'Laval' (
pronounced 
ltspkr.png
) is a
city and a
region in southwestern
Quebec,
Canada in the
Greater Montreal Area. It is located on
Île Jésus, across the
Rivière des Prairies from
Montreal. It also includes the
Îles Laval in the Rivière des Prairies. In 2006, the city had a population of 368,709
[1] Laval constitutes one of the 17
administrative regions of Quebec; its number is 13.
Geography
The island is still rural in nature, with most of the urban area in the central region and along the south and west river banks.
Laval is bounded on the south and east by
Montreal, on the north by
MRC des Moulins and on the west by
MRC de Thérèse-De Blainville and
MRC de Deux-Montagnes.
Demographics
Laval is the 4th largest
suburb in
North America after
Mississauga, Ontario;
Mesa, Arizona and
Surrey, British Columbia.
In 2001, the population of Laval was an estimated 343,005, a 3.8 percent increase from the earlier census in 1996. Women constitute 51.44% of the total population. Children under 14 years of age total 18.6%, while those of retirement age (65 years of age and older) number 13.2% resulting in a median age of 38.7 years.
[1]
In Laval, 15.48% of the population was born outside of Canada, substantially lower than the national average, many immigrants hailing from the French
Caribbean, the
Middle East,
North Africa, and
Europe. Those of indigenous origin constitute 0.22%, while those who are visible minorities (non-white/
European) number 8.68%, and are chiefly
Black Canadian,
Arab, and
Hispanic. Comparing to neighbouring
Montreal, the linguistics of Laval is more homogenous as 73.42% speak
French, 6.05% speak
English, 0.84% are bilingual in French and English, and 19.69% speak languages other than Canada's official languages (English and French) such as Greek, Italian, Armenian, Arabic and Portuguese.
As with many parts of
Quebec, the city is highly
Christian (90.71%), particularly
Roman Catholic (81.09%), while Protestant and Orthodox groups constitute the remainder of the population. Religions such as
Islam,
Judaism,
Buddhism, and others number less than 5% combined.
History
Laval was originally inhabited by
Mohawks before the French arrived. The first European Settlers were
Jesuits in 1636 when they were granted a
seigneury there. Agriculture first appeared in Laval in 1670. In 1675,
François de Montmorency-Laval gained control of the seigneury. In 1702 a
parish was founded, and dedicated to
Saint-François de Sales. The first municipalities on the island were created in 1845, after nearly 200 years of a rural nature. The only built-up area on the island,
Sainte-Rose, was incorporated as a village in 1850, and remained as the main community for the remainder of the century. With the dawn of the 20th century came
urbanization.
Laval-des-Rapides became Laval's first city in 1912, followed by
L'Abord-à-Plouffe being granted village status three years later.
Laval-sur-le-Lac was founded in the same year on its tourist-based economy from Montrealers. Laval began to grow throughout the following years, due to its proximity to Montreal that made it an ideal suburb.
To deal with problems caused by urbanization, amalgamations occurred; L'Abord-à-Plouffe amalgamated with
Renaud and
Saint-Martin creating the city of Chomedey in 1961. The amalgamation turned out to be so successful for the municipalities involved that the Quebec government decided to amalgamate the whole island into a single city of Laval in 1965. Laval was named after the first owner of Île Jésus,
François de Montmorency-Laval, the first
Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec. At the time, Laval had a population of 170,000. Laval became a
Regional County Municipality in 1980. Prior to that, it was the 'County of Laval.'
[2]
The 14 municipalities, which existed prior to the incorporation of the amalgamated City of Laval on
August 6,
1965, were:
Currently the city is divided in six sectors (''secteurs'' in French) which only ''approximately'' cover the territoies of the former municipalities. They are:
★ Sector 1
★
★ Duvernay
★
★ Saint-François
★
★ ''Saint-Vincent-de-Paul''
★ Sector 2
★
★ ''Laval-des-Rapides''
★
★ ''Pont-Viau''
★
★ ''Renaud''
|
★ Sector 3
★
★ Chomedey
★ Sector 4
★
★ ''Fabreville Ouest''
★
★ Îles Laval
★
★ ''Laval-Ouest''
★
★ Laval-sur-le-Lac
★
★ Sainte-Dorothée
|
★ Sector 5
★
★ ''Fabreville Est''
★
★ ''Sainte-Rose''
★ Sector 6
★
★ Vimont
★
★ ''Auteuil''
|
The former city of Fabreville was divided among two sectors.
Flag, seal and motto
On a white-yellow background, the
emblem of Laval illustrates the modernism of a city in full expansion. The sign of the city symbolizes the "L" of Laval.
The colours also have a significant meaning :
★ Dark red represents usually the
affluence and represents here the great economic potential of Laval.
★ Blue symbolizes the quality of life and the installation of a human city.
The "L" of Laval is made of cubes that represent the development of Laval.
The letters of the Laval signature are related one to the other to point out the merger of the 14 municipalities of
Jesus island in 1965.
The
logo (that is on the
flag) has existed since the
1980s and the
flag since the
1990s.[3]
Sister cities
Laval is twinned with three cities
[4] :
★
Nice (France), since 2000
★
Laval (France), since 1984
Laval also maintains ten economic and cultural cooperation agreements with
Markham, Ontario (Canada),
Ribeira Grande (The Azores),
Grenoble (France),
Mudanjiang (China) and
Pedro Aguirre Cerda (Chile).
Politics
Municipal elections and mayors
As of 2007,
Gilles Vaillancourt is the mayor of the city of Laval. He has been in office since 1989
[5]. Vaillancourt's party, the Parti PRO des Lavallois, was born in 1980. Vaillancourt took over as head of the
party just before the 1989
municipal elections
[6].
Past mayors have been :
★
Jean-Noël Lavoie (founding mayor),
1965
★
Jacques Tétreault,
1965-
1973
★
Dr. Lucien Paiement,
1973-
1981
★
Claude Lefebvre,
1981-
1989
Federal and provincial
''See also:
Canadian federal election results in Northern Montreal and Laval and
Quebec general election, 2007''
Politically, Laval is a battleground area between the Quebec nationalist parties (the ''
Bloc Québécois'' federally and the ''
Parti Québécois'' provincially) and the federalist parties (the
Liberal Party of Canada and the ''
Parti libéral du Québec''). The only exception is
Chomedey in the south, which voted overwhelmingly to not separate in the
1995 Quebec referendum. The other parts of Laval were narrowly split.
Transportation
Roads
Highways
★
A-25 -
Boucherville to
Saint-Esprit via Montreal and the A-440 (Laval)
★
A-19 (Papineau Highway) -
Montreal to Boulevard Dagenais, continues as
Route 335 to
Bois-des-Filion and beyond
★
A-13 (Chomedey Highway) - Montreal to
Boisbriand
★
A-15 (Laurentian Highway) -
New York state to
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts
★
A-440 (Laval Freeway) - Laval
Provincial routes
★
Route 125 -
Montreal to
Saint-Donat
★
Route 148 - Laval to
Pembroke, Ontario
★
Route 335 -
Montreal to the
Lanaudière region past
St-Calixte
★
Route 117 -
Montreal to
Ontario Highway 66 past
Rouyn-Noranda
Incidents
★ On
June 18,
2000, during renovations to the Souvenir Boulevard overpass over Highway 15, the southern section collapsed onto the highway, causing the death of one person.
[7][8].
★ On
September 30,
2006, the De la Concorde overpass over
Autoroute 19 suddenly collapsed killing five people.
[9] ''See also:
De la Concorde Overpass collapse''
Public transit
Subway
★ In April 2007, the
Montreal Metro was extended to
Laval with three stations. The long-awaited stations were began in 2003 and completed in April 2007, two months ahead of schedule, at a cost of $803M, funded entirely by the
Quebec government. The stations are
Cartier,
De La Concorde, and
Montmorency. The arrival of the subway in Laval was long awaited as it was first promised in the 1960s.
★ Public transit users must purchase the $103 TRAM card to access the metro from Laval's three new stations or pay $2.75 per trip towards Montreal since regular Montreal tickets and the CAM pass are not valid at the three new stations.
★ On July 22, 2007, the mayor of
Laval,
Gilles Vaillancourt, announced his wish to loop the
Orange line from
Montmorency to
Cote-Vertu stations with the addition of six new stations (three in Laval and another three in Montreal). He proposes that
Transports Quebec, the provincial transport department, set aside $100M annually to fund the project, which is expected to cost upwards of $1.5 billion
[2].
Commuter railway
The
Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) operates two commuter train lines on the island. The
Deux-Montagnes and
Blainville-Saint-Jerome lines connect Laval to downtown
Montreal in as little as 30 minutes. Including
De la Concorde, there are currently five train stations.
Buses
''See the
Société de transport de Laval page for the public transit system''. The STL's network consists of 35 regular lines, 2 rush hour lines, 2 trainbus lines, 3 express lines, 1 community circuit and several taxi lines.
★ There are reserved lanes for buses on Chomedey Blvd between Le Carrefour Blvd and the Des Prairies River and along boulevard des Laurentides between rue Proulx and boulevard Cartier (the reserved lane continues onto the bridge into
Montreal until the
Henri-Bourassa subway station). Most buses that use the reserved lane end their journey at the
Cartier subway station.
★ The
AMT and the City of Laval are currently developping a reserved bus lane on Notre-Dame between Vincent Massey St and Alton Goldbloom Pl and another on De la Concorde Blvd between De l'Avenir and Laval Blvds, as well as between Ampere Ave and Roanne St. This reserved lane (Notre-Dame and De la Concorde are the same boulevard but change name when they meet at
Autoroute 15) is set to open in September 2007.
A Google Map of the subway system, including the three new Laval stations can be viewed at
Montreal-Laval Subway Map Mashup.
Business and economy
Laval's diverse economy is centered around the technology, pharmaceutical, industrial and retail sectors. It has many pharmaceutical laboratories but also stone quarries and a persistent
agricultural sector. Long seen as a
dormitory town, Laval diversified its economy, especially retail. This is why Laval boasts numerous
malls,
warehouses and various retail stores.
The following is a list of the
industrial parks in Laval.
[10]
Industrial Park Centre
One of the largest municipal industrial parks in
Quebec, the Industrial Park Centre is located in the heart of Laval (corner of St. Martin West and Blvd. Industriel) and boasts the highest concentration of manufacturing companies in Laval; 1,024 at last count, and 22,378 employees. The park still has 1,300,643 square meters of space available.
Highway 25 Industrial Park
Inaugurated in 2001, this new industrial municipal space has been a tremendous success, boasting an 80% occupancy rate. Easy to access, the
Autoroute 25 Industrial Park is at the crossroads of the metropolitan road network. Laval is studying the possibility of expanding this park in the next few years.
Industrial Park East
This park has reached full maturity with a 100% occupancy rate. Located in
Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, the Industrial Park East is currently part of a municipal program to revitalize municipal services and public utilities. Laval is working with a private developer on an expansion project for the park that should be announced in the near future.
Laval Science and High Technology Park
Laval Science and High Technology Park; an internationally
renowned science campus that houses the Biotech City and the Information Technology Development Center (ITDC), the Laval Science and High Technology Park is a beacon of the
metropolitan economy, located in an environment befitting the best technopolises in the world. Nearly 500,000 square meters of space are available for development. Located along
Rivière des Prairies and
Autoroute 15, the
Biotech City spans the entire territory of the Laval Science and High Technology Park and is a unique concept in
Canada in that its residents comprise both
universities and
companies.
Tourism
Laval's 'main attractions' are:
''Source: Tourisme Laval
[11]
Education
Laval is home to a variety of vocational/technical centers,
colleges and
universities, including:
''See also
Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board for elementary and high schools''
Sport
Sports teams
'Club' |
'Sport' |
'League' |
'Stadium/Arena' |
Regents |
Ice Hockey |
Midget AAA |
Colisée de Laval |
Les Comètes |
Women’s soccer |
W-League |
Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard |
Les Associés |
Baseball |
Ligue de Baseball Élite du Québec |
Montmorency Park |
Vikings de Laval Nord |
Football |
Midget AAA |
Parc Roi du Nord |
Les Bulldogs de Laval |
Football |
Midget AAA |
Parc Cartier |
Les Loups de CAL |
Football |
Juvenile AAA |
Parc Roi du Nord |
Les Nomades du Collège Montmorency |
College Sports |
Collegiate AA and AAA |
|
Les Devils de Laval |
Junior Football AAA |
Quebec Junior Football League |
Parc Cartier |
''See also:''
Le réseau des sports for detailed coverage.
Laval was also host-city of the "Jeux du Québec" held in summer 1991.
Famous natives and residents
★
Maurice Richard, ice hockey player
★
Josée Chouinard,
figure skater
★
Michael Bossy,
ice hockey player
★
Mario Lemieux, ice hockey player
★
Alexandre Daigle, ice hockey player
★
Pascal Dupuis, ice hockey player
★
Hana Gartner,
CBC broadcast
journalist and host
★
Yves P. Pelletier, actor, director, writer, comedian
★
Lucien Rivard, criminal
★
Martin St. Louis, ice hockey player
★
Jose Theodore, ice hockey player
★
Alexandre Despatie, Olympic diver
★
Donald Audette, ice hockey player
★
Annie Bellemare,
figure skater
★
Carrie Lightbound,
kayaker
★
Gédéon Ouimet,
politician
★
Sebastien Lefebvre,
guitarist
★
Joel Yanofsky,
writer and
columnist
★
Yannick Lupien,
swimmer
★
Adolfo Bresciano,
Wrestler
★
Patrick Lagacé,
Journalist
★
Jocelyn Thibault,
ice hockey player
★
Gregory Charles,
Singer
★
Celine Dion,
Singer
★
Richard Mercier,
NFL Player
★
Deitan Dubux,
NFL player
★
Stéphanie Dubois,
Tennis player
Regional media outlets
Radio stations
★
CFAV 1570 AM "Radio Boomer"
★
CFGL 105.7 FM "Rythme FM"
Newspapers
★
Le Courrier Laval - Bi-Weekly - French
★
Courrier Laval - Weekly - English Edition of Le Courrier Laval
★
The Laval News (formerly called The Chomedey News) - Bi-Weekly - English
Television networks
★
Télévision régionale de Laval
See also
★
Île Jésus
★
List of Quebec regions
★
List of crossings of the Rivière des Mille Îles
★
List of crossings of the Rivière des Prairies
★
Bibliothèque de Laval
References and footnotes
1. Statistics Canada
2. History and Heritage
3. Flags of the World
4. Jumelage Laval-France / Laval-Québec Vingt ans… déjà!
5. Pro Vaillancourt : The leader
6. Laval's Vaillancourt cruising toward win
7. Overpass dismantled, highway re-opened
8. Overpass collapse shuts down Quebec highway
9. Overpass Collapses Near Montreal; People Trapped Feared Dead
10. Laval Technopole website
11. Tourisme Laval
External links
★
Laval Restaurant Guide
★
City of Laval website (French - English)
★
www.InfoLaval.ca Commercial and industrial directory of the island of Laval. (French - English)
★
Interactive map of Laval from the official website Shows both the borders and names of the 14 former municipalities (purple) and the borders only of the current 6 sectors (maroon), tick off both boxes beside "Limite administrative".
★
www.IciRiveNord.com Your commercial directory for arts, entertainment, dining, nightlife, shopping and tourism in Laval and the area.
{| class="toccolours" style="margin: 0 2em 0 2em;"
| style="background:#ccccff" align="center" width="100%" | 'Communities in
Laval' ||
|-
| align="center" style="font-size: 90%;" colspan="2" |
Auteuil |
Chomedey |
Duvernay |
Fabreville |
Îles-Laval |
Laval-des-Rapides |
Laval-Ouest |
Laval-sur-le-Lac |
Pont-Viau |
Sainte-Dorothée |
Sainte-Rose |
Saint-François |
Saint-Vincent-de-Paul |
Vimont
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
