L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève () is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

(''

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

'') of the city of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

History

On 24 October 1678, the government of

Louis de Buade de Frontenac Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau (; 22 May 162228 November 1698) was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France in North America from 1672 to 1682, and again from 1689 to his death in 1698. He established a nu ...

granted Île Bizard, then named Île Bonaventure as a seigniory to

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 Fron ...

. This was the first concession on the

West Island The West Island () is the unofficial name given to the cities, towns and boroughs at the western end of the Island of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada. It is generally considered to consist of the Lakeshore municipalities of Dorval, Pointe-Cla ...

of Montreal. The village of

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 lib ...

was born in the early eighteenth century. Antoine Faucon, father of Saint-Sulpice, participated in the construction of the first church in the village's history. The Municipality of the Village of Sainte-Geneviève was created in 1859. During the first half of the twentieth century, farmers in Île Bizard and Sainte-Geneviève were then oriented toward gardening. The territory was thus transformed into a garden of Montreal. In 1959, it was incorporated as Ville Sainte-Geneviève. From the late 1950s, the creation of two major golf courses opened the door to massive sales of land and the abandonment of agriculture, which had become unprofitable. In 1959, the Royal Montreal Golf Club opened, and has since hosted several professional golf tournaments. Over the last fifty years, urbanization has increased and the population has increased tenfold, especially after the opening of Autoroute 40 that connected the western, central and eastern parts of Montreal. On January 1, 2002, the municipalities of L'Île-Bizard, Sainte-Geneviève, and Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue were

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

into the city of Montreal as the borough of L'Île-Bizard—Sainte-Geneviève—Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. When Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue voted to demerge from Montreal, the borough was reorganized into its present form on January 1, 2006.

Geography

The borough is composed of the former municipalities of L'Île-Bizard and

. The first is a separate island, the largest of the City of Montreal besides the Island of Montreal itself, and the second is a small area on the Island of Montreal. Sainte-Geneviève has a land border with the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro. The borough has a land area of 23.6 km² and a population of 18,413, making it the smallest of Montreal's nineteen boroughs in population.

Government

Municipal

Federal and provincial representation

Part of Sainte-Geneviève lies within the federal riding of

Lac-Saint-Louis Lac-Saint-Louis is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Its population was 108,579 at the 2016 Canadian Census. Geography The district includes the Cities of Be ...

; Île Bizard and the other half of Sainte-Geneviève lie within the riding of Pierrefonds—Dollard. Provincially, the borough lies in the electoral district of Nelligan.

Demographics

Features

Sainte-Geneviève and Île Bizard are connected by the Jacques Bizard Bridge. Île Bizard contains part of the Cap-Saint-Jacques Nature Park as well as the Boisé de l'Île Bizard Nature Park. Sainte-Geneviève's features include the Cégep Gérald-Godin. Plans have been advanced in the past to cross Île Bizard with an autoroute as part of a beltway around Montreal, but these have so far come to nothing mainly out of concern for the island's nature areas.

Pierre Bouvier Pierre Charles Bouvier (born May 9, 1979) is a Canadian singer and musician best known for being the lead vocalist and studio bassist of the rock band Simple Plan. Personal life Bouvier was born to Réal and Louise Bouvier. He has two older ...

from

Simple Plan Simple Plan is a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 1999. The band's lineup consists of Pierre Bouvier (lead vocals, studio bass guitar), Chuck Comeau (drums), Jeff Stinco (lead guitar), and Sébastien Lefebvre (rhythm guit ...

was from there. Île Bizard have also produced the francophone musical groups Exterio and Kamakazi

Education

The '' Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys'' operates Francophone public schools, but were previously operated by the ''

Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys The Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Board (') was a French language public School Board on Montreal Island, Quebec, Canada. Its headquarters was in the Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal. Its education centre was in LaSalle, also in Montreal. It was ...

'' until June 15, 2020. The change was a result of a law passed by the Quebec government that changed the school board system from denominational to

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

. Primary schools include: * ''École primaire Jacques-Bizard'' * ''École primaire Jonathan-Wilson'' * ''École primaire Sainte-Geneviève (Ouest)'' The

Lester B. Pearson School Board The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB, french: Commission scolaire Lester-B.-Pearson, CSLBP) is one of the largest school boards on the island of Montreal and one of the nine English school boards in the province of Quebec. It is headquartere ...

(LBPSB) operates Anglophone public schools in the area. The

Montreal Public Libraries Network The Montreal Public Libraries Network (, previously ''Réseau des bibliothèques publiques de Montréal'') is the public library system on the Island of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. It is the largest French language public library system in North A ...

operates the Île-Bizard library.Par bibliothèque , Par arrondissement
"

. Retrieved on December 8, 2014.

Notable residents

, lead vocalist of Pop-Punk band

. *

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 ...

, professional hockey player. *

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 ...

, former professional hockey player. *

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 ...

, former head coach of the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

hockey team.

References

External links

Borough website
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ile-Bizard-Sainte-Genevieve, L' Boroughs of Montreal 2006 establishments in Quebec