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Saint-Leonard
Borough of Montreal
Saint-Léonard (French)
Saint-Léonard church on Rue Jarry.
Logo
Saint-Leonard's location in Montreal
Coordinates: 45°35′09″N 73°35′46″W / 45.58583°N 73.59611°W / 45.58583; -73.59611
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
City	Montreal
Region	Montréal
Merge into Montreal	January 1, 2002
Electoral Districts Federal	Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel
Provincial	Jeanne-Mance–Viger
Government[1][2][3]
• Type	Borough
• Mayor	Michel Bissonnet (EDC)
• Federal MP(s)	Nicola Di Iorio (LPC)
• Quebec MNA(s)	Filomena Rotiroti (PLQ)
Area[4]
• Land	13.51 km2 (5.22 sq mi)
Population (2011)[4][5]
• Total	75,707
• Density	5,603.8/km2 (14,514/sq mi)
• Change (2006-11)	5.5%
• Dwellings(2006)	31,105
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Area code(s)	Area code 514/438
Access Routes[6]	A-40 (TCH)
Website	www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/st-leonard

Saint-Leonard (/ˈliːoʊnɑːrd/ LEE-oh-nard; French: Saint-Léonard [sɛ̃ leonaʁ]) is a borough (arrondissement) of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Formerly a separate city,^[7] it was amalgamated into the city of Montreal in 2002. The former city was originally called Saint-Léonard de Port Maurice after Leonard of Port Maurice, an Italian saint.

History

The parish of Saint-Léonard-de-Port-Maurice was founded in April 1886 and eventually became the City of Saint-Léonard-de-Port-Maurice on March 5, 1915.

Italian-Canadian presence

The borough has one of the highest concentrations of Italian-Canadians in the city, along with Rivière-des-Prairies (RDP).^[8] As such, it has surpassed Montreal's rapidly gentrifying Little Italy as the centre for Italian culture in the city, with numerous cultural institutions and commercial enterprises serving the city's second-most populous cultural community.^[8] By necessity, many services are available in Italian, English and French (the Leonardo da Vinci Centre, for instance, offers cultural activities and events in the three languages). The borough is characterized by its spacious, wide-set semi-detached brick duplexes (and triplexes, four-plexes, and five-plexes — an architectural style unique to Montreal), backyard vegetable gardens, Italian bars (cafés), and pastry shops serving Italian-Canadian staples such as cannoli, sfogliatelle, lobster tails, and zeppole.^[9] At some times of year, it is possible to observe seasonal Italian traditions like the making of wine, cheese, sausage, and tomato sauce in quantity. These activities bring extended families and neighbours together and often spill out into front driveways.

Demographics

Located in the East End of Montreal, Saint-Leonard was traditionally a rural francophone hamlet with under a thousand people until the mid-twentieth century. The town became increasingly developed and urban throughout the twentieth century, benefiting from the expansion of the City of Montreal and a massive wave of Italian immigration which enriched life in the area with numerous cafes and restaurants. Today it is one of the most diverse and multi-cultural neighbourhoods on the Island of Montreal.

Linguistic trend

Sports and recreation

Typical housing in Saint-Leonard.

Aquatics

The Saint-Léonard Aquatic Complex (French: Complexe aquatique de Saint-Léonard) was built in 2006 and is home to three swimming pools: one recreational basin, one 25 meter deep pool and one acclimation basin that includes a turbo bath spa. There are also two saunas, one for women and one for men.

Skate parks

Skaters can skate safely in any one of the two skate parks located in the city of Saint Leonard. Admission to these parks is free, and they are open to the public May through October.

Cycling paths

Saint Leonard has 10 km of bike paths around the city, that connect various parks, pools and city structures.

Hockey

Saint Leonard has two hockey arenas, Aréna Martin Brodeur, located on 5300 boulevard Robert, and Aréna Roberto Luongo, located on 7755 Rue Colbert. These arenas host local games, and usually provide food, locker rooms, showers and public free-skating.

Saint Leonard also has many outdoor hockey rinks in the winter. There are seven rinks set up before winter, and then they are iced when the temperature is appropriate. There was a delay of rink making in 2007 when the weather was warmer than usual.

Soccer

Soccer is a very popular sport for the youth in Saint Leonard. Nearly every public park in has a soccer field open to the public.

Figure skating

Both Saint Leonard arenas are used by the figure skating community. Many Olympic and World Champions have trained here in different disciplines like singles, pairs, dance and synchronized skating.

Other activities

The city has a domed football stadium, Stade Hébert, which is home to the Saint-Léonard Cougars.

There are bocce courts located at almost every public park.

Saint Leonard contains an underground cavern located at Pie XII Park.

Education

Schools

Since the replacement of denominational (Catholic/Protestant) school boards with linguistic (French/English) ones, Saint-Leonard is served by two school boards. The French schools are part of the Commission scolaire Pointe-de-l'Ile while the English schools are part of the English Montreal School Board.

The French-language high school is École secondaire Antoine de St-Exupery.^[11]

French-language primary schools:^[12]

• Alphonse-Pesant


• Gabrielle-Roy


• La Dauversière


• Pie XII


• Victor-Lavigne


• Wilfrid-Bastien

English-language secondary schools:

• 
  Laurier Macdonald High School^[13]


• John Paul I Junior High School^[14]

English-language primary schools:

• Dante School^[15]


• Pierre de Coubertin School^[16]


• Honoré Mercier School^[17]


• General Vanier School

Public libraries

Saint-Léonard Library

The borough the Saint-Léonard Library of the Montreal Public Libraries Network.^[18]

Government

Borough council

Saint-Léonard is divided by Lacordaire Boulevard into two city council districts, Saint-Léonard-Est and Saint-Léonard-Ouest. The borough elects a borough mayor, who also sits on Montreal City Council; each district elects one city councillor and one borough councillor. The borough mayor, city councillors, and borough councillors make up the borough council.

Following the November 5, 2017 Montreal municipal election, the composition of the borough council remained unchanged, and consists of the following councillors:

Mayors

Includes mayors of the former city (1886–2001) and current borough (2002- ) of Saint-Leonard:

• Louis Sicard (1886–1901)


• Gustave Pépin (1901–1903)


• Léon Léonard (1903–1905)


• Jean-Baptiste Jodoin (1905–1906)


• Joseph Léonard (1906–1907)


• Louis D Roy (1907–1910)


• Wilfrid Bastien (1910–1929)


• Pascal Gagnon (1929–1935)


• Philias Gagnon (1935–1939)


• Alphonse D Pesant (1939–1957)


• Antonio Dagenais (1957–1962)


• Paul Émile Petit (1962–1967)


• Leo Ouellet (1967–1974)


• Jean Di Zazzo (1974–1978)


• 
  Michel Bissonnet (1978–1981)


• 
  Antonio di Ciocco (1981–1984)


• 
  Raymond Renaud (1984–1990)


• 
  Frank Zampino (1990–2008)


• 
  Michel Bissonnet (2008- )

Notable people and companies

St-Leonard is the birthplace of notable people such as Roberto Luongo, and Martin Brodeur.^[19] Notable companies from St-Leonard include Saputo Inc.,^[20] FSecur,^[21] Lafrenaie,^[22] and a few others.

See also

• Boroughs of Montreal


• Districts of Montreal


• Municipal reorganization in Quebec


• Little Italy, Montreal


• Italian-Canadian

References

External links

• 
  Borough website (in French)
  


• Leonardo Da Vinci Center


• City of Montreal. Borrough of Saint-Leonard (in French)
  

Coordinates: 45°35′09″N 73°35′46″W / 45.585848°N 73.596066°W / 45.585848; -73.596066