Monkland Village is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...

of the

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, ...

district in the

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 ...

borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. It is located between Grand Boulevard and the

Décarie Expressway Autoroute 15 (also called the Décarie Expressway (English) or Autoroute Décarie (French) between the Turcot and Décarie Interchanges in Montreal and the Laurentian Autoroute (English) or Autoroute des Laurentides (French) north of Autorout ...

Décarie Boulevard Autoroute 15 (also called the Décarie Expressway (English) or Autoroute Décarie (French) between the Turcot and Décarie Interchanges in Montreal and the Laurentian Autoroute (English) or Autoroute des Laurentides (French) north of Autorout ...

, and between Avenue Somerled and Chemin Côte-St-Antoine. The neighbourhood derives its name from Monkland Avenue, the commercial street at the heart of it. The Villa Maria metro station is located at the eastern end of Monkland Avenue.

Origins

Both the neighbourhood and the avenue are named after

James Monk Sir James Monk (1745 – November 18, 1826) was Chief Justice of Lower Canada. Monk played a significant role in the abolition of slavery in British North America, when as Chief Justice he rendered a series of decisions regarding escaped ...

, who was the attorney general of

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

, and chief justice to the court of the

Queen's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of common ...

from 1804 to 1824. This area in particular became associated with Monk due to the estate he built in 1804 known as ''Monklands''. This estate would later become the Governor General's residence, and was later sold to the Congregation de Notre-Dame who would use the building for the Villa Maria private Catholic school.

Monkland Avenue

Monkland Avenue has been a commercial street since the 1930s. Today the strip is transforming into an upscale commercial street. It is home to many small businesses including restaurants ( Monkland Tavern, Lucille's, Al Dente),

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

s (

Second Cup Second Cup Café, is a Canadian restaurant chain, coffee retailer, and roaster which operates more than 190 cafes nationwide. Its headquarters are in Pierrefonds, Québec. Its stores sell hot and cold beverages, pastries, snacks, pre-packaged foo ...

, Mercanti), bars (Typhoon's, Ye Olde Orchard), food stores (Le Maître Boucher,

Première Moisson Première Moisson is a chain of artisanal bakeries mostly operating in Quebec, Canada with one store at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa. It focuses on high-quality French breads and pastry, pastries. The ...

), unique boutiques (Kidlink, 101 artisans, Espace Tricot… ) and a dance school (Les Ateliers Turcotte). In the summer of 2013 the Monkland Merchants Association organized a very successful street Festival that attracted more than 90,000 people over a three-day period. Between 2014 and 2017, Monkland Avenue boasted one of the city's largest street festivals lasting 3 days and attracts more than 250,000 attendees, over 20 food trucks and 50 independent merchants. 2015 marked the arrival of new merchants such as Café Di Mercanti, LE Cheese, Casa de Mateo (now closed), Food De Toi (now closed), Bistro Amerigo, and Bacaro Pizzeria.

References

Neighbourhoods in Montreal Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Gentrification in Canada Hipster neighborhoods {{Montreal-stub