Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue
Template:Use Canadian English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue (Template:IPA, Template:IPA) is an on-island suburb located at the western tip of the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is the second oldest community in Montreal's West Island, having been founded as a parish in 1703. The oldest, Dorval, was founded in 1667.
Points of interest include the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal (a National Historic Site of Canada), the Sainte-Anne Veterans' Hospital, the Morgan Arboretum, and the L'Anse-à-l'Orme Nature Park. Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is also home to John Abbott College and McGill University's Macdonald Campus, which includes the J. S. Marshall Radar Observatory and the Canadian Aviation Heritage Centre as well as about Template:Convert of farmland which separates the small town from neighbouring Baie-d'Urfé.
History
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue was established on a location once known and frequented by both the Algonquin and Iroquois peoples. Situated between two important lakes (Lac des Deux-Montagnes and Lac Saint Louis) and near the confluence of two important rivers (the Saint Lawrence River and the Ottawa River) both nations recognized its natural strategic advantages and had names for the place. The oral records show that it was named “Tiotenactokte” by the Algonquin, which means "place of the last encampments" and that the Iroquois called it “Skanawetsy” meaning "white waters, after the rapids".
In 1663, the Saint-Louis Mission was founded in the west end of Montreal Island at Pointe-Caron (site of the present-day Baie-d'Urfé yacht club), and was led by François-Saturnin Lascaris d'Urfé. At that time, the mission included the entire area from the tip of Montreal Island to Pointe-Claire, Île Perrot, Soulanges, Vaudreuil, and Île aux Tourtes.<ref name=SAB-his>"History", City of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue</ref>
In 1672, King Louis XIV of France granted fiefdoms bordering on Lake of Two Mountains and Lake Saint-Louis to Louis de Berthé, Lord of Chailly, and to his brother Gabriel, Lord of La Joubardière. One of these adjacent fiefdoms was called Bellevue, due to its good views to the east and west. In 1677, the Parish of Saint-Louis-du-Bout-de-l'Île, sometimes also called Saint-Louis-du-Haut-de-l'Île, was founded. Jean de Lalonde was the first church warden. One September 30, 1687, Lalonde and four other parishioners were killed in a skirmish with the Iroquois.<ref>Chronological History of the Life of Jean De Lalonde, Erik Lalonde, 2003</ref> In 1703, the parish was closed and its registers moved to Lachine because of the constant threat from the Iroquois.<ref name="toponymie">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=SAB-his/>
Around 1712, René-Charles de Breslay (1658–1735), local parish priest from 1703 to 1719, got caught in a fierce snowstorm. He fell from his horse, broke his leg on the ice, and lost the horse. Breslay was allegedly saved through the intervention by Saint Anne, after which he built a chapel dedicated to her at the westernmost point of Montreal Island next to Fort Senneville and Tourtes Island (Île aux Tourtes). Two years later, the parish was reestablished and took the name Sainte-Anne-du-Bout-de-l'Île.<ref name="toponymie"/><ref name=SAB-his/>
From the early 1800s the town became a place of literary pilgrimage after Thomas Moore the famous Irish composer wrote one of his most celebrated works Canadian Boat Song here.
In 1835, the local post office opened. In 1843, the Sainte-Anne Canal was completed, resulting in a large number of travellers and merchants passing through the village. Another impetus to its development came a few years later in 1854, when the Grand Trunk Railway was built through the area, followed by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1887.
In 1845, the place was first incorporated as the Municipality of Bout-de-l'Isle. This was abolished two years later, but in 1855, it was reestablished as the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Anne-en-l'Isle-de-Montréal. In 1878, the main settlement was incorporated as a separate village municipality, and the parish municipality was renamed to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue that same year. The village municipality changed its status to town (ville) on January 12, 1895.<ref name="toponymie"/>
The early 20th century saw several developments in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue: the Macdonald College (affiliated to the McGill University) was established in 1907; the Federal Government built Ste. Anne's Veteran Hospital in 1917; the Galipeault Bridge was built in 1924 and doubled in 1964, linking Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue with Île Perrot.<ref name=SAB-his/> One of Canada's earliest Garden City experiments was undertaken in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue by John James Harpell, an industrialist, who around 1918 developed the Template:Convert neighbourhood of Gardenvale.<ref>Kristian Gravenor, JJ Harpell underrated local legend Template:Webarchive, Accessed November 11, 2015</ref><ref>Canadian Cooperative Hall of Fame, John James Harpell citation, Accessed November 11, 2015</ref> The neighbourhood was granted its own post office in 1920.<ref>Library and Archives Canada: Post Offices and Postmasters, Gardenvale, Accessed November 11, 2015</ref>
In 1911, the parish municipality lost part of its territory when Baie-d'Urfé became a separate municipality. In 1964, the town of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue annexed the parish municipality.
On January 1, 2002, as part of the 2002–2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue was merged into the city of Montreal and became part of the borough of L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève–Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. However, after a change of government and a 2004 referendum, it was re-constituted as an independent city on January 1, 2006.
Climate
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue had a population of Template:Val living in Template:Val of its Template:Val total private dwellings, a change of Template:Percentage from its 2016 population of Template:Val. With a land area of Template:Convert, it had a population density of Template:Pop density in 2021.<ref name=2021census>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Canada census
| Language | Population | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| English | 2,600 | 59% |
| French | 1,425 | 33% |
| Other | 335 | 8% |
| Language | Population | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| English | 1,960 | 44% |
| French | 1,570 | 36% |
| Other | 885 | 20% |
| Ethnicity | Population | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Not a visible minority | 3,830 | 85.6% |
| Visible minorities | 645 | 14.4% |
Local government
The current mayor of Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue is Paola Hawa.
There are six city councilors:
- Ryan Young (District 1)
- Jean-Pierre Cardinal (District 2)
- Dan Boyer (District 3)
- Tom Broad (District 4)
- Yvan Labelle (District 5)
- Denis Gignac (District 6)
List of mayors
The mayors of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue have been:<ref name=SAB-his/> Template:Div col
- Jules Tremblay, 1878–1879
- Thomas Grenier, 1880–1884, 1885–1886
- Antoine St-Denis, 1881–1883
- D. Lebeau, 1887
- L. Michaud, 1888–1897
- M. C. Bezner, 1898–1899, 1901–1905, 1909–10, 1915–1916
- L.N.F. Cypihot, 1900, 1921–1922
- J.A. Aumais, 1906
- Guis. Daoust, 1906, 1917–1920
- Bruno Lalonde, 1907–1908, 1913–1914
- J.S. Vallée, 1911–1912
- L.J. Boileau, 1923–1931, 1933–1934
- A.R. Demers, 1932, 1935–1938
- E.E. Deslauriers, 1939–1951
- Philippe Godin, 1951–1965
- J.L. Paquin, 1965–1973
- Alphonse Trudeau, 1973–1978
- Marcel Marleau, 1978–1984
- René Martin, 1984–1994
- Bill Tierney, 1994–2001, 2005–2009
- Francis Deroo, 2009–2013
- Paola Hawa, 2013–present
Transportation
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is traversed by Autoroute 40 (the Trans-Canada Highway) and Autoroute 20, which crosses the Ottawa River over the Galipeault Bridge linking it to Île Perrot.
For public transit, the town is served by the Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue commuter train station on the Vaudreuil-Hudson Line. It also covered by the bus network of the Société de transport de Montréal.
Anse-à-l'Orme station, in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, will be the westernmost terminus for the Réseau express métropolitain rapid transit system on the island of Montreal. The West Island branch is currently undergoing testing and is scheduled to open in spring 2026.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Education
The Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys operates Francophone public schools, but were previously operated by the Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys until June 15, 2020. The change was a result of a law passed by the Quebec government that changed the school board system from denominational to linguistic.<ref>"ÉCOLES ET CENTRES Template:Webarchive." Commission Scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys. Retrieved on December 7, 2014.</ref> It operates the École primaire du Bout-de-l'Isle.
The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) operates Anglophone public schools in the area. It operates Macdonald High School.
The zoned elementary school is Dorset Elementary School in Baie-D'Urfé.<ref>"School Board Map Template:Webarchive." Lester B. Pearson School Board. Retrieved on September 28, 2017.</ref>
See also
- Ecomuseum Zoo
- List of anglophone communities in Quebec
- List of former boroughs
- Montreal Merger
- Morgan Arboretum
- Municipal reorganization in Quebec