Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec, is a charming city located on the Island of Montreal in Canada. Known for its primarily English-speaking population and a large Jewish community, this residential suburb of Montreal is a unique enclave within the city.
Côte Saint-Luc, along with Hampstead and Montreal West, forms an enclave within the City of Montreal. The city itself contains two distinct exclaves nestled between Hampstead and Montreal. The larger of the two features a residential development north of Hampstead and the Decarie Square Mall. The smaller one consists of fifteen residential buildings along Macdonald Avenue. Interestingly, about a third of Côte Saint-Luc's territory is occupied by the Canadian Pacific rail yards.
The area encompassing Côte Saint-Luc was first settled in the 18th century and was incorporated as a village in 1903. Its name may commemorate the 18th-century military officer Luc de la Corne Saint-Luc. Throughout the 1920s, the town grew quickly, accepting many immigrant populations leaving Montreal, notably German-Jewish and British families.
Côte Saint-Luc remained a small agricultural community until the mid-20th century. The population grew from 747 residents to over 20,000 between 1940 and the mid-1960s, due to substantial immigration following World War II. It was officially incorporated as a town in 1951, and as a city in 1958.
Côte Saint-Luc was forcibly merged with the city of Montreal on January 1, 2002. It was amalgamated with its neighbouring suburbs of Hampstead and Montreal West to form the borough of Côte-Saint-Luc—Hampstead—Montréal-Ouest. However, in a referendum held on June 20, 2004, Côte Saint-Luc residents voted to demerge; Côte Saint-Luc was re-established as a separate city on January 1, 2006.
According to the Office québécois de la langue française, Côte Saint-Luc has been officially recognized as a bilingual municipality since 2005. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Côte Saint-Luc had a population of 34,504 living in 14,603 of its 15,548 total private dwellings, a change of 6.3% from its 2016 population of 32,448.
Outside Israel, Côte-Saint-Luc contains the world's seventh largest Jewish community as a percentage of total population, with 69.1% of the population being Jewish.
Côte Saint-Luc operates a full-time Public Security Department that enforces municipal by-laws, and in 2006 launched the Volunteer Citizens on Patrol (vCOP) program that allows residents to help deter crime. The city also runs the only volunteer EMS first responder system on the island of Montreal, which responds to more than 3,000 calls early.
The city's Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Public Library was named in honour of Eleanor London, who served as the city's chief librarian for 36 years. The Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Library is one of few libraries in North America that is open every day of the year.
The Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys (CSMB) operates two Francophone primary schools in Côte Saint-Luc: École de la Mosaïque and École des Amis-du-Monde. The English Montreal School Board operates a French immersion school, Merton School, John Grant and Mountainview High Schools, and the Marymount Adult Centre. There are a number of private schools in the city, including JPPS–Bialik, Hebrew Academy, École Maïmonide and Yeshiva Yavne.
