Blainville, Quebec

Blainville is a suburb of Montreal located on the North Shore in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Thérèse-De Blainville Regional County Municipality within the Laurentides region. The town sits at the foot of the Laurentian Mountains and is about 35 kilometres, or 22 miles, northwest of downtown Montreal. Blainville is a peaceful community that offers a mix of suburban living and access to natural beauty. It is known for its parks, schools, and family-friendly environment.

History

Blainville's history began in 1683 when a leader named Louis de Buade de Frontenac gave a large area of land to important people to help grow New France. This area was called the Seigneurie des Mille Îles and covered over 200 square kilometres along the northern shores of the Mille Îles River.

Later, in 1792, the land was split due to a disagreement between two leaders. Blainville was named after Jean-Baptiste Céloron de Blainville, the third leader of the area. In 1968, Blainville became its own town. Today, it has its own police force, fire department, library, and many places for people to enjoy activities.

Geography

Climate

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population by Statistics Canada, Blainville had a population of 59,819 people living in 22,424 homes. This was a 5.2% increase from the 56,863 people living there in 2016. The town covers 54.97 km² (21.22 sq mi), with a population density of 1,088.2 people per km² (2,818.5 per sq mi) in 2021. Over 8% of the residents were under 15 years old, 67% were between 15 and 64, and 15% were over 65.

In 2021, most people in Blainville were white or European, making up 86.5% of the population. About 12.3% were from visible minority groups, and 1.2% were Indigenous. The largest groups among visible minorities were Arab (3.6%), Black (3.3%), Latin American (1.7%), Southeast Asian (0.9%), and Chinese (0.9%).

Most people identified as Christian, with 66.9% belonging to Christian faiths. Of these, 57.3% were Catholic, 6.3% were Christian with no specific denomination, 0.8% were Protestant, and 2.5% belonged to other Christian groups. Christian Orthodox was the largest non-Catholic group at 1.9%. About 28.0% of residents had no religious affiliation, and 5.1% followed other religions. The largest of these were Islam (4.2%) and Buddhism (0.4%).

In 2021, 82.2% of residents spoke French as their first language. While 60.0% knew both English and French, only 4.1% spoke English as their first language. Other common first languages were Arabic (2.3%), Spanish (1.7%), and Portuguese (1.0%).

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Blainville, Quebec
Census	Total	French				English			French & English				Other
Year	Responses	Count	Trend	Pop %	Count	Trend	Pop %	Count	Trend	Pop %	Count	Trend	Pop %
2021	59,115	48,570	2.11%	82.16%	2,430	18.25%	4.11%	970	76.36%	1.64%	6,100	52.31%	10.32
2016	56,755	49,620	3.58%	87.42%	2,055	18.44%	3.62%	550	19.56%	0.96%	4,005	28.98%	7.05%
2011	53,510	47,905	12.74%	89.52%	1,735	12.66%	3.24%	460	104.44%	0.86%	3,105	25.96%	5.8%
2006	46,493	42,490	27.10%	91.39%	1,540	75%	3.31%	225	12.5%	0.48%	2,465	64.33%	5.30%
2001	36,015	33,430	21.66%	92.82%	880	41.93%	2.4%	200	20%	0.55%	1500	38.88%	4.1%
1996	29,603	27,560	n/a	93.15%	620	n/a	2.09%	250	n/a	0.8%	1,080	n/a	3.64%

Economy

Blainville is home to a brewery called Les Brasseurs du Nord. This brewery makes a popular beer known as Boréale.

Sports

Blainville worked together with Rosemère and Sainte-Thérèse to host the 2009 Quebec Winter Games. A famous Canadian speed skater named Gaétan Boucher helped support their application. During the event in March, a special swimming pool was built in Blainville.

The city is home to the A.S. Blainville soccer team and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada hockey team, which plays in the QMJHL. The local golf club, Le Fontainebleau Golf Club, has hosted famous golfers like John Daly, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, and Hank Kuehne. It also held a big golf tournament called the Montreal Championship in 2010, which is part of the PGA Tour.

Government

Richard Perreault has been the mayor of Blainville since 2013. He leads the team called Vrai Blainville and was re-elected with lots of votes in 2017.

Blainville is part of the federal area called Therese-de-Blainville, where Louise Chabot represents the area for the Bloc Québécois. For provincial matters, Blainville is in the Blainville area and is represented by Mario Laframboise from the Coalition Avenir Québec party.

Former mayors include Roger Boisvert, André De Carufel, Paul Mercier, Onil Charron, Pierre Gingras, François Cantin, and Richard Perreault.

Infrastructure

Blainville has a train station called Blainville on the Saint-Jérôme line. This line is part of the Réseau de transport métropolitain. People can also take buses for local travel, run by RTM Laurentides.

Education

The Commission scolaire de la Seigneurie-des-Mille-Îles runs French public schools. There are 10 elementary schools in Blainville, plus one each in Lorraine and Sainte-Thérèse. The area has two high schools: École secondaire Henri-Dunant and École secondaire Lucille-Teasdale. Some parts of Blainville are served by schools in Sainte-Thérèse, Rosemère, and Bois-des-Filion.

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board runs English public schools. This includes Pierre Elliot Trudeau Elementary School in Blainville, McCaig Elementary School in Rosemère, and Rosemère High School in Rosemère.

Notable people

Blainville has been home to several famous athletes. Aleksandra Wozniak is a well-known tennis player. Donald Audette played professional hockey, and Kristian Matte was a football player.