HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Laval is a city in
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 in the southwest of the province, north 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 ...
. It is the largest suburb 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 ...
, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and
Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
, and the thirteenth largest city in Canada, with a population of 443,192 in
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
. Laval is geographically separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from 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 ...
to the south by the Rivière des Prairies. Laval occupies all of Île Jésus as well as the Îles Laval. Laval constitutes one of the 17 administrative regions of Quebec, with a region code of 13, as well as a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and
census division Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic uni ...
(CD) with geographical code 65. It also constitutes the judicial district of Laval. It is the smallest administrative region in the province by area.


History

The first European Settlers in Laval were
Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, who were granted a
seigneury A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal system, feudal title in Ancien Régime, France before the French Revolution, Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owne ...
there in 1636. Agriculture first appeared in Laval in 1670. In 1675, François de Montmorency-Laval gained control of the seigneury. In 1702 a parish municipality was founded, and dedicated to Saint-François de Sales (not to be confused with the modern-day Saint-François-de-Sales in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean). In 1845, after nearly 200 years being of a rural nature, additional municipalities began to be created. The only built-up area on the island, Sainte-Rose, was incorporated as a village in 1850, and it remained the main community for the remainder of the century. With the dawn of the 20th century came urbanization. Laval-des-Rapides became Laval's first city in 1912, followed by , which was granted village status three years later. Laval-sur-le-Lac was founded in the same year and had its tourist-based economy based on Montrealers. Laval began to grow throughout the following years because its proximity to Montreal made it an ideal suburb. To deal with problems caused by urbanization, amalgamations occurred; L'Abord-à-Plouffe amalgamated with and Saint-Martin, creating the city of Chomedey in 1961. The amalgamation turned out to be so successful for the municipalities involved that the Quebec government decided to amalgamate the whole island into a single city of Laval in 1965, not without controversy. Laval was named after the first owner of Île Jésus, François de Montmorency-Laval, the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec. At the time, Laval had a population of 170,000. Laval became a
Regional County Municipality The term regional county municipality or RCM (, , MRC) is used in Quebec, Canada to refer to one of 87 county-like political entities. In some older English translations they were called county regional municipality. Regional county municipalit ...
in 1980. Until then, it had been the County of Laval. The 14 municipalities, which existed prior to the incorporation of the amalgamated City of Laval on 6 August 1965, were:


Geography

The island has developed over time, with most of the urban area in the central region and along the south and west river banks. Laval is bordered on the south by
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 ...
across the Rivière des Prairies, on the north by Les Moulins Regional County Municipality and by Thérèse-De Blainville Regional County Municipality and on the west by Deux-Montagnes Regional County Municipality across the Rivière des Mille Îles.


Climate

Laval experiences a four-season
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(
Koppen Koppen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dan Koppen (born 1979), American football offensive lineman * (1929–1990), German literary scholar * (1855–1922), German author * Otto C. Koppen (1901–1991), American aircraf ...
: Dfb) with very warm summers and very cold winters with adequate precipitation year-round, though more so during summer and early fall.


Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population 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 ...
, Laval 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. According to the 2016 Census, the population of Laval was an estimated 422,993, a 5.3 percent increase from the earlier census in 2011. Women constituted 51.4% of the total population. Children under 14 years of age totalled 17.4%, while 17.2% of the population was of retirement age (65 years of age and older). The median age was calculated as 41.9 years.


Ethnicity


Immigration


Language

.


Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Laval included: *
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
(280,720 people or 65.4%) * Irreligious (77,165; 18.0%) *
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
(55,620; 12.9%) *
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
(5,940; 1.4%) *
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
(4,140; 1.0%) *
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
(2,435; 0.6%) *
Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
(2,235; 0.5%) * Indigenous Spirituality (10; less than 0.1%) *Other (1,280; 0.3%)


Economy

Laval's diverse economy is centred around the technology, pharmaceutical, industrial and retail sectors. It has many pharmaceutical laboratories but also stone quarries and a persistent agricultural sector. Long seen as a
bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
, Laval has diversified its economy, especially in the retail sector, developing numerous shopping malls, warehouses and various retail stores. Laval has four different
industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...
s. The first is Industrial Park Centre, in the heart of Laval at the corner of St. Martin West and Industriel Blvd. One of the largest municipal industrial parks in
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, ...
, the Industrial Park Centre boasts the highest concentration of manufacturing companies in Laval: 1,024 at last count, and 22,378 employees. The park still has of space available. The second, the Autoroute 25 Industrial Park is at the crossroads of the metropolitan road network. Inaugurated in 2001, this new industrial municipal space has been a tremendous success, boasting an 80% occupancy rate. Laval is studying the possibility of expanding this park in the next few years. The third, known as Industrial Park East, is in the neighbourhood of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. This park has reached full capacity with a 100% occupancy rate. Industrial Park East is currently part of a municipal program to revitalize municipal services and public utilities. Laval is working with a private developer on an expansion project for the park that should be announced in the near future. The fourth industrial park, the Laval Science and High Technology Park is located along Rivière des Prairies and Autoroute 15. It is a science campus that houses the Biotech City and the Information Technology Development Centre (ITDC). Nearly of space are available for development. The Biotech City spans the entire territory of the Laval Science and High Technology Park and is a unique concept in Canada in that its residents comprise both universities and companies. Created in 1995, Laval Technopole is a nonprofit organization that has the objective to promote the economic growth of Laval by attracting and supporting new business and investments located in its 5 territory poles: Biopole, e-Pol, Agropole, industrial pole and Leisure/tourism. Alimentation Couche-Tard has its headquarters in Laval.


Attractions

Laval's main attractions are: ''Source: Tourisme Laval.''


Sport

Laval was the host-city of the " Jeux du Québec" held in summer 1991 and of the Canadian Hockey League's 1994 Memorial Cup. Laval became home to the
Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...
'
American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
affiliate the Laval Rocket, starting in the 2017–18 season.


Government


Municipal politics

The city's longtime mayor, Gilles Vaillancourt, resigned on 9 November 2012, following allegations of corruption made against him in hearings of the provincial
Charbonneau Commission The Commission of Inquiry on the Awarding and Management of Public Contracts in the Construction Industry (, also known as the Charbonneau Commission) was a public inquiry in Quebec, Canada into potential corruption in the management of public con ...
. City councillor Basile Angelopoulos served as acting mayor"Laval searches for interim mayor"
CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
, 13 November 2012.
until Alexandre Duplessis was selected in a council vote on 23 November. Duplessis, in turn, stepped down after just seven months in office after facing allegations of being implicated in a prostitution investigation;"Laval mayor Alexandre Duplessis resigns"
'' The Gazette'', 28 June 2013.
he was succeeded by city councillor Martine Beaugrand until the city's new mayor, Marc Demers, was elected in the 2013 municipal election. Past mayors have been: * Jean-Noël Lavoie (founding mayor), 1965 * Jacques Tétreault, 1965–1973 * Lucien Paiement, 1973–1981 * Claude Lefebvre, 1981–1989 * Gilles Vaillancourt, 1989–2012 * Alexandre Duplessis, 2012–2013 * Martine Beaugrand, 2013 * Marc Demers, 2013–2021 * Stéphane Boyer, 2021–present On 3 June 2013, the provincial government of
Pauline Marois Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a Member of the National Assembly (Quebec), member of the National Assembly in various ridings ...
placed the city under trusteeship due to the ongoing corruption scandal affecting the city."Quebec premier calls Laval trusteeship 'terrible, disheartening, sad
''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', 3 June 2013.
Florent Gagné, a former head of the Sûreté du Québec, will serve as the city's head trustee, with responsibility for reviewing and approving or rejecting all decisions made by city council. Municipal Affairs Minister Sylvain Gaudreault said that Laval's Mayor Alexandre Duplessis and his council will continue to serve, but council decisions must be approved by the trustees. Duplessis, in turn, resigned as mayor on 28 June 2013, after being implicated in a separate prostitution allegation.


Flag, seal and motto

On a white-yellow background, the emblem of Laval illustrates the modernism of a city in full expansion. The sign of the city symbolizes the "L" of Laval. The colours also have a significant meaning: * Dark red represents the affluence and economic potential of Laval. * Blue symbolizes the quality of life and the installation of a human city. The "L" of Laval is made of cubes that represent the development of Laval. The letters of the Laval signature are related one to the other to point out the merger of the 14 municipalities of Jesus island in 1965. The logo (that is on the flag) has existed since the 1980s and the flag since the 1990s.


Federal and provincial politics

Federally, prior to 1984 Laval had been a bastion of Liberal support. From 1984 to 1993 the Conservative dominated Laval but have not won a seat since.Since the 90's Laval has been a battleground area between the Quebec separatist parties (the '' Bloc Québécois'' federally and the '' Parti Québécois'' provincially) and the federalist parties (various parties federally and the Quebec Liberal Party provincially). In 2011, amid an NDP surge in the province they swept all 4 seats in Laval for the first and only time. Since the 2015 election the Liberals have held all seats. Provincially the other parts of Laval have drifted to the provincial Liberals in recent years. While the PQ held every Laval riding except Chomedey (which voted overwhelmingly to not separate in the 1995 Quebec referendum) during their second stint in government between 1994 and 2003. The Liberals won every Laval riding in 2003, 2007, and 2008. During the 2012 election, the PQ saw some gains in Laval when they captured 2 seats, but both returned to the Liberal fold during the 2014 election. During the 2018 election amid a rise of the CAQ, the Liberals held their own in the Laval losing only 1 seat to the CAQ. In the 2022 election the CAQ captured 3 more seats in Laval netting them 4 out of 6 seats and ending the dominance of the Liberals in Laval since the 2003 election. The Conservative Party of Quebec saw its vote share jump from just under 2% in 2018 to third place with just under 13%.


Infrastructure


Roads

;Highways * A-13 (Chomedey Highway) –
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 ...
to Boisbriand * A-15 (Laurentian Highway) –
New York state New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
to Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts * A-19 (Papineau Highway) –
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 ...
to Boulevard Dagenais, continues as Route 335 to Bois-des-Filion and beyond * A-25 – Boucherville to Saint-Esprit via
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 the A-440 (Laval) * A-440 (Autoroute Jean-Noël-Lavoie) – Laval ;Provincial routes * Route 117 – Montreal to Ontario Highway 66 past
Rouyn-Noranda Rouyn-Noranda (; Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population 42,313) is a city on Osisko Lake in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada. The city of Rouyn-Noranda is coextensive with a territory equivalent to a regional county municipalit ...
* Route 125 – Montreal to Saint-Donat * Route 148 – Laval to Pembroke, Ontario * Route 335 – Montreal to the Lanaudière region past Saint-Calixte ;Incidents * 2000 Boulevard du Souvenir overpass collapse: On 18 June 2000, during renovations to the Souvenir Boulevard overpass over Highway 15, the southern section collapsed onto the highway, causing the death of one person. * De la Concorde Overpass collapse: On 30 September 2006, the De la Concorde overpass over Autoroute 19 suddenly collapsed killing five people.


Public transit

;Montreal Metro In April 2007, the Montreal Metro was extended to Laval with three stations. The long-awaited stations were begun in 2003 and completed in April 2007, two months ahead of the revised schedule, at a cost of C$803 million, funded entirely by the Quebec government. The stations are Cartier, De La Concorde, and Montmorency. The arrival of the Metro in Laval was long-awaited as it was first promised in the 1960s. Former mayor, Gilles Vaillancourt, announced his wish to loop the Orange line from Montmorency to Côte-Vertu stations with the addition of six new stations (three in Laval and another three in Montreal). He proposed that Transports Quebec, the provincial transport department, set aside C$100 million annually to fund the project, which was expected to cost upwards of $1.5 billion. ;Commuter rail The Exo public transit agency's Saint-Jérôme commuter train line traverses the island, connecting Laval to downtown Montreal. There are currently three train stations in Laval: De la Concorde (an intermodal station offering transfer to the metro), Vimont and Sainte-Rose. The Deux-Montagnes commuter train line served the western tip of Laval until it was closed on 31 December 2020. Work is underway to replace it with the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) light metro system. ;Buses The Société de transport de Laval (STL) provides local bus service in Laval. The STL's network consists of 35 regular lines, two rush hour lines, two trainbus lines, three express lines, one community circuit and several taxi lines. There are reserved lanes for buses and taxis on Chomedey Blvd between Le Carrefour Blvd and the Des Prairies River ( Lachapelle Bridge) and beyond as well as along boulevard des Laurentides between rue Proulx and boulevard Cartier (the reserved lane, in this case for buses only, continues onto the Pont Viau bridge into Montreal until the Terminus Laval at the Henri-Bourassa Metro station). Most buses that use the reserved lane end their journey at the Cartier Metro station. The AMT and the City of Laval have developed reserved bus and taxi lanes on Notre-Dame Boulevard between Vincent Massey Street and Place Alton-Goldbloom and another on De la Concorde Blvd between De l'Avenir and Laval Blvds, as well as between Ampere Ave and Roanne St. These reserved lanes (Notre-Dame and De la Concorde are the same boulevard but change name where they meet under Autoroute 15) opened shortly after 31 October 2007.


Education

Laval is home to a variety of vocational/technical centres, colleges and universities, including: The city has two separate school boards serving Laval: the '' Centre de services scolaire de Laval'' (formerly the ''Commission scolaire de Laval'') for French-speaking students and the
Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board (SWLSB, , CSSWL) is a school board headquartered in Rosemère, Quebec in Greater Montreal. It officially came into existence in July 1998 when English-language schools from eight former school boards were amalg ...
for English-speaking students. There is one community English-language high school in the city: Laval Senior Academy, created on 1 July 2015 by the merger of Laval Liberty High School and Laurier Senior High School.About Us
" Laval Senior Academy. Retrieved on 4 September 2017.
North Star Academy Laval is the only private English high school in Laval. They offer secondary 1 to 5 and the possibility to do a grade 12 diploma from Ontario via their online platform.


Media

Laval is served by media from Montreal, however it does have some of its own regional media outlets. Two radio stations are licensed to serve the city: CJLV 1570 AM "''Radio Mieux-être''" (formerly ''CFAV'') and CFGL 105.7 FM "''Rythme FM''". Additionally, there are three major newspapers in Laval: the bi-weekly English-language ''The Laval News'', the bi-weekly French-language ''Le Courrier Laval'' and the weekly French-language ''L'Écho de Laval''. One television community channel operates on Laval's territory, Télévision régionale de Laval, as part of Videotron cable's VOX network.


Sister cities

Laval is twinned with: * Botoșani, Romania * Klagenfurt, Austria * Laval, France *
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionPedro Aguirre Cerda, Chile *
Ribeira Grande Ribeira Grande may refer to the following places: Cape Verde * Ribeira Grande (stream), a stream on the island of Santo Antão * Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde, a town on the island of Santo Antão * Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde (municipality), a municip ...
, Portugal *
San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...
, El Salvador


Friendship and cooperation

Laval also cooperates with: *
Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
, France * Mudanjiang, China * Padua Province, Italy *
Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...
, Israel *
Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
, Canada


See also

* Bibliothèque de Laval * List of crossings of the Rivière des Mille Îles * List of crossings of the Rivière des Prairies * List of people from Laval, Quebec * List of Quebec regions


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Territories equivalent to a regional county municipality 1965 establishments in Quebec Populated places established in 1636 1636 establishments in the French colonial empire Administrative regions of Quebec Greater Montreal