largest centre in North America in terms of aerospace jobs.
The
Port of Montreal is the largest inland port in the world. As one of the most important ports in Canada, it remains a trans-shipment point for
grain,
sugar,
petroleum products, machinery, and consumer goods. For this reason, Montreal is the
railway hub of Canada and has always been an extremely important rail city; it's the eastern terminus of the
Canadian Pacific Railway and home to the headquarters of the
Canadian National Railway.
The headquarters of the
Canadian Space Agency are located in Longueuil, southeast of Montreal. Montreal also hosts the headquarters of the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, a
United Nations body); the
World Anti-Doping Agency (an
Olympic body); the
International Air Transport Association (IATA); the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda); the International Design Alliance (IDA); Gay and Lesbian International Chamber of Commerce, as well as some 60 other international organizations in various fields. It is also the leading Canadian city for its research output, fuelled in part by Montreal's four universities and numerous scientific research centres.
Montreal is also a centre of film and television production. The headquarters of
Alliance Atlantis and five studios of the
Academy Award-winning documentary producer
National Film Board of Canada can be found here, as well as the head offices of
Telefilm Canada, the national feature-length film and television funding agency. Given its eclectic architecture and broad availability of film services and crew members, Montreal is a popular filming location for feature-length films, and sometimes stands in for European locations. The city is also home to many recognized cultural, film and music festivals (Just For Laughs, Montreal Jazz Festival, and others), which contribute significantly to its economy. It is also home to one of the world's largest cultural enterprises, the
Cirque du Soleil.
The video game industry is also booming in Montreal since 1997, coinciding with the opening of
Ubisoft Montreal. Recently, the city has attracted world leading game developers and publishers studios such as
Ubisoft,
EA,
Eidos Interactive,
Artificial Mind and Movement,
Strategy First, mainly because video games jobs have been heavily subsidized by the provincial government. Every year, this industry generates billions of dollars and thousands of jobs in the Montreal area.
Rio Tinto Alcan,
Bombardier,
CN,
CGI Group,
Air Canada,
CAE,
Saputo,
Cirque du Soleil,
Quebecor,
Power Corporation,
Bell Canada,
SNC-Lavalin,
Hydro-Québec,
Abitibi-Consolidated,
National Bank of Canada,
ABB Canada, and many other corporations are headquartered in the
Greater Montreal Area.
In 2006 Montreal was named a
UNESCO City of Design, only one of three design capitals of the world (with the others being
Berlin and
Buenos Aires). This distinguished title recognizes Montreal's design community. Since 2005 the city is also a home for the International Design Alliance and the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda).
Demographics
According to
Statistics Canada, at the
2006 Canadian census the city of Montreal proper had 1,620,693 inhabitants. Some 16.5 percent of the population of Greater Montreal are member of a visible minority (non-white) group.
Canadians of African descent contribute to the largest visible minority group in greater Montreal, numbering some 169,065, which is the second-largest community of African-origin people in Canada, after
Toronto. Other groups, such as
Arabs,
Latin American,
South Asian, and
Chinese are also large in number.
| 1931 |
1941 |
1951 |
1961 |
1971 |
1981 |
1991 |
1996 |
2001 |
2006 |
| 1,003,868 |
1,116,800 |
1,320,232 |
1,747,696 |
1,959,180 |
1,760,122 |
1,775,871 |
1,775,846
|
1,812,723
|
1,854,442 |
Further Information
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