Gourt Home::Gourt :: Laval, Quebec
- City (2004)
- CDN Census division rank
- Canadian Municipal Rank
- Density
364 756
Ranked 20th
1388.30/km² (862.65/mi²)
Longitude
73.75° West
laval.ogg) is a city, a regional county municipality and a region in southwestern Quebec, Canada in the Greater Montreal Area. It is located on Île Jésus, across the Rivière des Prairies from Montreal. It also includes the Îles Laval in the Rivière des Prairies. In 2004, the city has a population of 364,756 http://www.statcan.ca. Laval constitutes one of the 17 regions of Quebec.
Geography
The island is still rural in nature, with most of the urban area in the central region and along the south and west coasts.
Laval is bounded on the south and east by Montreal, on the north by MRC des Moulins and on the west by MRC de Thérèse-De Blainville and MRC de Deux-Montagnes.
Transportation
Laval is served by five highways:
- A-25 - Boucherville to Saint-Esprit
- A-19 (Papineau Highway) - Montreal to Bois-des-Filion
- A-13 (Chomedey Highway) - Montreal to Boisbriand
- A-15 (Laurentian Highway) - New York state to Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts
- A-440 (Laval Freeway) - Laval
There is commuter rail service provided by AMT on two lines (Deux Montagnes and Blainville). The STM's Montreal Metro is presently being extended north of Henri-Bourassa subway station by adding 3 new stations. Completion is expected in summer 2007. Société de transport de Laval (STL), is a partner with AMT, and connects with STM at both Henri-Bourassa (Montreal Metro) and Côte-Vertu (Montreal Metro) terminal.
There are six road bridges to Montreal Island, and seven bridges to the north shore region, comprising of the communities of Deux-Montagnes, Saint-Eustache, Boisbriand, Rosemère, Lorraine, Bois-des-Filion, and Terrebonne. See: List of bridges in Montreal
Politics
Politically, Laval is a battleground area between the Quebec nationalist parties (The Bloc Québécois federally and the Parti Québécois provincially) and the federalist parties (The Liberal Party of Canada and the Parti libéral du Québec). The only exception is Chomedey in the south, which voted overwhelmingly to not separate in the 1995 Quebec referendum. The other parts of Laval were narrowly split. See also: Canadian federal election results in Northern Montreal and Laval
Mayors
As of 2006, Mr. Gilles Vaillancourt is the mayor of the city of Laval. He has been in office since 1989.Past Mayors have been:
- Mr. Jean-Noël Lavoie; 1965, founder Mayor
- Mr. Jaques-Tétreault; 1965-1973
- Dr. Lucien Paiement; 1973-1981
- Mr. Claude Lefebvre; 1981-1989
- Mr. Gilles Vaillancourt; since 1989
Demographics
| Historical populations[http://www.stat.gouv.qc.ca/ | |
|---|---|
| Census year | Population |
| 1901 | 10,248 |
| 1911 | 11,407 |
| 1921 | 14,005 |
| 1931 | 16,150 |
| 1941 | 21,631 |
| 1951 | 37,843 |
| 1956 | 69,410 |
| 1961 | 124,741 |
| 1966 | 196,088 |
| 1971 | 228,010 |
| 1976 | 246,243 |
| 1981 | 268,335 |
| 1986 | 284,164 |
| 1991 | 314,398 |
| 1996 | 330,393 |
| 2001 | 343,005 |
| 2006 | |
Laval is the 6th largest suburb in North America after Mississauga, Ontario; Long Beach, California; Mesa, Arizona; Virginia Beach, Virginia and Surrey, British Columbia.
The city is about 6% Anglophone, 73% Francophone and 20% Allophone. Laval is predominantly white (91.4%) who are mostly French, including sizeable numbers of Italians, Greeks, Irish, English, Romanians, Arab, Armenians, and Portuguese. There are also sizeable non-white groups such as Black (3.2%), and others including Asian, and Chinese. The city is 81% Roman Catholic. The median income is $23,965.
Immigration
- Foreign Born Population - 15.5%
History
Laval was first settled by Jesuits in 1636 when they were granted a seigneury there. Agriculture first appeared in Laval in 1670. In 1675, François de Montmorency-Laval gained control of the seigneury. In 1702 a parish was founded, and dedicated to Saint-François de Sales. The first municipalities on the island were created in 1845, after nearly 200 years of a rural nature. The only built up area on the island, Sainte-Rose was incorporated as a village in 1850, and remained as 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 and was followed by L'Abord-à-Plouffe being granted village status three years later. Laval-sur-le-Lac was founded in the same year based on its tourist-based economy from Montrealers. Laval began to grow throughout the following years, due to its proximity to Montreal which made it an ideal suburb.
To deal with problems caused by urbanization, amalgamations occurred; L'Abord-à-Plouffe amalgamated with Renaud and Saint-Martin creating the city of Chomedey in 1961. The amalgamation turned out to be successful for the municipalities involved, and the Quebec government decided to amalgamate the whole island into the city of Laval in 1965. 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 in 1980. Prior to that, it was the County of Laval.
The 14 municipalities which existed prior to the incorporation of the amalgamated City of Laval on August 6, 1965 were:
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 colors also have a significant meaning :
- Dark red represents usually the affluence and represents here the great 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 fusion of the 14 municipalities of the Jesus island.
The logo (which is on the flag) has existed since the 1980s and the flag since the 1990s.
Sister cities
The city is twinned at three cities:
- Nice (France) Since June 9th 2000
- Laval (France) Since 1984
- Petah Tikva (Israel) Since 1986
Laval also maintains ten economic and cultural cooperation agreements with cities such as Markham, Ontario (Canada), Ribeira Grande (The Azores), Grenoble (France), Mudanjiang (China) and Pedro Aguirre Cerda (Chile).
Tourism
Laval's main attractions are:
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''Source: Tourisme Laval http://www.tourismelaval.com
Sports teams
See also: Le réseau des sports for detailed coverage.
Laval was also host-city of the "Jeux du québec" held in summer 1991.
Education
The two largest Laval area school districts are:
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier school board :
- Elementary
- High School
- Adult Education
- Commission scolaire de Laval School Board :
- Elementary
- High School
- Adult Education
Higher learning
Laval is home to a variety of vocational/technical centers, colleges and universities, including:
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Famous natives and residents
- Mario Lemieux (hockey player) October 5th 1965
- Gordie Brown (impressionist, comedian, musician) June 15th 1963
- Alexandre Daigle (hockey player) February 7th 1975
- Pascal Dupuis (hockey player) April 7th 1979
- Martin Matte (actor, comedian) April 14th 1970
- Francois Papineau (actor) 1966
- Eric Paulhus (actor) January 8th 1979
- Yves P. Pelletier (actor, director, writer, comedian) January 15th 1961
- Martin Petit (actor, comedian) September 24th 1968
- Martin Rouette (actor, singer) April 28th 1977
- Martin St. Louis (hockey player) June 18th 1975
- Jose Theodore (hockey player) September 13th 1976
- Leo-Ernest Ouimet (cinematographer, director) 1877-1972
- Alexandre Despatie (olympic diver) June 8th 1985
- Donald Audette (hockey player) September 23rd 1969
- Annie Bellemare (figure skater) January 2nd 1980
- Carrie Lightbound (kayaker) August 8th 1979
- Gédéon Ouimet (politician) June 2nd 1823–April 23rd 1905
- Jean Pascal (boxer) October 28th 1982
Regional medias
Radio stations
CFAV 1570 AM "Radio Boomer"- Antenna Mode: Directional - 2 Patterns
- Transmitter Power: 10,000 Watts
- Number of Towers: 2
- Area of Coverage: View Daytime Coverage Map, View Nighttime Coverage Map (via www.radio-locator.com)
- Transmitter Location: 45° 31' 51" N, 73° 50' 31" W
- Radio Boomer official website
CFGL 105.7 FM "Rythme FM"
- Effective Radiated Power: 41,000 Watts
- Height above Avg. Terrain: 975'
- Height above Sea Level: 1067'
- Area of Coverage: View Coverage Map (via www.radio-locator.com)
- Transmitter Location: 45° 30' 20" N, 73° 35' 32" W
- Rythme FM official website
Newspapers
- Le Courrier Laval - Weekly - French
- The Chomedey news - Bi-Weekly - English
External links
- Laval Restaurant Guide
- City of Laval website (French - English)
References and footnotes
See also
| North: Bois-des-Filion, Terrebonne |
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| West: Rosemère, Boisbriand, Saint-Eustache |
Laval | East: Montreal |
| South: Montreal |
| Communities in Laval | |
Regions of Quebec | Cities in Quebec
Laval, Québec | Laval | Laval (Québec) | Laval (Québec) | Laval (Quebec) | Laval | Laval, Quebec
"Laval, Quebec"