Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, often called NDG, is a neighborhood in Montreal. It is part of the city's West End.

NDG is one half of the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, with two wards called Loyola to the west and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce to the east. The area is surrounded by four smaller cities: Westmount, Quebec to the east, and Montreal West, Hampstead, and Côte-Saint-Luc to the north and west.

Sherbrooke Street West is the main shopping area, running through the heart of the neighborhood. NDG is important because it serves as a center for many English-speaking people living in Montreal's West End.

For more information about related areas, you can see Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (federal electoral district), Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (provincial electoral district), and the Cambrai Madonna.

History

When Montreal was founded in 1642, most of the land to the northwest was a big forest along a narrow ridge called the Saint Jacques Escarpment. The area that would become Notre-Dame-de-Grâce started in 1650 when the first Europeans, Jean Descarries and Jean Leduc, settled there. They came from France and were given land that stretched from Atwater Avenue to Lachine.

Over time, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce grew from a small village into a town. In 1910, it became part of the city of Montreal. Important streets like Décarie Boulevard and the first tramway helped the area develop. Anglophone families started moving in around 1920, leading to the building of many schools and churches. In 1967, the Décarie Expressway opened just in time for Expo 67. Today, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is part of the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

Geography

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is located between Westmount, Côte-des-Neiges, the Saint-Jacques Escarpment, and Côte-Saint-Luc Road, stretching west to Montreal West.

A part of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce near Westmount is sometimes called "Westmount Adjacent." This area is between Westmount, the Décarie Expressway, De Maisonneuve Boulevard, and Villa Maria private high school. The two metro stations, Vendôme and Villa-Maria, are here. Building the Décarie Expressway changed this area, moving many families.

Demographics

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is a middle-class neighborhood in Montreal with many different cultures and languages. It started as a place for French Canadian families to live between Canada joining together and the First World War. The neighborhood has traditional houses, like duplexes, and streets laid out in long, straight lines.

The area is split into two parts. The eastern part, centered around a parish church, mostly speaks French and has many old buildings. The western part has many different types of houses and people, with many English speakers because of schools like Loyola College of Concordia University and hospitals like the MUHC. Many students live here because of nearby colleges.

About one-third of people in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce are from different backgrounds around the world. There are communities of Afro-Canadian and immigrant families, as well as a small area called 'Little Italy.' Some parts of the neighborhood have more black and Chinese residents than other areas of Montreal. Young professionals now find this neighborhood very attractive.

Cityscape

NDG is found on a wide, flat area that slopes down from Mount Royal toward the Saint-Jacques Escarpment. The land here has long, narrow strips, which makes many streets run north to south but fewer run east to west. This layout has wide streets with shops and businesses.

The area has mostly homes, schools, and health places, with big buildings like a hospital and a university at each end. There are schools, libraries, parks, and sports places all around. Many houses are old, built between 1910 and 1940, and have special styles like Art Nouveau and Art Deco mixed with traditional Quebec designs. The most common homes are two houses sharing a wall, made of red brick.

NDG became popular in the late 1800s as a place for middle-class workers to live. Over time, people from many countries moved there, making it a mix of cultures. Today, it is a favorite place for young professionals and families because of its services, green spaces, and good public transportation.

Sports and recreation

NDG is famous for its many big parks like NDG Park (also called Girouard Park), Loyola Park, Trenholme Park, Benny Park, Somerled Park, and Parc de la Confédération. The area has three indoor hockey rinks: the public Doug Harvey Arena (once called Confederation Arena) and the private rinks at Lower Canada College High School and Concordia University (Ed Meagher Arena). NDG also has a YMCA with a pool, gym, and fun activities for kids and grown-ups.

NDG has many sports groups for children and adults. The most famous are NDG Hockey and NDG Baseball. In 2022, NDG Baseball joined Baseball Québec. The Montreal Exiles Rugby Football club, started in 2011, has teams for young children and older players. Their home field is in Confederation Park.

Transportation

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) runs buses and trains in Montreal.

Rapid transit

The Orange Line of Montreal's Metro goes through the area, with stops at Villa Maria and Vendôme on the east side of the Décarie Expressway.

NDG has many STM bus lines:

10-minute maximum (6:00-21:00)

• 24 Sherbrooke: A bus that goes east-west along Décarie Boulevard in NDG, ending at Villa Maria metro station.
• 51 Édouard-Montpetit: A bus that goes east-west along Fielding Avenue. It ends at the Montreal-Ouest train station.
• 105 Sherbrooke: A bus that goes east-west along Sherbrooke street in NDG. It starts at the Montreal-Ouest train station and ends at Vendôme metro station.

10-minute maximum (6:00-14:00 East)(14:00-21:00 West)

• 90 Saint-Jacques: A bus that goes east-west along Saint-Jacques Boulevard in NDG. It connects to Vendôme metro station.
• 103 Monkland: A bus that goes east-west along Monkland and Grand Boulevard in NDG. It ends at Villa Maria metro station.

Local (day)

• 17 Décarie: A bus that goes north-south along Girouard Boulevard in NDG. It connects to Vendôme metro station.
• 63 Girouard: A bus that goes north-south along Girouard Boulevard in NDG.
• 102 Somerled: A bus that goes east-west along Somerled Avenue in NDG. It ends at Vendôme metro station.
• 104 Cavendish: A bus that goes east-west along Cavendish Boulevard in NDG. It connects to Vendôme metro station.
• 138 Notre-Dame-de-Grâce: A bus that goes east-west along Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Cavendish in NDG.
• 162 Westminster: A bus that goes east-west along Monkland Avenue in NDG. It ends at Villa Maria metro station.

Express (day)

• 420 Notre-Dame-De-Grâce Express: A fast bus that goes along Cavendish Boulevard and Sherbrooke to Downtown Montreal.

All night

• 356: A night bus that runs along Sherbrooke street in NDG from 2:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.

Streetscape

The main shopping streets are Monkland Avenue, Somerled Avenue and Sherbrooke Street West. Monkland Village has shops on the east part of Monkland Avenue that were updated in the 1990s. The Décarie Expressway is a large road that runs north–south and splits eastern NDG into two parts. Bridges connect both sides for cars and people on foot.

Street names

Here are some street names in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce area and the people or places they are named after:

• Bessborough: Named after Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough, an important leader in Canada.
• Borden: Named after Robert Borden, the 8th Prime Minister of Canada.
• Cavendish: Likely named after the British House of Cavendish.
• Connaught: Named after Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, an important leader in Canada.
• Décarie: Named after members of the Décarie family, possibly Jérémie-Louis Décarie, who was born in the area.
• Fielding: Named after William Stevens Fielding, a leader in Nova Scotia and editor of a newspaper in Montreal.
• Girouard: Named after Désiré Girouard, a Canadian lawyer and judge.
• Hampton & Kensington: Both named after royal homes in England.
• Harvard: Likely named together with Oxford Avenue after the famous schools Harvard and Oxford.
• Hingston: Named after William Hales Hingston, a Canadian senator and mayor of Montreal.
• Marcil: Named after Georges Marcil, the last mayor of NDG before it joined the city of Montreal.
• Monkland: Named after James Monk, a former chief justice and landowner.
• Notre-Dame-de-Grâce: The name of the community itself.
• Old Orchard: Named after the orchards that used to be in the area.
• Oxford: Likely named together with Harvard Avenue after the famous schools Harvard and Oxford.
• Sherbrooke: Named after John Coape Sherbrooke, a governor general of British North America.
• Somerled: Named after a leader from Scotland in the 12th century.
• Terrebonne: Named after a French area near the city of Terrebonne.
• Trenholme: Named after Thomas Anderson Trenholme, the founder of Elmhurst Dairy.
• Wilson: Named after Charles Wilson, a former mayor of Montreal.

Education

The Centre de services scolaire de Montréal runs French public schools here. The English Montreal School Board has its offices here and manages English schools.

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce has many schools, including:

Elementary schools

French schools (CSSDM)

• École internationale de Montréal (primaire)
• École Marc-Favreau
• L'Étoile Filante
• École Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
• École Anne-Hébert
• École Rudolph-Steiner de Montréal

English Schools

• Royal Vale
• Willingdon School
• Herbert Symonds (Closed 1981)
• St. Monica School

High schools

Private

• Centennial Academy
• Greaves Adventist Academy
• Lower Canada College
• Loyola High School
• Villa Maria
• Kells Academy

Public

• Marymount Academy
• Royal Vale School (K-11)
• West Hill High School (Montreal)(closed 1992)
• École Saint-Luc

Universities

• Concordia University (Loyola Campus)

Public libraries

The Montreal Public Libraries Network runs libraries here.

Notable residents

Actors, musicians, artists

• Hubert Aquin, writer, filmmaker
• Jay Baruchel, actor
• Constance Beresford-Howe, writer
• Albéric Bourgeois, cartoonist
• Michel de Broin, sculptor
• Anne Dorval, actress
• Paterson Ewen, painter
• Charles Gagnon, painter, photographer, filmmaker
• Ida Haendel, violinist
• Corky Laing, drummer
• Irving Layton, poet
• Laurence Leboeuf, actress
• Guido Molinari, artist
• Émile Ollivier (writer), writer
• Jessica Paré, actress
• Michel Rivard, singer
• William Shatner, actor
• Alan B. Stone, photographer
• Françoise Sullivan, dancer, sculptor, photographer, painter
• Daisy Sweeney, pianist

Athletes and sports officials/personalities

• Mauro Biello, former soccer player
• Steven Fletcher (ice hockey), NHL player
• Frank Greenleaf, president of hockey associations
• Doug Harvey, former NHL player
• Eddie Johnston, former NHL player
• Ismaël Koné, soccer player
• Fleming Mackell, former NHL player
• Russell Martin, baseball player
• Jim McKean, former CFL player and MLB umpire
• Ian Mofford, former CFL player and Grey Cup champion
• Sergio Momesso, former NHL player and sports commentator
• Gabriel Morency, sports radio personality
• Howie Morenz, former NHL player
• Ken Mosdell, former NHL player
• Sam Pollock, General Manager; Montreal Canadiens
• Marco Scandella, NHL player

Politicians

• Warren Allmand, Member of Parliament
• Monique Bégin, Member of Parliament
• Charles Duquette, Mayor of Montreal
• Michael Fainstat, City Councillor
• Sarto Fournier, Mayor of Montreal, Member of Parliament, Senator
• Daniel Johnson Sr., Premier of Quebec
• Charles Marcil, Member of Parliament

Geographic location

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, often called NDG, is a neighborhood in Montreal. It is in the city's West End. Before 1910, it was its own small town, but it later joined the City of Montreal. Today, it is part of the borough called Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, split into two areas: Loyola in the west and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce in the east.