Laval, Quebec
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| City of Laval, Quebec (Ville de Laval, Québec, Canada) | |||||
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| Motto: Unité, progrès, grandeur (Unity, Progress, Greatness) | |||||
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| Coordinates: | |||||
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| Country | Canada | ||||
| Province | Quebec | ||||
| Founded | |||||
| Established | 1965 [citation needed] | ||||
| City Mayor | Gilles Vaillancourt(since 1989) | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - City | 247.07 km² (153.52 sq mi) | ||||
| Elevation | 91 m (299 ft) | ||||
| Population | |||||
| - City (2004) | 364, 756 | ||||
| - Density | 1388.30/km² (862.65/sq mi) | ||||
| Metro population est. 2004 | |||||
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | ||||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||||
| Postal code span | |||||
| Area code = 450 | |||||
| Website: www.ville.laval.qc.ca | |||||
Laval (pronounced Image:Ltspkr.png læˈvæl) is a city, a regional county municipality and a region in southwestern Quebec, Canada in the Greater Montreal Area. It is located on Île Jésus, across the Rivière des Prairies from Montreal. It also includes the Îles Laval in the Rivière des Prairies. In 2004, the city has a population of 364,756 <ref name="statcan1">statistics Canada. Statistics Canada website. Retrieved on August 29, 2006.</ref> Laval constitutes one of the 17 regions of Quebec.
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[edit] Geography
The island is still rural in nature, with most of the urban area in the central region and along the south and west coasts.
Laval is bounded on the south and east by Montreal, on the north by MRC des Moulins and on the west by MRC de Thérèse-De Blainville and MRC de Deux-Montagnes.
[edit] Transportation
[edit] Highways
Laval is served by five highways:
- A-25 - Boucherville to Saint-Esprit
- A-19 (Papineau Highway) - Montreal to Bois-des-Filion
- A-13 (Chomedey Highway) - Montreal to Boisbriand
- A-15 (Laurentian Highway) - New York state to Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts
- A-440 (Laval Freeway) - Laval
[edit] Public Transit
The AMT operates two commuter train lines in Laval. The Deux Montagnes and Blainville) line Laval to downtown Montreal in as little as 30 minutes. There are currently five commuter train stations in Laval<ref name="amt">Agence métropolitaine de transport. AMT website. Retrieved on October 14, 2006.</ref>:
| Blainville line | Deux-Montagnes line | Sainte-Rose | Sainte-Dorothée | Vimont (New) | Île-Bigras | Saint-Martin |
[edit] Politics
See also: Canadian federal election results in Northern Montreal and Laval
Politically, Laval is a battleground area between the Quebec nationalist parties (The Bloc Québécois federally and the Parti Québécois provincially) and the federalist parties (The Liberal Party of Canada and the Parti libéral du Québec). The only exception is Chomedey in the south, which voted overwhelmingly to not separate in the 1995 Quebec referendum. The other parts of Laval were narrowly split.
[edit] Mayors
As of 2006,Gilles Vaillancourt is the mayor of the city of Laval. He has been in office since 1989.
Past Mayors have been:
- Jean-Noël Lavoie (founding mayor),1965
- Jaques-Tétreault, 1965-1973
- Dr. Lucien Paiement, 1973-1981
- Claude Lefebvre, 1981-1989
[edit] Demographics
Laval is the 6th largest suburb in North America after Mississauga, Ontario; Long Beach, California; Mesa, Arizona; Virginia Beach, Virginia and Surrey, British Columbia.
The city is about 6% Anglophone, 73% Francophone and 20% Allophone. Laval is predominantly white (91.4%) with many claiming southern European ancestries. A substantial number of Greeks live there, comprising around 5% of the population. Non-white groups include Black Canadian (3.2%), Arab (2.11%), and many others such as Chinese, and southeast Asian. The city is 81% Roman Catholic. The median income is $23,965.
[edit] History
Laval was first settled by Jesuits in 1636 when they were granted a seigneury there. Agriculture first appeared in Laval in 1670. In 1675, François de Montmorency-Laval gained control of the seigneury. In 1702 a parish was founded, and dedicated to Saint-François de Sales. The first municipalities on the island were created in 1845, after nearly 200 years of a rural nature. The only built up area on the island, Sainte-Rose was incorporated as a village in 1850, and remained as 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 and was followed by L'Abord-à-Plouffe being granted village status three years later. Laval-sur-le-Lac was founded in the same year based on its tourist-based economy from Montrealers. Laval began to grow throughout the following years, due to its proximity to Montreal which made it an ideal suburb.
To deal with problems caused by urbanization, amalgamations occurred; L'Abord-à-Plouffe amalgamated with Renaud and Saint-Martin creating the city of Chomedey in 1961. The amalgamation turned out to be successful for the municipalities involved, and the Quebec government decided to amalgamate the whole island into the city of Laval in 1965. 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. Prior to that, it was the County of Laval.<ref name="historylaval">History and Heritage. Laval portal website. Retrieved on November 8, 2006.</ref>
The 14 municipalities which existed prior to the incorporation of the amalgamated City of Laval on August 6, 1965 were:
In 2006 an overpass on Quebec Autoroute 19 collapsed killing five people.<ref name="overpasscollapse">Overpass Collapses Near Montreal; People Trapped Feared Dead. Fox News Website. Retrieved on November 8, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Flag, Seal and Motto
On a white-yellow background, the emblem of Laval illustrates the modernism of a city in full expansion. The sign of the city symbolizes the "L" of Laval.
The colors also have a significant meaning :
- Dark red represents usually the affluence and represents here the great economic potential of Laval.
- Blue symbolizes the quality of life and the installation of a human city.
The "L" of Laval is made of cubes that represent the development of Laval.
The letters of the Laval signature are related one to the other to point out the fusion of the 14 municipalities of the Jesus island.
The logo (which is on the flag) has existed since the 1980s and the flag since the 1990s.<ref name="logolaval">Flags of the World. Flags of the World website. Retrieved on July 16, 2005.</ref>
[edit] Sister cities
Laval is twinned with three cities:
- Image:Flag of France.svg Nice (France), since 2000
- Image:Flag of France.svg Laval (France), since 1984
- Image:Flag of Israel (bordered).svg Petah Tikva (Israel), since 1986
Laval also maintains ten economic and cultural cooperation agreements with Markham, Ontario (Canada), Ribeira Grande (The Azores), Grenoble (France), Mudanjiang (China) and Pedro Aguirre Cerda (Chile).
[edit] Tourism
Laval's main attractions are:
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Source: Tourisme Laval <ref name="tourismelaval">Tourisme Laval. Tourisme Laval website. Retrieved on August 29, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Education
Laval is home to a variety of vocational/technical centers, colleges and universities, including:
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[edit] Sport
[edit] Sports teams
<tr bgcolor="#ADADAD"> <td width="190px">Club</td> <td width="110px" align="left">Sport</td> <td width="270px" align="left">League</td> <td width="180px" align="left">Stadium/Arena</td> </tr>
<tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td width="190px">Regents</td> <td width="110px" align="left">Ice Hockey</td> <td width="270px" align="left">Midget AAA</td> <td width="180px" align="left">Colisée de Laval</td> </tr>
<tr bgcolor="#ffffff">
<td width="190px">Les Comètes</td> <td width="110px" align="left">Women’s soccer</td> <td width="270px" align="left">W-League</td> <td width="180px" align="left">Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard</td> </tr>
<tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td width="190px">Les Associés</td> <td width="110px" align="left">Baseball</td> <td width="270px" align="left">Ligue de Baseball Élite du Québec</td> <td width="180px" align="left">Montmorency Park</td> </tr>
</table>
See also: Le réseau des sports for detailed coverage.
Laval was also host-city of the "Jeux du québec" held in summer 1991.
[edit] Famous natives and residents
- Josée Chouinard, figure skater
- Michael Bossy, ice hockey player
- Mario Lemieux, ice hockey player
- Alexandre Daigle, ice hockey player
- Pascal Dupuis, ice hockey player
- Hana Gartner, CBC broadcast journalist and host
- Yves P. Pelletier, actor, director, writer, comedian
- Martin St. Louis, ice hockey player
- Jose Theodore, ice hockey player
- Alexandre Despatie, Olympic diver
- Donald Audette, ice hockey player
- Annie Bellemare, figure skater
- Carrie Lightbound, kayaker
- Gédéon Ouimet, politician
- Sebastien Lefebvre, guitarist
- Yannick Lupien, swimmer
- Adolfo Bresciano, Wrestler
[edit] Regional media outlets
[edit] Radio stations
- CFAV 1570 AM "Radio Boomer"
- CFGL 105.7 FM "Rythme FM"
[edit] Newspapers
- Le Courrier Laval - Weekly - French
- The Chomedey news - Bi-Weekly - English
[edit] See also
- Île Jésus
- List of Quebec regions
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
[edit] External links
- Laval Restaurant Guide
- City of Laval website (French - English)
[edit] References and footnotes
<references />
| North: Bois-des-Filion, Terrebonne |
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| West: Rosemère, Boisbriand, Saint-Eustache |
Laval | East: Montreal |
| South: Montreal |
