Saint-Leonard ( ; ) is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, 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 ...

(''

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

'') 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 ...

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. Formerly a separate city, it was amalgamated into the city of Montreal in 2002. The former city was originally called Saint-Leonard de Port Maurice after

Leonard of Port Maurice Leonard of Port Maurice, O.F.M., (; 20 December 1676 – 26 November 1751) was an Italian Franciscan preacher and ascetic writer. Life Leonard was born 19 December 1676, the son of Domenico Casanova and Anna Maria Benza. He was given the name ...

, an Italian saint. The borough is home to Montreal's

Via Italia Jean Talon Street (officially in ) is one of the longest streets on the Island of Montreal. It runs from Décarie Boulevard in the west through Anjou in the east to Galeries d'Anjou. Jean Talon was the first Intendant of New France. In the Town ...

Geography

Saint-Leonard is located in the northeastern part of the Island of Montreal. It is bordered by five boroughs:

Montréal-Nord Montreal North (, ) is a borough within the city of Montreal, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city of Montreal North on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. It was amalgamated into the City of Montreal on January 1, 2002. ...

to the north and northwest,

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France ** Du ...

to the east,

Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve () is a borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada located in the southeastern end of the island. History ''See Mercier and Hochelaga-Maisonneuve articles for a more detailed histories of respective areas'' Hochelaga w ...

to the southeast, Rosemont–La-Petite-Patrie to the south and

Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension () is a borough (''arrondissement'') in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It had a population of 143,853 according to the 2016 Census and a land area of . The borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extensi ...

to the southwest and west. Jean-Talon Street East (Rue Jean-Talon Est) traverses through the borough, connecting it to Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension and Anjou.

Features

Highways

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 ...

(''Autoroute Métropolitaine''), part of 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 ...

, traverses the area. Exits 76, 77 and 78 are in Saint-Leonard.

Public Transportation

Public transportation in Saint-Leonard is managed by the ''

Société de transport de Montréal The Société de transport de Montréal (, STM; ) is a public transport agency that operates transit bus and rapid transit services in the urban agglomeration of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Established in 1861 as the "Montreal City Passenger Railwa ...

'' (STM). Saint-Leonard has an extensive bus network in the borough with a total of 14 bus routes. There are 12 daytime routes including two express routes and 2 night routes. The STM's 141 Jean-Talon Est bus serves Jean-Talon Street East, with buses taking off at every 10 minutes maximum during peak hours from Saint-Michel and Honoré-Beaugrand metro stations. The Mascouche Exo line runs through the borough and has a stop at Gare Saint-Léonard-Montréal-Nord. While lacking in a connection to the Metro system, the future Blue Line extension of the

Montreal Metro The Montreal Metro (, ) 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, 1966, during the tenure ...

, which is previewed to open in 2031, will have three stations located in Saint-Leonard, with all of them located along Jean-Talon Street East. The Projet structurant de l’Est (PSE) is a proposed light rail line and revitalization project of Montreal's end. The proposed route includes 31 stations spread over a 38-kilometer stretch with around 5 stations in the borough. No date for the completion of the project has been given.

Malls

Carrefour Langelier is a small-sized shopping mall located in Saint-Leonard, at the corner of Jean-Talon Street East and Langelier Boulevard. Saint-Leonard is also home to the Le Boulevard shopping centre, although a portion of the mall is actually located in Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension.

Community Centre

An important English, French and Italian community centre, the Leonardo Da Vinci Centre (''Centre Leonardo Da Vinci'') is located along Lacordaire Boulevard, near Aréna Martin Brodeur.

History

The parish of Saint-Leonard-de-Port-Maurice was founded in April 1886 and eventually became the City of Saint-Leonard-de-Port-Maurice on March 5, 1915. Saint-Leonard was traditionally a rural

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

hamlet with under a thousand people until the mid-twentieth century. The town became increasingly developed and urban throughout the twentieth century, benefiting from the expansion of the City of Montreal and a massive wave of Italian immigration which enriched life in the area with numerous cafes and restaurants. In 2016, the number of Italian Canadians in Saint-Leonard was 25,510.

Maghrebis Maghrebis or Maghrebians () are the inhabitants of the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is a modern Arabic term meaning "Westerners", denoting their location in the western part of the Arab world. Maghrebis are predominantly of Arab and Berber ...

people make up a diverse group in the city; 3,900 people are of

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

ethnic origin and 3,770 people are of Arab ethnic origin. It is one of the most diverse and multi-cultural neighbourhoods 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 ...

and about 49% of the population is foreign-born. Today, the Saint-Leonard has the 10th highest population of Montreal's 19 boroughs and is the 8th most densely populated borough.

Italian Canadian presence

The borough has one of the highest concentrations of

Italian Canadians Italian Canadians or Italo-Canadians (; ) are Canadian-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who migrated to Canada as part of the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in Canada. Accordin ...

in the city, along with Rivière-des-Prairies (RDP). As such, it has surpassed Montreal's rapidly gentrifying

Little Italy Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an Urban area, urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian cul ...

as the centre for Italian culture in the city, with numerous cultural institutions and commercial enterprises serving the city's second-most populous cultural community. The stretch of Jean Talon Street between Langelier and Viau Boulevards has become known as

. By necessity, many services are available in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, English and French (the Leonardo da Vinci Centre, for instance, offers cultural activities and events in the three languages). The borough is characterized by its spacious, wide-set semi-detached brick duplexes (and triplexes, four-plexes, and five-plexes — an architectural style unique to Montreal), backyard vegetable gardens, Italian bars (cafés), and pastry shops serving Italian-Canadian staples such as

cannoli Cannoli are Sicilian pastries consisting of a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling containing ricotta cheese. Their size ranges from . In mainland Italy, the food is commonly known as (). In culi ...

sfogliatelle (; : ; , pl. ), sometimes also known as a lobstertail, is a shell-shaped pastry with a sweet or creamy filling, originating in the Campania region of Italy. means 'small, thin leaf/layer', as the pastry's texture resembles stacked leaves. Ori ...

, and

zeppole Zeppole (; : ''zeppola'') are Italian pastries consisting of a deep-fried dough ball of varying size but typically about in diameter. These fritters are usually topped with powdered sugar, and may be filled with custard, jelly, cannoli-st ...

. At some times of year, it is possible to observe seasonal Italian traditions like the making of wine, cheese, sausage, and tomato sauce in quantity. These activities bring extended families and neighbours together and often spill out into front driveways.

Demographics

Home language (2016)

Mother Tongue (2016)

Migration

Sports and recreation

Aquatics

The Saint-Leonard Aquatic Complex () was built in 2006 and is home to three swimming pools: one recreational basin, one pool and one acclimation basin that includes a turbo bath spa. There are also two saunas, one for women and one for men.

Skate parks

Skaters can skate safely in the skate park located in Parc Delorme. Admission to the park is free, and it is open to the public May through October.

Cycling paths

Saint-Leonard has 10 km of bike paths around the borough, that connect various parks, pools and municipal structures. On November 1, 2022, the city of Montreal announced its Vision vélo 2023-2027 which plans to increase Montreal's cycling network by 200 km. This includes 2 REV (Réseau Express Vélo) routes passing through Saint-Leonard on Lacordaire Boulevard and the other on Jean-Talon Street. If all goes to plan this will be the first time that Saint-Leonard will be connected to the rest of the Montreal bike network. A bike repair station is located next to the bike path on the Boulevard Robert entrance to Parc Wilfrid-Bastien.

Hockey

Saint-Léonard has two hockey arenas, Aréna Martin Brodeur, located on 5300 Boulevard Robert, and Aréna Roberto Luongo, located on 7755 Rue Colbert. These arenas host local games, and usually provide food, locker rooms, showers and public free-skating. Saint-Léonard also has many outdoor hockey rinks in the winter. There are seven rinks set up before winter, and then they are iced when the temperature is appropriate. There was a delay of rink making in 2007 when the weather was warmer than usual.

Soccer

Soccer is a very popular sport for the youth in Saint-Léonard. Every large public park in Saint-Léonard has a soccer field open to the public.

Figure skating

Both Saint-Léonard arenas are used by the figure skating community. Many Olympic and World Champions have trained here in different disciplines like singles, pairs, dance and synchronized skating.

Other activities

The city has a domed football stadium, Stade Hébert, which is home to the Saint-Léonard Cougars of the CJFL football league. There are bocce courts located at almost every public park. There are two ping-pong tables located at Parc Delorme. Saint-Léonard contains a

cavern Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock sh ...

located at Pie XII Park.

Education

Schools

Since the replacement of denominational (Catholic/Protestant) school boards with linguistic (French/English) ones, Saint-Léonard is served by one school board for the English schools and a

school service centre The school service centre () is the model of public French school self-governance, which replaced school boards in 2020, in the province of Québec (Canada), appointed by the Ministry of Education. Autonomy Each one of the 60 centres is administe ...

for French schools. All French schools are part of the

Centre de services scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

(CSSPÎ) while all English schools are part of the

English Montreal School Board The English Montreal School Board (official name: Commission scolaire English-Montréal English-Montréal School Board; CSEM or EMSB) is one of five public school boards and one of two English-language school boards on the island of Montreal in Q ...

(EMSB). The French language high school is '' École secondaire Antoine de Saint-Exupéry''. French language primary schools: *''Alphonse-Pesant'' *''Gabrielle-Roy'' *''La Dauversière'' *Ferland *''Lambert-Closse'' *''Pie-XII'' *''Victor-Lavigne'' *''Wilfrid-Bastien'' *Général Vanier The English language secondary school is Laurier Macdonald High School English language primary schools: * Dante School * Pierre de Coubertin School * Honoré Mercier School

Public libraries

The borough of Saint-Léonard's Library is part of 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 ...

. Saint-Léonard's first library opened in 1966, in a very modest house on Jarry Street. In 1974, the new city hall and current library were built side by side on Lacordaire Boulevard (photo to the right). Expanded in 1984, the library has modernized over the years and is home to the Port-Maurice Gallery.

Government

Federal and Provincial Representation

Saint-Léonard leans heavily Liberal at both the provincial and federal levels. While at the municipal level it leans exclusively towards Ensemble Montréal.

Jeanne-Mance–Viger Jeanne-Mance–Viger is a provincial electoral district in the Montreal region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It corresponds exactly to the territory of the Saint-Léonard borough of the city of Montreal ...

is the electoral district representing the borough of Saint-Léonard in the National Assembly in Quebec city. The current MNA is Filomena Rotiroti from the QLP first elected in 2008.

Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel (; known until 1996 as Saint-Léonard) is a federal electoral district within the City of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, which has been represented in the House of Commons since 1988. Its population during the 201 ...

and Honoré-Mercier are the electoral districts representing Saint-Léonard in the House of Commons in Ottawa. During the 2022 redistribution a part of Saint-Leonard was redistributed into Honoré-Mercier. The current MPs Patricia Lattanzio and Éric St-Pierre are from the LPC first elected in 2019 and 2025 respectively.

Borough council

Saint-Léonard is divided by Lacordaire Boulevard into two city council districts, Saint-Léonard-Est and Saint-Léonard-Ouest. The borough elects a borough mayor, who also sits on Montreal City Council; each district elects one city councillor and one borough councillor. The borough mayor, city councillors, and borough councillors make up the borough council. As of the

2021 Montreal Municipal Election Municipal elections were held in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada on November 7, 2021, as part of the 2021 Quebec municipal elections. Voters elected 103 representatives in a First-past-the-post voting, first-past-the-post electoral system. ...

the borough Mayor, both borough councillors and both city councillors are from Ensemble Montréal.

Mayors

Includes mayors of the former city (1886–2001) and current borough (2001- ) of Saint-Léonard: *Louis Sicard (1886–1901) *Gustave Pépin (1901–1903) *Léon Léonard (1903–1905) *Jean-Baptiste Jodoin (1905–1906) *Joseph Léonard (1906–1907) *Louis D Roy (1907–1910) *Wilfrid Bastien (1910–1929) *Pascal Gagnon (1929–1935) *Philias Gagnon (1935–1939) *Alphonse D Pesant (1939–1957) *Antonio Dagenais (1957–1962) *Paul Émile Petit (1962–1967) *Leo Ouellet (1967–1974) *Jean Di Zazzo (1974–1978) * Michel Bissonnet (1978–1981) * Antonio di Ciocco (1981–1984) * Raymond Renaud (1984–1990) * Frank Zampino (1990–2008) * Michel Bissonnet (2008- )

Notable people and companies

Saint-Léonard is the hometown of notable people such as

Roberto Luongo Roberto Luongo (, , ; born April 4, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, and Vancouver Canucks. In 2022, Luongo was ...

, Nadia G and

Martin Brodeur Martin Pierre Brodeur (; born May 6, 1972) is a Canadian–American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current team executive. He played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 21 of them for the New Jersey Devils, with whom ...

. Notable companies from Saint-Léonard include Saputo Inc. Saint-Léonard is also the place where the

Snow blower A snow blower or snowblower or snow thrower is a machine for removing snow from an area where it is problematic, such as a driveway, sidewalk, roadway, railroad track, ice rink, or runway. The commonly used term "snow blower" is a misnomer, a ...

was invented by one of their citizens, Arthur Sicard.

References

External links

Borough website

Leonardo Da Vinci Center
*City of Montreal
Borough of Saint-Leonard
{{Authority control Boroughs of Montreal Former municipalities in Quebec Little Italys in Canada Populated places disestablished in 2002