Île Bizard is an island near the

Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (french: Île de Montréal) is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities including most of the city of Montreal and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main ...

in the

Hochelaga Archipelago The Hochelaga Archipelago (), also known as the Montreal Islands, is a group of islands at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa rivers in the southwestern part of the province of Quebec, Canada. Population On 1 July 2021, the Ho ...

region.

History

Historically named Île Bonaventure, by 1723 it had come to be named Île Bizard, after

Jacques Bizard Jacques Bizard (1642 – December 5, 1692) was seigneur of île Bonaventure, later renamed île-Bizard. Born in Benaix, Neuchâtel to a Calvinist pastor, Bizard served in the Venetian army where he met Louis de Buade, better known as Comte de Fro ...

, to whom it was conceded as a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

in 1678, part of the

seigneurial system of New France The manorial system of New France, known as the seigneurial system (french: Régime seigneurial), was the semi- feudal system of land tenure used in the North American French colonial empire. Both in nominal and legal terms, all French territ ...

. The island was also used by the settlers of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

, as a way to get timber into

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

from the river using

timber rafting Timber rafting is a method of transporting felled tree trunks by tying them together to make rafts, which are then drifted or pulled downriver, or across a lake or other body of water. It is arguably, after log driving, the second cheapest mean ...

Modern

It was formerly a separate municipality named St Raphael de L'Île-Bizard, but was forcefully merged with of the city of

, and made into the borough of

L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève () is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal. History On 24 October 1678, the government of Louis de Buade de Frontenac granted Île Bizard, then named Île Bonaventure as a seigniory to Jacques ...

. A referendum to demerge on June 20, 2004 was held. Although more than 50% voted to demerge, it was unsuccessful as this represented fewer than the required 35% of the electorate.

Geography

The

Jacques Bizard Bridge Jacques Bizard Bridge is a bridge that crosses the Rivière des Prairies and connects L'Île Bizard to Montreal Island. Except for a cable ferry that connects Île Bizard with Laval-sur-le-Lac, it is the only access to Île Bizard, which had a po ...

connects it across the

Rivière des Prairies The Rivière des Prairies (; ), called the Back River in English, is a delta channel of the Ottawa River in southwestern Quebec, Canada. The Kanien'kehá:ka called it ''Skowanoti'', meaning "River behind the island". The river separates the citi ...

with

Sainte-Geneviève Saint Genevieve or Sainte-Geneviève may refer to: * Saint Genevieve (419/422–512), the patron of Paris * Saint Geneviève de Loqueffret (10th century), a local saint from Loqueffret, Brittany Buildings * Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, a li ...

on the

. The

seasonal A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

Laval-sur-le-Lac Île-Bizard Ferry Laval-sur-le-Lac is a small sector on the western part of Laval and was a separate city until the municipal mergers on August 6, 1965. This community contains North America's oldest French speaking private golf club, Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac, esta ...

provides a connection to

Laval-sur-le-Lac Laval-sur-le-Lac is a small sector on the western part of Laval and was a separate city until the municipal mergers on August 6, 1965. This community contains North America's oldest French speaking private golf club, Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac, estab ...

Île Jésus Île Jésus (, ''Jesus Island'') is a river island in southwestern Quebec, separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from the Island of Montreal to the south by the Rivière des Prairies. It is the second-larg ...

(

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

). This ferry does not operate in the winter.

Land use

Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park is a large nature park in the L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The nature park is in the east-central part of Île Bizard. Almost all of the area is located in the inter ...

Bois de l'Île Bizard - Montreal Parks: Bois de l'Île Bizard
/ref> is a 201-hectare (500 acre) park which contains marsh lands and several kilometres (miles) of nature trails, accessible year round.Île Bizard park
from ille.montreal.qc.ca/largeparks/ref> There is also a small beach at Pointe-aux-Carrières that faces the

Lac des Deux-Montagnes Lake of Two Mountains (French: ''Lac des Deux Montagnes'') is part of the river delta widening of the Ottawa River in Quebec, Canada, at its confluence with the St. Lawrence River. Lake of Two Mountains has four outflows: Rivière des Mille Îl ...

. The

Royal Montreal Golf Club The Royal Montreal Golf Club (French: Le Club de Golf Royal Montréal) is the oldest golf club in North America, and the oldest in continuous existence. In 2023, it will be celebrating 150 years. It was founded in Montreal by eight men in 1873. P ...

, the Golf Saint-Raphael and Elm Ridge Country Club are located on the island. Land has been reserved on the island for the future extension of Autoroute 440 from Laval to connect with Autoroute 40 at Chemin Ste-Marie. This will avoid having to drive on the Autoroute 40 to get to Autoroute 13 and Autoroute 15 and provide another beltway around the city in addition to Autoroute 30 on the South Shore. Many people who live on the island are against it, as Île Bizard is a calm and serene country environment and they feel like it would cause more traffic and pollution to the fresh air. However, the City of Montreal has purchased considerable amounts of land and protects them as nature parks, which include swamps, beaches, forests and other ecosystems; these are open to the public.

Sports

The island has two notable sports complexes: 'Parc Eugène-Dostie' and 'Complexe Sportif Saint-Raphaël'. The PGA Golf Tour comes to l'Île Bizard's Royal Montreal golf course every few years. A notable native is

Vincent Lecavalier Vincent "Vinny" Lecavalier (born April 21, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who is currently a special advisor to hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens. Lecavalier, played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey ...

, a former

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

player who was raised on the island. Former

players

Guy Lafleur Guy Damien Lafleur (September 20, 1951 – April 22, 2022), nicknamed "the Flower" and "Le Démon Blond", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was the first player in National Hockey League (NHL) history to score 50 goals in six c ...

and

Guy Carbonneau Joseph Harry Guy Carbonneau (born March 18, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach and executive in the National Hockey League. He was also the president of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Chicoutimi Saguenéens ...

also live on the island.

References

External links

Official page
on the Ville de Montréal websit

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ile Bizard Hochelaga Archipelago, Bizard Landforms of Montreal L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève River islands of Quebec West Island