Laval[a] is a city inQuebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north ofMontreal. It is the largest suburb ofMontreal, thethird-largest city in the province after Montreal andQuebec City, and thethirteenth largest city in Canada, with a population of 443,192 in2021.
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 byL'Abord-à-Plouffe [fr], 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 withRenaud, Quebec [fr] andSaint-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.[6] Laval was named after the first owner of Île Jésus,François de Montmorency-Laval, the firstRoman Catholic Bishop of Quebec. At the time, Laval had a population of 170,000. Laval became aRegional County Municipality in 1980. Until then, it had been the County of Laval.[7]
The 14 municipalities, which existed prior to the incorporation of theamalgamated City of Laval on 6 August 1965, were:
Laval experiences a four-seasonhumid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb) with very warm summers and very cold winters with adequate precipitation year-round, though more so during summer and early fall.[8]
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Laval had a population of438,366 living in169,785 of its176,115 total private dwellings, a change of3.6% from its 2016 population of422,993. With a land area of 246.13 km2 (95.03 sq mi), it had a population density of1,781.0/km2 (4,612.9/sq mi) in 2021.[11]According to the2016 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.[3]
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 abedroom community, Laval has diversified its economy, especially in the retail sector, developing numerous shopping malls,warehouses and various retail stores. Laval has four differentindustrial parks.[20]
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 inQuebec, 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 1,300,643 m2 (14,000,005 sq ft) of space available.
The second, theAutoroute 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 ofSaint-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 alongRivière des Prairies andAutoroute 15. It is a science campus that houses theBiotech City and the Information Technology Development Centre (ITDC). Nearly 500,000 square metres (5,400,000 sq ft) 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.[citation needed]
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.
The city's longtime mayor,Gilles Vaillancourt, resigned on 9 November 2012, following allegations of corruption made against him in hearings of the provincialCharbonneau Commission.[25] City councillor Basile Angelopoulos served as acting mayor[26] untilAlexandre Duplessis was selected in a council vote on 23 November.[27] Duplessis, in turn, stepped down after just seven months in office after facing allegations of being implicated in a prostitution investigation;[28] he was succeeded by city councillorMartine Beaugrand until the city's new mayor,Marc Demers, was elected in the 2013 municipal election.
On 3 June 2013, the provincial government ofPauline Marois placed the city undertrusteeship due to the ongoing corruption scandal affecting the city.[29] Florent Gagné, a former head of theSûreté du Québec, will serve as the city's head trustee, with responsibility for reviewing and approving or rejecting all decisions made by city council.[29] Municipal Affairs MinisterSylvain Gaudreault said that Laval's Mayor Alexandre Duplessis and his council will continue to serve, but council decisions must be approved by the trustees.[30] Duplessis, in turn, resigned as mayor on 28 June 2013, after being implicated in a separate prostitution allegation.[28]
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 ofJesus island in 1965.
The logo (that is on the flag) has existed since the 1980s and the flag since the 1990s.[31]
Federally, prior to 1984 Laval had been a bastion ofLiberal 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 (theBloc Québécois federally and theParti Québécois provincially) and the federalist parties (various parties federally and theQuebec 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 the2015 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 exceptChomedey (which voted overwhelmingly to not separate in the1995 Quebec referendum) during their second stint in government between 1994 and 2003. The Liberals won every Laval riding in 2003, 2007, and 2008. During the2012 election, the PQ saw some gains in Laval when they captured 2 seats, but both returned to the Liberal fold during the2014 election. During the2018 election amid a rise of the CAQ, the Liberals held their own in the Laval losing only 1 seat to the CAQ. In the2022 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%.
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.[34][35]
In April 2007, theMontreal 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 theQuebec government. The stations areCartier,De La Concorde, andMontmorency. The arrival of the Metro in Laval was long-awaited as it was first promised in the 1960s.[citation needed] Former mayor,Gilles Vaillancourt, announced his wish to loop theOrange line fromMontmorency toCôte-Vertu stations with the addition of six new stations (three in Laval and another three in Montreal). He proposed thatTransports 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.[37]
TheExo public transit agency'sSaint-Jérômecommuter 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 andSainte-Rose.
Buses
Montmorency Terminus
TheSociété 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 arereserved lanes for buses and taxis on Chomedey Blvd between Le Carrefour Blvd and theDes 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 thePont Viau bridge into Montreal until theTerminus Laval at theHenri-BourassaMetro station). Most buses that use the reserved lane end their journey at theCartier Metro station. The AMT and the City of Laval have developedreserved 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 underAutoroute 15) opened shortly after 31 October 2007.
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.[citation needed]
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" (formerlyCFAV) andCFGL 105.7 FM "Rythme FM".
Additionally, there are three major newspapers in Laval: the bi-weekly English-languageThe Laval News, thebi-weekly French-languageLe Courrier Laval and the weekly French-languageL'Écho de Laval.
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