Pincourt, Quebec, is a charming municipality located on the island of Île Perrot, just off the western tip of the island of Montreal. As of the 2021 Canadian census, the town boasts a population of 14,751. Pincourt shares the island with three other municipalities: Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot, Terrasse Vaudreuil, and L'Île-Perrot. The south end of the Ottawa River (Rivière des Outaouais) flows between Vaudreuil-Dorion and Pincourt, defining the town's western boundary.
The town has recently experienced a building boom, with many newly built houses, condos, and townhouses. The opening of the new francophone Chêne-Bleu high school is a testament to this growth. The municipality also has two bilingual primary schools and one French primary school. Several parks and natural protected areas are open throughout the year for recreation.
The settlement of Pincourt began in 1754 when Jean-Baptiste Leduc, the island's fifth Lord from 1751 to 1785, started to grant concessions. By the end of the 18th century, there were 22 concessions, and lots began to be sold along the Ottawa River to merchants and specialists, such as blacksmiths, cask makers, cobblers, weavers, and innkeepers.
In 1855, the Grand Trunk Railway was built on Ile Perrot, resulting in significant growth of the village. In 1890, a mission was established, as the parish church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot was considered too far away by its residents. The Village Municipality of Pincourt was created in 1950, out of the Parish Municipality of Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot. It was named after its post office that was established in 1932. The name Pincourt, first mentioned in 1776, referred to a former forest on the western side of Ile Perrot with short pines (pins courts in French), that served as a landmark for early travelers to the area. In 1959, Pincourt changed statutes from village municipality to ville. Since then, the town has become a residential suburb, growing rapidly in the 1960s due to several real estate developments.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Pincourt had a population of 14,751 living in 5,640 of its 5,786 total private dwellings, a change of 1.3% from its 2016 population of 14,558. With a land area of 7.1 km2 (2.7 sq mi), it had a population density of 2,077.6/km2 (5,381.0/sq mi) in 2021.
Quebec Autoroute 20 runs along the north end of Pincourt and is accessible via Boulevard Cardinal Léger (exit 35), the only proper exit overpass along the section of the highway from Autoroute 30 to the island of Montréal, all others consisting of at-grade intersections with traffic lights. There is one other autoroute junction for Pincourt consisting of an at-grade intersection at Boulevard de l'Île.
On the city's western border, the Taschereau Bridge crosses the Ottawa River to Vaudreuil-Dorion. There is a shuttle bus service that runs during rush hours operated by CIT La Presqu'Île connecting to the Pincourt―Terasse-Vaudreuil train station on the Vaudreuil-Hudson commuter train line. The CIT also offers various bus connections to Vaudreuil-Dorion, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, and other West-Island destinations.
