Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec, often referred to as D.D.O. or simply Dollard, is a predominantly English-speaking suburb of Montreal. Located on the Island of Montreal, this town is named after the French martyr Adam Dollard des Ormeaux.
The orthography of Dollard-des-Ormeaux has seen several changes over the years. Originally written as Dollard-des-Ormeaux, it became Dollard des Ormeaux (no hyphens) in 1960, and reverted again to the hyphenated spelling in 1969. In 2001, the official Commission de toponymie du Québec ruled that the correct orthography of the city's name is Dollard-Des Ormeaux (one hyphen, one space, all title caps) due to the patronymic particle. However, this was not widely accepted, and is rarely used in practice. As of 2021, the city's own website did not use this way of writing the city's name. In 2022, the Commission officially reverted to the spelling Dollard-des-Ormeaux, which had been in use since 1924.
In 1714, Dollard-des-Ormeaux was part of the Parish of St-Joachim de Pointe-Claire. It became part of the Parish of Ste-Geneviève when it detached from Pointe-Claire in 1845. On July 29, 1924, Dollard-des-Ormeaux detached from the Parish of Ste-Geneviève and became a separate municipality in response to a tax imposed by the Parish road improvements on Gouin Boulevard. Its first mayor was Hormidas Meloche. The town's name honours the French martyr Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, who was killed by the Iroquois at Long Sault in 1660.
The City of Dollard-des-Ormeaux obtained a new charter and was incorporated as a city on February 4, 1960. Originally a bedroom community in the early 1960s, the population was barely a few hundred in 1960, and within 10 years, exceeded 15,000. One of its original main axes, Anselme-Lavigne Street in the Westpark neighbourhood, is named for a farmer who sold his land to the Belcourt Construction Company. Many of the streets in the Sunnydale neighbourhood, including "Sunshine" and "Hyman", are named for members in the prominent Zunenshine family who owned Belcourt. The community is a mixture of residential and commercial properties. Des Sources and St-Jean Boulevards are its main commercial arteries, and are represented by the two vertical lines in the city's official logo. The three circles in the logo, from left to right, respectively represent the St-Jean Sector, the Westpark Sector and the Sunnybrooke Sector. The three circles and two vertical lines in the logo represent the city's geography and artfully spell out "ddo".
On January 1, 2002, as part of the 2002–2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal, Dollard-des-Ormeaux merged with the city of Montreal and became part of the Dollard-Des Ormeaux–Roxboro borough. After a change of government and a 2004 demerger referendum, Dollard-des-Ormeaux was reconstituted as an independent city on January 1, 2006. It is now the Montreal Island's most populous city outside Montreal. Although not served by the Montreal Metro, the city will be served by the Réseau express métropolitain light rail system with a station at the juncture of Highway 40 and Des Sources Boulevard.
According to the Office québécois de la langue française, Dollard-des-Ormeaux has been officially recognized as a bilingual municipality since November 2, 2005. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Dollard-Des Ormeaux had a population of 48,403 living in 17,383 of its 17,763 total private dwellings, a change of -1% from its 2016 population of 48,899. With a land area of 14.98 km2 (5.78 sq mi), it had a population density of 3,231.2/km2 (8,368.7/sq mi) in 2021.
Dollard-des-Ormeaux is known for its many well-attended green spaces, providing a park within one kilometre of each home. Notable parks include Centennial Park, Westminster Park, Frederick Wilson (Fredmir) Park, Baffin Park, and Terry Fox Park. Edward Janiszewski Park was named after the longest-reigning mayor of the city. Dollard-des-Ormeaux is home to the Dollard Civic Centre, which serves as city hall, the public library, and houses ice skating and swimming facilities.
