Saint-Laurent, Quebec, is a borough of Montreal, Canada, situated in the northern part of the island. Despite no longer being an independent city, it is still widely referred to as Ville Saint-Laurent or by its initials, VSL. As the largest of Montreal's boroughs by land area, Saint-Laurent had a population of 98,828 inhabitants in 2016.
The history of Saint-Laurent dates back to the late 17th century when the lands were settled by Jean Descarie, courtesy of Maisonneuve, the first governor of Montreal, and the Sulpicians, lords of Montreal's island. The first settlers on the lands of Cote Saint-Laurent were Descarie's three sons in 1687. Following the signing of the Great Peace of Montreal in 1701, 19 other settlers joined them and built a chapel the following year.
Saint-Laurent was founded as the Parish of Saint-Laurent on September 20, 1720. Its territory was defined on March 3, 1722, with 29 scattered dwellings. A new church was erected in 1735, which became the heart of a village due to its central location. By 1740, all the lands administered by the Sulpicians were granted to settlers. After the cession of New France to Great Britain, Saint-Laurent experienced no population exodus and Scottish families joined the French Canadians.
On February 27, 1893, the urbanized center of the parish obtained the status of a city. During the 20th century, the parish was successively amputated of several territories, which would become the Town of Mount-Royal, Cartierville, as well as part of Dorval. The city of Saint-Laurent and the parish of Saint-Laurent coexisted until 1954 and the complete annexation of the latter.
The City of Saint-Laurent was merged into the city of Montreal on January 1, 2002. On June 20, 2004, the demerger forces lost a referendum on the issue of recreating Saint-Laurent as a city. The construction of the Reseau Express Metropolitain will add five light rail stations to the borough in 2023, three of which will replace existing commuter train stations.
Saint-Laurent is one of Montreal's outer boroughs located in the north central part of the island. It's bordered by Pierrefonds-Roxboro to the west, Ahuntsic-Cartierville to the north and east, and Côte-des-Neiges and the Town of Mount-Royal to the south. Notable neighbourhoods include Bois-Franc, Vieux Saint-Laurent, and Norgate.
In 2016, the immigrant population in Saint-Laurent was 54 percent.
Saint-Laurent boasts three fire stations and two police stations, one municipal court building, two libraries, and the former City Hall (now the borough hall). There are two indoor hockey arenas, the municipal Raymond Bourque Arena, named after Raymond Bourque a former NHL player and Hockey Hall of Fame member, and a Multipurpose Sports Complex.
Saint-Laurent is served by two metro stations, Du Collège and Côte-Vertu, the latter of which also serves as a major bus terminus. Three light metro stations from the Réseau express métropolitain, Bois-Franc, Du Ruisseau, and Montpellier, are also located in Saint-Laurent. Autoroutes include Autoroute 15 (Décarie Expressway), Autoroute 40 (Trans Canada), Autoroute 520, and Autoroute 13, and a secondary highway (Route 117).
Saint-Laurent is twinned with Mérignac, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, and Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
