Two multi-coloured neighbourhoods: Côte-des-Neiges / Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

Situated in the centre-west of the city of Montréal, the Côte-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough covers 21.4 square kilometres and had a total population of 164,246 in 2006.

It has the highest population density of any borough in Montréal. The borough is bordered by the municipalities of Montréal West, Hampstead and Côte-Saint-Luc to the west, the Town of Mount Royal and the Saint-Laurent borough to the north, the Outremont borough to the east and the municipality of Westmount and the Ville-Marie and the Sud-ouest boroughs to the south. Ten metro stations are located in our borough, which is also situated at the crossroads of highways 15, 20 and 40, giving it a strategic importance unique in Montréal with respect to the transport of people and merchandise.

Map of the borough (in pdf format)

NDG-History and Characteristics

In the 1660s, the Décarie, Hurtubise and Milot families from the new colony of Ville Marie became landowners in the area known as Coteau Saint-Pierre, thus leaving their mark in NDG. The Village of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce was established in 1876 and grew rapidly thanks to its rural ambiance. Its fertile soil produced apples that were shipped to England and melons that were highly prized in New York and Boston. The Elmhurst Dairy, founded in the late 1870s, increased its grazing land by 400 acres in the subsequent years, even before NDG was incorporated as a town in 1906 and annexed by the City of Montreal as the NDG ward in 1910. In 1914, there were 5000 inhabitants, and by 1930, their numbers had increased to 30,000.

Present-day NDG lies southwest of downtown Montreal. It is bordered by Montreal West, Côte-St-Luc and Hampstead to the west and north, the Sud-ouest borough the south and Westmount to the east. Predominant physical features are the Décarie highway, falaise St-Jacques, and the Loyola campus of Concordia University. Major arteries are Saint Jacques Street, Sherbrooke Street West, Monkland Avenue, Côte-St-Luc Road, and Cavendish and Décarie boulevards.

Côte-des-Neiges - History and Characteristics

The Sulpician and Seigneur of Montréal, Dollier le Casson, had the royal geographer lay out a new area northwest of the mountain in 1698, on both sides of the Mount Royal creek. The creek, which has long since disappeared, had as its course the present-day Côte-des-Neiges Road; the east-west configuration of the area's streets (as opposed to the north-south alignment of the rest of the city) is testament to the creek's orientation when it existed. The fertile soil of the area enabled the development of agriculture, and the possibility of transporting merchandise down the creek also attracted tanners; by 1850 there were 50 such operations and the area became known as the Village des tanneurs. The CDN area developed as a rural retreat (foxes were hunted there by the Montreal Hunt Club until 1925) and was annexed to the City of Montréal in 1908-1910.

CDN is bordered on the north by the Town of Mount Royal and Outremont, the west by Hampstead and NDG, south by Westmount and east by Ville-Marie. Predominant physical features are the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery on the western slope of Mount Royal, Saint Joseph's Oratory, and the University of Montreal tower. Major arteries are Décarie Boulevard, Queen Mary and Côte-des-Neiges roads, Victoria Avenue, and Jean Talon Street.

The CDN/NDG Borough

The borough as a whole boasts a population of 164,246 persons (2006 census), a slight decrease of 0.3% over the past five years. CDN/NDG accounts for over 10.1% of the total population of the City of Montréal and is its most populous borough. People aged 14 and under make up 16.3% of the population and 17.7% fall into the 25-34 age group. Persons 65 or older make up only 13.8% of the population.

In 2006, 21.8% of families in the borough were headed by a single parent (7480 families, of which 85.1% were headed by a woman).

People born outside Canada account for 47% of the population of the borough; 41% of them describe themselves as visible minorities; 43.1% of borough residents have as their mother tongue a language other than French or English; and 25.8% (28% in 2001) have French as a mother tongue, compared to 27.4% (30% in 2001) whose first language is English. Overall, 71.4% of borough residents say that they are comfortable in French.

The major sectors of economic activity in the borough (2006) are retail stores (9.2%), services (6%), health (11.7%) and education (11.6%).With respect to employment, 81,190 persons are designated "active" (employed or seeking employment). In 2006, 4070 persons were receiving social assistance benefits.

Community activism in the borough is spearheaded by the Côte-des-Neiges/Snowdon Community Council and the NDG Community Council. The borough is home to two CSSSs (de la Montagne and Cavendish), two universities (UdeM, Concordia), and six hospitals (Jewish General, St Mary's, CHU Sainte-Justine, Julius Richardson, Catherine Booth, and the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal).