Le Sud-Ouest ( en, "the southwest") 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 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 ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada.

Geography

Le Sud-Ouest is an amalgam of several neighbourhoods with highly distinct histories and identities, mainly with working-class and industrial origins, grouped around the

Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal ( in French (language), French) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroug ...

. These include

Saint-Henri Saint-Henri is a neighbourhood in southwestern Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest. Saint-Henri is usually considered to be bounded to the east by Atwater Avenue, to the west by the town of Montreal West, to the north by Au ...

Little Burgundy Little Burgundy (french: La Petite-Bourgogne) is a neighbourhood in the South West borough of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Geography Its approximate boundaries are Atwater Avenue to the west, Saint-Antoine to the north, Guy Street ...

, and

Griffintown Griffintown is a historic neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, southwest of downtown. The area existed as a functional neighbourhood from the 1820s until the 1960s, and was mainly populated by Irish immigrants and their descendants. Mostly depopulat ...

to the north of the canal, and

Ville-Émard Ville-Émard is a neighbourhood located in the Sud-Ouest borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Overview Geography This neighbourhood is bordered by the Aqueduct Canal to the east as far north as Desmarchais Boulevard where it meets Côte-Saint- ...

, Côte-Saint-Paul, and

Pointe-Saint-Charles Pointe-Saint-Charles (also known in English as Point Saint Charles, and locally as The Point, or "PSC") is a neighbourhood in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Historically a working-class area, the creation of m ...

to the south. Located southwest of downtown Montreal (hence the name), the borough is bordered to the northwest by Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, to the northeast by the Ville-Marie borough, to the south by the borough of

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

, to the west by the borough of LaSalle and the town of

Montreal West Montreal West (French: Montréal-Ouest) is an on-island suburb in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the Island of Montreal. Montreal West is a small, close-knit community made up primarily of single-family dwellings. The town is largely composed ...

, and to the north by the city of Westmount. The

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

is located upon part of its eastern edge.

History

:''See History of Saint-Henri, History of Little Burgundy, History of Ville-Émard, History of Côte-Saint-Paul, and History of Pointe-Saint-Charles. Originally devoted to agriculture, the various municipalities and districts of the Sud-Ouest underwent rapid industrialization following the opening of the Lachine Canal in 1825, becoming the cradle of Canadian industry thanks to both the transportation and the water power offered by the canal. The

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

and

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

also came through Saint-Henri and Pointe-Saint-Charles."Histoire."
Arrondissement du Sud-Ouest. Ville de Montréal. Accessed July 4, 2011. The area became a stronghold of the working class, often in difficult conditions such as those described in

Gabrielle Roy Gabrielle Roy (March 22, 1909July 13, 1983) was a Canadian author from St. Boniface, Manitoba and one of the major figures in French Canadian literature. Early life Roy was born in 1909 in Saint-Boniface (now part of Winnipeg), Manitoba, an ...

's ''

The Tin Flute ''The Tin Flute'' (original French title ''Bonheur d'occasion'', literally "secondhand happiness") is the first novel by Canadian author Gabrielle Roy and a classic of Canadian fiction. Imbued with Roy's brand of compassion and understanding, th ...

'', set in Saint-Henri. The areas of the borough had highly specific identities. The western part of the borough - Saint-Henri, Ville-Émard, and Côte-Saint-Paul - were chiefly French Canadian, while Pointe-Saint-Charles and Griffintown were considered the seat of Irish culture in Montreal, with street names such as Hibernia and St. Patrick testifying to it. Starting in 1887, a large English-speaking

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

community arose in Little Burgundy, attracted from the United States, other parts of Canada, and the Caribbean by jobs in the railways whose stations lay nearby; the area became famed for musical figures such as

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

."Little Burgundy."
McGill Faculty of Architecture. Accessed July 4, 2011. The city of Montreal annexed the town of Saint-Henri in 1905,"Fiche du secteur: Square Sir-George-Étienne-Cartier."
Grand répertoire du patrimoine bâti de Montréal. Accessed 4 July 2011. Sainte-Cunégonde (Little Burgundy) in 1906,"Fiche du secteur: Coursol."
Grand répertoire du patrimoine bâti de Montréal. Accessed 4 July 2011. and Côte-Saint-Paul and Ville-Émard in 1910."Fiche du secteur: Côte-Saint-Paul."
Grand répertoire du patrimoine bâti de Montréal. Accessed 4 July 2011.
ville-emard.com. Accessed 4 July 2011. However, with vessels constantly growing and finally exceeding the capacity of the canal, the coming of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1956 and the closure of the Lachine Canal in 1970 put an end to the area's industrial prosperity. Population fell sharply and conditions became still more difficult. Projects such as the Décarie Expressway,

Turcot Interchange The Turcot Interchange is a three-level four-way freeway interchange within the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located southwest of downtown, the interchange links Autoroutes 15 (Décarie and Décarie South Expressways) and 20 (Remembrance H ...

Bonaventure Expressway Autoroute 10 (A-10) is an Autoroute of Quebec in Canada that links greater Montreal to key population centres in Montérégie and Estrie, including Brossard, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Granby, and Sherbrooke. The A-10 also provides access to p ...

, and

Expo '67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

destroyed entire neighbourhoods, such as

Goose Village Goose Village (French: "Village-aux-Oies") was a neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its official but less commonly used name was Victoriatown, after the adjacent Victoria Bridge. The neighbourhood was built on an area formerly known ...

and part of Côte-Saint-Paul. However, community mobilization preserved the area's social fabric; in particular, the Pointe-Saint-Charles Community Clinic became the model for the

CLSC CLSCs (''centre local de services communautaires'', local community service centre) in Quebec are free clinics and hospitals run and maintained by the Quebec government. They are a form of community health centre. The service was launched in the e ...

system now used throughout the province. The

reorganization of Montreal A corporate action is an event initiated by a public company that brings or could bring an actual change to the securities— equity or debt—issued by the company. Corporate actions are typically agreed upon by a company's board of director ...

in 2002 following the municipal mergers saw the creation of the borough council system, and accordingly, the creation of the borough of Le Sud-Ouest. The borough council met in several temporary locations, including the Marie Uguay cultural centre in Ville-Émard, before the inauguration of the current borough hall in a repurposed factory in Saint-Henri. Today, Le Sud-Ouest is undergoing an economic and social renaissance, stimulated by the reclamation of the canal for recreation in 2002; businesses opened up and numerous factories were converted into lofts and condominiums. This revival is bringing its own pressures, however, as gentrification increases property taxes and costs of living on the many low-income residents and puts pressure on the availability of low-income housing. The pending reconstruction of the Turcot Interchange and its impact on local residents is a major political issue in the borough.

Government

Municipal

The borough is divided into two municipal electoral districts: * Saint-Paul– Émard–

-Ouest *

-Est– Petite-Bourgogne–

–

The composition of the borough council remained unchanged following the 2017 municipal election, and consists of the following councillors:

Provincial

The bulk of the borough constitutes the provincial electoral district of

Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne is a provincial electoral district in the Montreal region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It comprises all of the Le Sud-Ouest borough of Montreal. It was created for the 1994 ...

; the industrial and railway area in the northeast is in the district of

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Notre-Dame-de-Grâce ( en, Our Lady of Grace), also nicknamed NDG, is a residential neighbourhood of Montreal in the city's West End, with a population of 166,520 (2016). An independent municipality until annexed by the City of Montreal in 1910, ...

Federal

The borough is divided among the following federal ridings: *

Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. It encompasses a portion of Quebec formerly included in the electoral distr ...

(Saint-Henri, Pointe-Saint-Charles, Little Burgundy, Griffintown, part of Côte-Saint-Paul) *

LaSalle—Émard—Verdun LaSalle—Émard—Verdun is a federal electoral district in Montreal, Quebec. It was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was legally defined in the 2013 representation order. It came into effect upon the call o ...

(Ville-Émard, part of Côte-Saint-Paul)

Demographicshttp://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/MTL_STATS_FR/MEDIA/DOCUMENTS/PROFIL_SOCIOD%C9MO_SUD-OUEST%202016.PDF

Infrastructure

Transport

The borough is served by the

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

and

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

lines of the

Montreal Metro The Montreal Metro (french: Métro de Montréal) is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), was inaugurated on October 14, ...

, including Place-Saint-Henri, Lionel-Groulx,

Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...

, Angrignon, Georges-Vanier,

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, and Jolicoeur stations. The borough is traversed and partly delimited by

Quebec Autoroutes Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

15 (Décarie Aut.) and 20 (Ville-Marie Aut.); Autoroute 10 (Bonaventure Aut.) also passes through it. The Montreal ends of the Champlain Bridge and Victoria Bridge lie in Le Sud-Ouest, as does the Turcot Interchange (autoroutes 15 and 20), Quebec's largest highway interchange. The CN rail lines exiting

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

pass through the borough. Major thoroughfares include Notre Dame St., Laurendeau St., St. Patrick St., La Vérendrye Blvd., De l'Église St., Monk Blvd., Centre St., Charlevoix St., Wellington St., Atwater Ave., and Guy St. The

is crossed by the Boul. Monk, Rue Charlevoix, Rue des Seigneurs, and Rue Wellington bridges and by the Saint Rémi and Atwater tunnels. Bicycle paths run along the Lachine Canal, through the Parc du Premier-Chemin-de-Fer and Rue Lionel-Groulx, and through Pointe-Saint-Charles. Pedestrian- and cyclist-only bridges across the canal are located at the Saint-Gabriel Locks, the Atwater Market, Gédéon de Catalogne Park (rue Beaudoin), and Rue de l'Église.

Culture and recreation

The two largest green spaces in the borough are the

and its recreational facilities (including the Lachine Canal National Historic Site of Canada), and

Angrignon Park Angrignon Park (french: Parc Angrignon) is an urban park in the Le Sud-Ouest borough Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Angrignon Park has a total area of 97 hectares. It includes a 1.1km long lake. It is considered by the City of Montreal as one of its ...

. Other important parks include Ignace Bourget Park (Ville-Émard),

Sir George-Étienne Cartier Square , photo = Parc George-Etienne-Cartier.jpg , photo_width = , photo_caption = The fountain at Sir George-Étienne Cartier Square , map = Canada Montreal , map_width = , type = Town square , location = Saint Henri, Le Sud-Ouest, Montreal, Qu ...

and Saint-Henri Park (Saint-Henri), Vinet Park and Oscar Peterson Park (Little Burgundy), and Saint-Gabriel Park,

Marguerite Bourgeoys Park __NOTOC__ Marguerite Bourgeoys Park (french: Parc Marguerite-Bourgeoys) is a park in the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighbourhood of the Le Sud-Ouest borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is bordered by du Parc Marguerite-Bourgeoys Street to the nor ...

, and Le Ber Park (Pointe-Saint-Charles). The borough boasts numerous historic buildings, such as the

Maison Saint-Gabriel The Maison Saint-Gabriel Museum is located in Montreal, Quebec and is dedicated to preserving the history, heritage and artifacts of the settlers of New France in the mid 17th century. The museum consists of a small farm, which has been administer ...

(built in 1698), the former Negro Community Centre, the Atwater Market,

Union United Church The Union United Church of Montreal is Montreal, Quebec, Canada's oldest black congregation. It was founded in 1907 by several members of Montreal's black community who experienced racial conflict and were banned from entering all-white churches. ...

Corona Theatre The Corona Theatre (french: Théâtre Corona), in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is located at 2490 Notre-Dame Street West in the Little Burgundy neighbourhood of the borough of Le Sud-Ouest. It is one of several vintage movie theatres in Montreal wh ...

, the Atwater pumping station, the Saint-Henri fire hall, and the area's churches. In Saint-Henri, the

Musée des ondes Emile Berliner The Musée des ondes Emile Berliner is located in the historic factory of the ''Berliner Gram-o-phone Company'' in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The museum is a technical history Museum about the development of music recording and subsequent industri ...

tells the story of the radio and phonograph industry in the historic RCA Victor building. Berliner Gramophone display

The borough's community centres include the Centre Saint-Zotique, the Centre d'éducation populaire (CEDA), Tyndale-St. George's Community Centre, Maison Saint-Charles, and Centre Monseigneur-Pigeon. It is served by four libraries: Marie-Uguay, Saint-Henri, Georges-Vanier, and Saint-Charles. Sporting facilities include the Complexe récréatif Gadbois, one of the largest on the island, as well as the Piscine Émard, Piscine Saint-Henri, Centre sportif de la Petite-Bourgogne, and Piscine Saint-Charles.

Institutions

The territory of Le Sud-Ouest is served by the Centre de santé et des services sociaux du Sud-Ouest–Verdun, which operates the

s Saint-Henri and Ville-Émard–Côte-Saint-Paul. The Clinique communautaire Pointe-Saint-Charles, though it inspired the CLSC system and is the provider of CLSC services for Pointe-Saint-Charles, continues to operate independently of the CLSC system. The nearest hospitals are the Hôpital de Verdun, Hôpital de LaSalle and the

McGill University Health Centre The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC; french: Centre universitaire de santé McGill) is one of two major healthcare networks in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is affiliated with McGill University and is one of the largest medical complex in ...

superhospital is immediately northwest of the borough.

Centre Sportif de la Petite-Bourgogne

The Little Burgundy Sports Center features a multitude of activities and spaces to accommodate a large audience. This large facility is very much involved in community life and contributes to the dynamism of Little Burgundy and the Southwest district. Its elegant and contemporary architecture makes it a true landmark in this part of Montreal. Opened in 1997, this beautiful building was built at a cost of $8.6 million by neighborhood residents striving to overcome the lack of activities and sports facilities in the area. Its funding was arranged by three parties: the federal and provincial governments have contributed $4 million and the City of Montreal invested $4.6 million. During the opening, the Mayor Pierre Bourque officially transferred the facility and equipment management to the Little Burgundy Sports Center Corporation, chaired at the time by Mrs. Léonie Charles. Managed independently, the Little Burgundy Sport Center is represented by the board of directors and a management team that works in partnership with the South West district, City of Montreal.

Commerce

Major commercial streets include Boulevard Monk (Ville-Émard), Avenue de l'Église (Côte Saint-Paul), Rue du Centre (Pointe-Saint-Charles), and Rue Notre-Dame (Saint-Henri and Little Burgundy). Rue Notre-Dame in Little Burgundy is notable as a centre for antiques dealers. The Atwater Market, is located beside the Lachine Canal. Joe Beef Restaurant is on Notre Dame Street West in Little Burgundy.

Education

The ''

Commission scolaire de Montréal The Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSM ''Montreal school board''), was a board from 1998 until 2020, as a result of a law passed by the Quebec government that changed the school board system from religious denomination to linguistic denominatio ...

'' (CSDM) operates Francophone public schools. The

English Montreal School Board The English Montreal School Board (EMSB, french: Commission scolaire English-Montréal – CSEM) is one of five public school boards on the island of Montreal. At 92.4 percent, the English Montreal School Board has the highest rate of students wh ...

(EMSB) operates Anglophone public schools. 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 four libraries: Georges-Vanier, Marie-Uguay, Saint-Charles, and Saint-Henri.Les bibliothèques par arrondissement
"

. Retrieved on December 7, 2014. The borough is home to the

École de technologie supérieure École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) is a public engineering faculty in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974, the École de technologie supérieure is a constituent of Université du Québec system. Specialized in applied teaching in ...

technical university.

Bibliothèque Georges-Vanier

This library, more than 100 years old, was the first French-language public library erected in Canada and is the oldest branch still in operation in the city. It was forced to close in 1918 after the First World War for budget reasons, but in 1947, thanks to the determination of Georges Vanier, it reopened as the Workman library.

References

External links

* * City of Montreal
Le Sud-Ouest
(in French) * IMTL
Historical buildings and skyscrapers in Sud-Ouest borough
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sud-Ouest, Le Boroughs of Montreal Irish-Canadian culture in Montreal Gentrification in Canada