Kirkland is an on-island suburb on the

Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which 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 island of the Hochelag ...

in southwestern

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. It is named after Charles-Aimé Kirkland, a Quebec provincial politician. It was incorporated as a town in 1961. Kirkland is primarily a residential community, with a commercial core, and an industrial park straddling the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

( Autoroute 40). In 1997, that portion of the Autoroute 40 was renamed to Félix-Leclerc Highway. The city is composed of mainly single-family residences, with some multi-unit facilities (apartments, town houses, and condos) available.

History

Maison Jean-Baptiste-Jamme-Dit-Carriere 07

In the early 18th century settlement began of farming communities along Côte Saint-Charles (now

Boulevard Saint-Charles Saint-Charles Boulevard is a north-south artery located in Quebec, Canada, in the west of the island of Montreal, colloquially known as West Island among locals. The boulevard is one of the main West Island arteries that cross the island from no ...

). By 1731, Côte Saint-Charles had 19 farms, 12 houses, and 17 barns. It was part of the Parish of Saint-Joachim de la Pointe Claire, which included the present territory of the cities of

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

, Kirkland, and

Pointe-Claire Pointe-Claire (, ) is a Quebec local municipality within the Urban agglomeration of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in Canada. It is entirely developed, and land use includes residential, light manufacturing, and retail. As of the 2021 cen ...

. The construction of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

in 1855 brought further development. In 1845, the Municipality of Pointe-Claire was created, abolished two years later and restored in 1855 as the Parish Municipality of Saint-Joachim-de-la-Pointe-Claire (or just Pointe-Claire). In 1910, Beaconsfield split off to form a separate town. In 1955, large portions of the parish municipality were annexed by the City of Pointe-Claire (originally the Village Municipality of Saint-Joachim-de-la-Pointe-Claire) and by the Parish of Sainte-Geneviève. Attempts in the late 1950s by the City of Beaconsfield to annex the municipality started the process to become a town. In March 1961, it changed status to become a (town/city) and took the name Kirkland. That same year, the construction began of the Trans-Canada Highway (Autoroute 40), completed in 1964. On January 1, 2002, as part of the

2002–2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal Montreal was one of the cities in Quebec affected by the 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec. On January 1, 2002, all the municipalities on the island of Montreal were merged into the city of Montreal. However, following a change of ...

, it was merged into the city of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and became a borough. However, after a change of government and a 2004 referendum, it was re-constituted as an independent municipality on January 1, 2006.

Demographics

According to the

Office québécois de la langue française The (, OQLF; ) is an agency of the Quebec provincial government charged with ensuring legislative requirements with respect to the right to use French are respected. Established on 24 March 1961 by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage, the ...

, Kirkland has been officially recognized as a bilingual municipality since 2005-11-02. In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Kirkland had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Economy

The town of Kirkland has a large business and industrial park spanning both sides of

Quebec Autoroute 40 Autoroute 40, officially known as Autoroute Félix-Leclerc outside Montreal and Metropolitan Autoroute/Autoroute Métropolitaine within Montreal, is an Autoroutes of Quebec, Autoroute on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in the Provinces ...

. Companies in the area operate in a wide range of industries including

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

goods,

pharmaceuticals Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

, printed goods,

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

software engineering Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...

, telecommunications, petrochemicals, and transportation. Notable employers in the city of Kirkland include: * Broccolini Construction * Jubilant DraxImage * Merck & Co. *

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

Targray Targray Technology International Inc., commonly referred to as Targray, is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational materials distributor headquartered in Kirkland, Quebec that provides commodities and distribution of pulses, biofuel, ...

Zodiac Aerospace Zodiac Aerospace was a French aerospace group, active from 1896 to 2018, that supplied systems and equipment for aircraft. In October 2018, it was acquired by French aerospace and defense company Safran. History Aeronautic foundations (1896 ...

*Zoetis

Local government

The territory of the Town of Kirkland is divided into eight electoral districts. Each district is represented by a councillor elected by the voters of that district. The mayor is elected by all voters and represents the entire territory made up of eight-districts. It is a full-service community, with a public works department, recreation department, engineering department, accounting, communications, human resources and administrative services operating for the welfare of its citizens. The present mayor is now Michel Gibson, who has been a member of the Kirkland City Council since the mid-1970s. #Michael Brown (District 1 - Timberlea) #Luciano Piciacchia (District 2 - Holleuffer) #Samuel Rother (District 3 - Brunswick) #Domenico Zito (District 4 - Lacey Green West) #Stephen Bouchard (District 5 - Lacey Green East) #John Morson (District 6 - Canvin) #Paul Dufort (District 7 - St. Charles) #Karen Cliffe (District 8 - Summerhill)

Former mayors

List of former mayors: * Jean-Baptiste Théoret (1845–1847) * Francois Valois (1855–1858, 1864–1868) * Gabriël Valois (1858–1860, 1869–71, 1881–1887) * Pierre Charles Valois (1860–1864) * Leon Legault (1864, 1872–1881) * Joste Legaut (1887–1895) * Jean Bte Valérie Quesnel (1896–1909) * Gédéon Legault (1910–1914) * Daniel Arthur Legault (1915–1918) * Joseph Dosithée Legault (1919–1925) * Ernest Brunet (1925–1927) * Joseph Anthime Legault (1927–1931) * Ovila Brunet (1931–1939) * Joseph Glaude Zetique Asénor Legault (1939–1941) * Aimé Legault (1941–1945) * Edmé Brunet (1945–1953) * André Brunet (1953–1957, 1965–1968) * W. Wallace Horne (1957–1958) * James A. Smiley (1958, 1968–1975) * Marcel Meloche (1958–1965) * Samuel L. Elkas (1975–1989) * John William Meaney (1989, 1994–2002, 2006–2013) * Nunzio "Nick" Discepola (1989–1993) * Michel Gibson (1993–1994, 2013–present) * Brian MacDonald (1994)

Culture and recreation

Public Library

The Kirkland Public Library has an impressive collective of more than 80,000 volumes in French and English for adults, teens and children. The library also offers online database searching, children and adult programs, computer rooms, wireless Internet, inter-library loans, photocopying and reserved books.

Parks, Green space and Sport facilities

Kirkland Sports Complex has an indoor gymnasium that offers badminton, basketball, floor hockey, volleyball and other indoor sport activities. As well as an arena for hockey, ringette, free or figure skating. Around the town there are multiple outdoor centres for soccer, baseball, tennis, football, basketball, beach volleyball and ice rinks as well as a 5 kilometre (3 mile) bike trail. There is also a splash pad and community pool offered in this town. The splash pad and community pools make it possible for young and old alike to experience the joys of swimming. The splash pad is located the Harris park. The community pool is located at the Ecclestone park. The Town of Kirkland has many halls and park chalets, which citizens, associations and organizations can rent out for different occasions or activities (banquets, meetings, parties, exhibits, shows, etc.): * Sports Complex * Ecclestone Chalet * Holleuffer Chalet * Kirkland Chalet * Lantier House * Conference room (Kirkland Public Library) * Dés Bénévoles Chalet *Meades Park (on the same grounds as the sports complex) *Canvin Park *Kirkland Park *Robbie-Loftus Park *Park du Chablis *Park Syrah *Park Moreau *Park Fewtrell *Park Dance *Park Letarte

Special Events

Kirkland Day, which takes place mid-June, is a big outdoor annual festival celebrating the inauguration of the Town of Kirkland on March 24, 1961. The first Kirkland Day was held on June 20, 1970, at the dedication of Kirkland Park. Since then, Kirkland residents come out in great numbers every year to celebrate the town together. Other events within the town include: * Winter Carnival *Kirkland Day * Mini Olympics * Kirkland Food Drive * Christmas Events

Education

The '' Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys'' operates Francophone public schools, but were previously operated by the '' Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys'' until June 15, 2020. Previously school districts were on religious grounds, but there was a law passed by the Quebec government that changed the school board system from denominational to

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

. Professional development centres: * ''Centre de formation professionnelle des métiers de la santé'' Primary schools: * ''École primaire Émile-Nelligan'' The

Lester B. Pearson School Board The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB, , 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 headquartered in Dorval, Quebec. Established in 1998, ...

(LBPSB) operates Anglophone public schools in the area. Primary schools: * Margaret Manson Elementary School * Some areas are served by Sherbrooke Academy (junior and senior campuses) and Beacon Hill Elementary School in

, Clearpoint Elementary School in

, and Kingsdale Academy in

Pierrefonds-Roxboro Pierrefonds-Roxboro () is a borough of the city of Montreal. It was created January 1, 2006, following the demerger of parts of the city. Geography It is composed of the former municipalities of Pierrefonds and Roxboro, spanning the northern ...

Private preschool, primary and high school: * Kuper Academy The Federation of private schools, FEEP (''La Féderation des establissements d'enseginement privés'') operates bilingual (French/English) private schools in the area: Preschool, kindergarten, primary school and high school: * ''Académie Marie-Claire''

Notable residents

* Nick Discepola, former mayor, former Member of Parliament for Vaudreuil-Soulanges *

Tanith Belbin Tanith Jessica Louise Belbin White (born July 11, 1984) is a Canadian American ice dancing, ice dancer and Olympic program host for NBC Sports. Though born in Canada, she holds Multiple citizenship, dual citizenship and has competed for the Unite ...

, Canadian-American

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

* Joseph Veleno, hockey player * Louis Leblanc, hockey player *

Randy McKay Hugh Randall McKay (born January 25, 1967) is a Canadian former professional hockey player. Playing the right wing position, he played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1988 to 2003 with the Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, Dallas S ...

, hockey player *Thomas Gale, hockey player *

Brandon Reid Brandon Reid (born March 9, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward, who spent parts of three seasons in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks. Until December 12, 2019, Reid served as the head coach of the Kr ...

, hockey player *

Sergio Momesso Sergio Francesco Momesso (born September 4, 1965) is an Italian-Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1983 and 1997. Playing career Momesso played his junior hockey for t ...

, hockey player *

Marc Denis Joseph Marc Denis (born August 1, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender, who last played with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). For the 2009–10 season, he was hired as the goaltenders' coach of ...

, radio personality *

Charles Daudelin Charles Daudelin, (October 1, 1920 – April 2, 2001) was a French Canadian pioneer in modern sculpture and painting. He worked in a wide variety of media, including painting, metal and ceramic sculpture, jewelry, and marionettes which he ma ...

, artist, pioneer in integrating art in public *Michael Regina, co-founder of

TheOneRing.net Tolkien fandom is an international, informal community of fans of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially of the Middle-earth legendarium which includes ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', and ''The Silmarillion''. The concept of Tolkien ...

* James Pantemis, Canadian soccer goalkeeper

References

External links

Kirkland website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Island of Montreal municipalities Bilingual cities and towns in Quebec