Laval is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Greater Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in Canada, with a population of 443,192 in 2021.
Laval is geographically separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from the Island of Montreal to the south by the Rivière des Prairies. Laval occupies all of Île Jésus as well as the Îles Laval.
Laval constitutes one of the 17 administrative regions of Quebec, with a region code of 13, as well as a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census division (CD) with geographical code 65. It also constitutes the judicial district of Laval.Territorial Division Act . Revised Statutes of Quebec D-11. It is the smallest administrative region in the province by area.
History
The first European Settlers in Laval were Jesuits, who were granted a seigneury there in 1636. Agriculture first appeared in Laval in 1670. In 1675, François de Montmorency-Laval gained control of the seigneury. In 1702 a parish municipality was founded, and dedicated to Saint-François de Sales (not to be confused with the modern-day Saint-François-de-Sales in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean).
In 1845, after nearly 200 years being of a rural nature, additional municipalities began to be created. The only built-up area on the island, Sainte-Rose, was incorporated as a village in 1850, and it remained the main community for the remainder of the century. With the dawn of the 20th century came urbanization. Laval-des-Rapides became Laval's first city in 1912, followed by , which was granted village status three years later. Laval-sur-le-Lac was founded in the same year and had its tourist-based economy based on Montrealers. Laval began to grow throughout the following years because its proximity to Montreal made it an ideal suburb.
To deal with problems caused by urbanization, amalgamations occurred; L'Abord-à-Plouffe amalgamated with and Saint-Martin, creating the city of Chomedey in 1961. The amalgamation turned out to be so successful for the municipalities involved that the Quebec government decided to amalgamate the whole island into a single city of Laval in 1965, not without controversy. Laval was named after the first owner of Île Jésus, François de Montmorency-Laval, the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec. At the time, Laval had a population of 170,000. Laval became a Regional County Municipality in 1980. Until then, it had been the County of Laval.
The 14 municipalities, which existed prior to the incorporation of the amalgamated City of Laval on 6 August 1965, were:
Geography The island has developed over time, with most of the urban area in the central region and along the south and west river banks.
Laval is bordered on the south by Montreal across the Rivière des Prairies, on the north by Les Moulins Regional County Municipality and by Thérèse-De Blainville Regional County Municipality and on the west by Deux-Montagnes Regional County Municipality across the Rivière des Mille Îles.
Climate Laval experiences a four-season humid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb) with very warm summers and very cold winters with adequate precipitation year-round, though more so during summer and early fall.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Laval had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. According to the 2016 Census, the population of Laval was an estimated 422,993, a 5.3 percent increase from the earlier census in 2011. Women constituted 51.4% of the total population. Children under 14 years of age totalled 17.4%, while 17.2% of the population was of retirement age (65 years of age and older). The median age was calculated as 41.9 years.
Ethnicity + Panethnic groups in the City of Laval (2001−2021)Panethnicgroup20212016201120062001 European 285,970 301,065 309,180 311,495 308,820 Middle Eastern 54,815 38,060 26,490 15,710 8,040 African 38,420 32,095 24,225 16,895 10,875 Latin American 15,020 12,660 9,855 6,285 2,870 South Asian 12,495 8,800 6,650 3,335 1,475 Southeast Asian 9,780 8,610 8,565 5,990 3,665 East Asian 5,085 4,205 3,505 2,490 1,755 Indigenous 3,310 2,530 2,330 1,405 755 Other/Multiracial 4,655 2,820 1,925 1,015 745 Total responses 429,555 410,850 392,725 364,625 339,005 Total population 438,366 422,993 401,553 368,709 343,005
Immigration Immigrants by country of birth (2016 Census)https://www12.statcan.gc.ca › dp-pd 2016 Census of Population – Data products - Statistics CanadaRankCountryPopulation1 Lebanon 12,4202 Haiti 12,0153 Morocco 7,8804 Algeria 6,5305 Greece 5,9406 Italy 5,6907 Syria 5,4658 Romania 5,2559 France 3,32510 Portugal 3,145
Language . +Canada Census Mother Tongue – Laval, QuebecStatistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021 censusCensusYearTotalResponses Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % 226,675 4.64% 52.15% 34,175 11.35% 7.86% 7,770 76.2% 1.05% 143,300 9.19% 32.9% 237,430 1.73% 56.80% 30,295 9.45% 7.25% 4,410 16.82% 1.05% 131,240 15.97% 31.39% 241,615 0.2% 60.77% 27,680 9.51% 6.96% 3,775 58.94% 0.95% 113,160 19.34% 28.46% 242,155 2.72% 66.41% 25,275 23.08% 6.85% 2,375 14.41% 0.64% 94,815 42% 25.72% 248,925 1.68% 73.42% 20,535 0.96% 6.05% 2,775 4.52% 0.82% 66,775 22.25% 19.69% 244,800 n/a 74.95% 20,340 n/a 6.22% 2,655 n/a 0.81% 54,620 n/a 16.72%
Religion According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Laval included: Christianity (280,720 people or 65.4%) Irreligious (77,165; 18.0%) Islam (55,620; 12.9%) Buddhism (5,940; 1.4%) Hinduism (4,140; 1.0%) Judaism (2,435; 0.6%) Sikhism (2,235; 0.5%) Indigenous Spirituality (10; less than 0.1%) Other (1,280; 0.3%)
Economy
Laval's diverse economy is centred around the technology, pharmaceutical, industrial and retail sectors. It has many pharmaceutical laboratories but also stone quarries and a persistent agricultural sector. Long seen as a bedroom community, Laval has diversified its economy, especially in the retail sector, developing numerous shopping malls, warehouses and various retail stores. Laval has four different industrial parks.
The first is Industrial Park Centre, in the heart of Laval at the corner of St. Martin West and Industriel Blvd. One of the largest municipal industrial parks in Quebec, the Industrial Park Centre boasts the highest concentration of manufacturing companies in Laval: 1,024 at last count, and 22,378 employees. The park still has of space available.
The second, the Autoroute 25 Industrial Park is at the crossroads of the metropolitan road network. Inaugurated in 2001, this new industrial municipal space has been a tremendous success, boasting an 80% occupancy rate. Laval is studying the possibility of expanding this park in the next few years.
The third, known as Industrial Park East, is in the neighbourhood of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. This park has reached full capacity with a 100% occupancy rate. Industrial Park East is currently part of a municipal program to revitalize municipal services and public utilities. Laval is working with a private developer on an expansion project for the park that should be announced in the near future.
The fourth industrial park, the Laval Science and High Technology Park is located along Rivière des Prairies and Autoroute 15. It is a science campus that houses the Biotech City and the Information Technology Development Centre (ITDC). Nearly of space are available for development. The Biotech City spans the entire territory of the Laval Science and High Technology Park and is a unique concept in Canada in that its residents comprise both universities and companies.
Created in 1995, Laval Technopole is a nonprofit organization that has the objective to promote the economic growth of Laval by attracting and supporting new business and investments located in its 5 territory poles: Biopole, e-Pol, Agropole, industrial pole and Leisure/tourism.
Alimentation Couche-Tard has its headquarters in Laval."Executive Office ." Alimentation Couche-Tard. Retrieved on 18 January 2011. "Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. 4204 Industriel Blvd. Laval (Quebec) H7L 0E3." Address in French : "Alimentation Couche-Tard inc. 4204 Boul. Industriel Laval (Québec) H7L 0E3 " Map
+ Poles in figures (excluding Leisure and tourism)La Presse Affaires, Montreal, Tuesday 21 October 2008, p.12AgropoleIndustrial PoleBiopoleE-Pole 1,750 companies 624 companies More than 80 firms 264 businesses 15,800 jobs 16,000 jobs Over one billion $ invested since 2001 4,370 jobsMain sectors: Transformation Food production Agriculture Restaurant industry Wholesale and retailMain sectors: Metal products Printing Machinery furnitures Clothing Rubber PlasticMain sectors: Biotechnology Pharmaceutical Medical TechnologyMain sectors: Software Manufacture Service
Sport
Laval was the host-city of the "Jeux du Québec" held in summer 1991 and of the Canadian Hockey League's 1994 Memorial Cup. Laval became home to the Montreal Canadiens' American Hockey League affiliate the Laval Rocket, starting in the 2017–18 season. +Sports teams of Laval Team Sport League VenueEstablishedDisestablishedChampionships Associés de Laval Baseball Ligue de Baseball Élite du Québec Parc Montmorency198320155 Sabercats Rive-Nord Canadian football Quebec Junior Football League Parc Cartier Laval Comets Women's soccer W-League Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne200620160Laval Dynamites SoccerCanadian Soccer League Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne20012007 0 Laval Rocket Ice hockey American Hockey League Place Bell1969 0 Les Pétroliers du Nord Ice hockey Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey Colisée de Laval2018 0 Montreal Roses FC Women's soccer Northern Super League Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne20230 Montréal Victoire Ice hockey Professional Women's Hockey League Place Bell20230 FC Supra du Québec Soccer Canadian Premier League Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne20250
Government Municipal politics
The city's longtime mayor, Gilles Vaillancourt, resigned on 9 November 2012, following allegations of corruption made against him in hearings of the provincial Charbonneau Commission."Laval mayor resigns amid Montreal corruption scandal". Toronto Star, 9 November 2012. City councillor Basile Angelopoulos served as acting mayor"Laval searches for interim mayor". CBC News, 13 November 2012. until Alexandre Duplessis was selected in a council vote on 23 November."Alexandre Duplessis elected new interim mayor of Laval" . The Gazette, 23 November 2012. Duplessis, in turn, stepped down after just seven months in office after facing allegations of being implicated in a prostitution investigation;"Laval mayor Alexandre Duplessis resigns". The Gazette, 28 June 2013. he was succeeded by city councillor Martine Beaugrand until the city's new mayor, Marc Demers, was elected in the 2013 municipal election.
Past mayors have been: Jean-Noël Lavoie (founding mayor), 1965 Jacques Tétreault, 1965–1973 Lucien Paiement, 1973–1981 Claude Lefebvre, 1981–1989 Gilles Vaillancourt, 1989–2012 Alexandre Duplessis, 2012–2013 Martine Beaugrand, 2013 Marc Demers, 2013–2021 Stéphane Boyer, 2021–present