Villeray District

Definition of Population

Quarry workers, construction workers and retailers used to form most of its population. The suburb-countryside aspect of the area attracted Montrealers who wished to leave the city.

As times went by, the Villeray part of the borough became a residential neighborhood densely populated with blue collar workers. The territory is equipped with a multitude of small commercial establishments, enriched with an uncommon cultural diversity and protected by a dynamic community life.

Nowadays, streets like Jean Talon and Faillon enable the discovery of Lebanon, Syria and the Arab world. Villeray Street opens a window on Latin America. The neighborhood also offers various Haitian and Vietnamese retail stores as well as professional services like dentists.

Main Street Canvas

Various commercial activities appeared within the residential sectors. During the 1930's, hundreds of large family houses were converted into offices and shops. The aspect of the territory was then entirely transformed.

Even when the district was still a village, St-Hubert was where people went shopping. Until 1928, St-Denis remained exclusively residential but, during the 1930’s, it became more commercial. Over the years, streets like St-Laurent, Beaubien, St-Denis, Bélanger, St-Zotique, Villeray and Crémazie became commercial.

Some of the commercial avenues are dedicated to local customers and others like St-Denis, St-Laurent and St-Hubert have a more regional vocation. The presence of so many retail stores and offices brings animation to the district as well as an intense traffic. Because of the Metropolitan Boulevard, the traffic is quite intense.

Modern Home Architecture

Between 1890 and 1900, while the tramway lines were being built, smart investors saw a good business opportunity. They bought the lands around the new transport lines and subdivided them into building plots.

The workers could still build their own house during those days. First they built a small one floor house covered with black paper. There was no running water and the toilet was installed in the backyard. In English the place was called "backhouse", a word that eventually became "bécosse" in "joual" or French slang. Afterwards, a second floor, running water and a bathroom were added.

Montreal offers a very distinctive architectural style mostly found in areas built between 1890 and 1930 as was the case in the Villeray district. Of course, those residences are older and in need of repairs and restorations such as the ones located between St-Laurent and Christophe Colomb.

During the 1910’s, the population reached a threshold that justified the establishment of professionals like doctors, lawyers and solicitors. This local middle class population built more opulent residences then the rest.

Those houses usually have two floors and offer unusual attributes like roofs with pinions (two slopes) or pavilions (four slopes), skylights and long covered balconies. There are about ten of those houses in the district.

St-Denis started to emerge during the 1920’s. The street had its own special personality and was different from the others. The residences are bigger, the designs more elaborated and the occupants more fortunate.

The houses have six to ten rooms and were initially built for large families. The rooms are often if not always laid out one after the other down a hallway. Joined in rows along the streets, the houses are called “maisons en rangée” and they characterize the "Villeray Type".

The “type” is easily recognizable. The houses have two to three floors and two to five residences (duplex to quintuplex), each having its own entrance. Rectangular with flat roofs, the buildings are soberly designed and have an imposing presence. The façades are made out of bricks and are decorated with wrought iron staircases and balconies.

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