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Downtown Montreal Centre-Ville de Montréal (French) | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Skyline of Downtown Montreal fromMount Royal in 2023 | |
  Downtown Montreal Location of DowntownMontreal | |
| Coordinates:45°30′N73°34′W / 45.50°N 73.57°W /45.50; -73.57 | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Quebec |
| City |  Montreal |
| Borough | Ville-Marie |
| Area | |
• Total | 13.2 km2 (5.1 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 234 m (768 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 20 m (70 ft) |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 109,509 |
| • Density | 8,296/km2 (21,490/sq mi) |
| Postal Code | |
| Area codes | 514, 438 |
Downtown Montreal (French:Centre-Ville de Montréal) is thecentral business district ofMontreal, Quebec, Canada.
The district is situated on the southernmost slope ofMount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the borough ofVille-Marie. It is bounded byMount Royal Park to the north,Le Plateau-Mont-Royal to the northeast, theQuartier Latin andGay Village areas to the east,Old Montreal and theCité du Multimédia to the south,Griffintown andLittle Burgundy to the southwest, and the city ofWestmount to the west.
The downtown region houses many corporate headquarters as well a large majority of the city'sskyscrapers — which, by law, cannot be greater in height than Mount Royal in order to preserve the aesthetic predominance and intimidation factor of the mountain. The two tallest of these are the1000 de La Gauchetière and1250 René-Lévesque, both of which were built in 1992. TheTour de la Bourse is also a significant high-rise and is home to theMontreal Exchange that trades inderivatives. The Montreal Exchange was originally astock exchange and was the first in Canada. In 1999, all stock trades were transferred toToronto in exchange for an exclusivity in the derivative trading market.
Place Ville-Marie is acruciform office tower designed byI.M. Pei. It was built in 1962, and sits atop an underground shopping mall that forms the nexus of Montreal'sunderground city, one of the world's largest. It has indoor access to over 1,600 shops, restaurants, offices, businesses, museums and universities, as well asmetro stations, train stations, bus terminals, and tunnels extending all over downtown. The central axis for downtown isSaint Catherine Street, Canada's busiest commercial avenue. The area includes high end retail such as theHolt Renfrew Ogilvydepartment store as well asLes Cours Mont-Royal shopping centre. Other major streets includeSherbrooke Street,Peel,de la Montagne,de Maisonneuve andCrescent.
The skyline may be observed from one of twolookouts on Mount Royal. The lookout at theBelvedere takes in downtown, the river, and theMonteregian Hills. On clear days theAdirondack Mountains ofUpstate New York are visible (thegreat-circle distance between Mount Royal and the U.S. border along abee line normal to the border being only ~ 56 km, or ~ 35 miles), as are theGreen Mountains ofVermont. The eastern lookout has a view ofThe Plateau neighbourhood,Olympic Stadium and beyond.
Downtown Montreal is also home to the main campuses ofMcGill University andUQAM and the SirGeorge Williams campus ofConcordia University.[2][3]
The Statistics Canada articleDefining Canada’s Downtown Neighbourhoods: 2016 Boundaries counted 88,169 people, and 299,245 jobs.[4] The population density was approximately 66 people per hectare, while the job density was 226 jobs per hectare.
Most recently,the 2021 Canadian census counted 109,509 people living within Downtown Montreal's boundaries, an increase of 21,340 people. This 24.2 percent increase was the second-fastest growth within downtowns in Canada afterDowntown Halifax. Thepopulation density increased from approximately 66 people perhectare in2016 to approximately 82 people perhectare in2021.[5]
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A number of museums can be found in or near Downtown Montreal, including theCanadian Centre for Architecture,McCord Museum,Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art,Montreal Museum of Fine Arts andRedpath Museum.Pointe-à-Callière Museum is more strictly inOld Montreal.
Notable religious buildings in Downtown Montreal include:Christ Church Cathedral,Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul,Church of St. John the Evangelist,Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral,St. James the Apostle Anglican Church,St. James United Church,St. George's Anglican Church andSt. Patrick's Basilica.
TheBell Centre, used for ice hockey and other events, lies in the central/southern portion of Downtown Montreal.Place des Arts is located in the eastern part of the city's downtown, between Ste-Catherine and de Maisonneuve Streets, and St-Urbain and Jeanne-Mance streets, in an area now known as theQuartier des Spectacles, the complex is home to theMontreal Symphony Orchestra,Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and theOpéra de Montréal.Percival Molson Memorial Stadium lies just to the North of Pine Avenue at the edge of Downtown Montreal.
Public space in Downtown Montreal includes the following squares:Cabot Square,Chaboillez Square,Dorchester Square,Norman Bethune Square,Phillips Square,Place du Canada,Place Émilie-Gamelin,Place des Festivals,Place Jean-Paul Riopelle andVictoria Square.
Two railway stations are in Downtown Montreal:Central Station serves both intercity (VIA Rail andAmtrak) and [[Exo commuter rail] services. Additional commuter services useLucien-L'Allier Station.Downtown Montreal also contains two bus stations:Gare d'autocars de Montréal serves mainly longer distance services, whileTerminus Centre-Ville is mainly a terminus for services operated byRTL andExo.
Two lines of theMontreal Metro run east–west through Downtown Montreal.Line 1 (Green) is aligned withDe Maisonneuve Boulevard, serving (west to east):Atwater,Guy-Concordia,Peel,McGill,Place-des-Arts,Saint-Laurent andBerri-UQAM stations.Line 2 (Orange) runs some blocks south of the Green Line, serving (west to east)Lucien-L'Allier,Bonaventure,Square-Victoria-OACI,Place-d'Armes,Champ-de-Mars andBerri-UQAM. Place-d'Armes, Champ-de-Mars and Square-Victoria-OACI stations would usually be considered as in Old Montreal. Berri-UQAM is also the terminus forLine 4 (Yellow).
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Air Canada was formerly headquartered in Downtown Montreal. In 1990, the airline announced that it was moving its headquarters from Downtown Montreal toMontreal-Trudeau Airport to cut costs.[6][7]
Portions of four university-level establishments lie within Downtown Montreal: the main campus ofMcGill University, on the northern side of Sherbrooke Street; the Sir George Williams Campus ofConcordia University in an area identified asQuartier Concordia in the western part of Downtown Montreal;École de technologie supérieure (a part ofUniversité du Québec system) located near the southern edge of Downtown Montreal; andUniversité du Québec à Montréal, mainly in theQuartier Latin neighbourhood. Four colleges (pre-university) also lie in downtown: the publicCégep du Vieux Montréal onOntario Street East; and the private collegesLaSalle College,O'Sullivan College andNational Theatre School of Canada, includingMonument-National, the venue used for its productions.
Downtown Montreal is mostly in the federal electoral district ofVille-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, with some areas in the north aroundMount Royal being in the district ofOutremont and the eastern portion belonging toLaurier—Sainte-Marie. All three of these seats are currently held by members of theLiberal Party, with the former two in particular being safe Liberal seats.
Provincially, the downtown core is split in three pieces along similar boundaries, being mostly in the district ofWestmount—Saint-Louis, with a small northern area in the provincialMont-Royal—Outremont riding and the eastern areas being inSainte-Marie—Saint-Jacques. The former two of these districts are current and safe seats for theLiberal Party of Quebec, while Sainte-Marie—Saint-Jacques is held byManon Massé, one of the leaders ofQuébec solidaire.
Downtown Montreal travel guide from Wikivoyage| Museums |
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