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Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience

The beautiful Église Notre-Dame-de-Grâce church in Montreal, Canada.

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, often called NDG, is a neighborhood in Montreal. It is part of the city's West End and had a population of 68,152 in 2021. Before 1910, it was its own municipality, but it was later joined with the City of Montreal.

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. The neighborhood is bordered by Claremont Avenue to the east, Côte-Saint-Luc Road to the north, Brock Avenue to the west, and Highway 20 and the Saint-Jacques Escarpment to the south.

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

The Church of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

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 all the way 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 found here. Building the Décarie Expressway changed this area a lot, moving many families and making this spot feel more like Westmount than the rest of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

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.

Shops along Sherbrooke Street West in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

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

The Empress Theatre located along Sherbrooke Street West.

NDG is located on a wide, flat area that slopes down from Mount Royal toward a steeper slope called the Saint-Jacques Escarpment. The land here is divided into long, narrow strips, which creates many streets running north to south but fewer running east to west. This layout has many wide streets where shops and businesses are found.

The area is mostly homes and places for learning and health, with big buildings like a hospital and a university campus at each end. There are schools, libraries, parks, and places for sports all around. Many of the 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 grew popular in the late 1800s as a place for middle-class workers to live. Over time, people from many different countries have moved there, making it a friendly mix of cultures. Today, it is a favorite place for young professionals and families because of its many 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 after winning many championships in Little League Quebec. 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 rapid transit in Montreal.

Rapid transit

Villa-Maria Montreal Metro station.

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

NDG has many STM bus lines with different service levels:

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

  • 24 Sherbrooke: East-West local bus serving Décarie Boulevard in NDG, with Villa Maria metro station as its western end.
  • 51 Édouard-Montpetit: East-West local bus serving Fielding Avenue. Montreal-Ouest commuter rail station is its western end.
  • 105 Sherbrooke: East-West local bus serving Sherbrooke street in NDG. Montreal-Ouest commuter rail station and Vendôme metro station are its western and eastern ends.
Tracks and platforms at the Vendome metro station.

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

  • 90 Saint-Jacques: East-west local bus serving Saint-Jacques Boulevard in NDG. Connects to Vendôme metro station.
  • 103 Monkland: East-West local bus serving Monkland and Grand Boulevard in NDG. Villa Maria metro station is its eastern end.

Local (day)

Autoroute 15 looking north from Monkland avenue in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

  • 17 Décarie: North-South local bus serving Girouard Boulevard in NDG. Connects to Vendôme metro station.

  • 63 Girouard: North-South local bus serving Girouard Boulevard in NDG.

  • 102 Somerled: East-West local bus serving Somerled Avenue in NDG. Its eastern end is Vendôme metro station.

  • 104 Cavendish: East-West local bus serving Cavendish Boulevard in NDG. Connects to Vendôme metro station.

  • 138 Notre-Dame-de-Grâce: East-West local bus serving Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Cavendish in NDG.

  • 162 Westminster: East-West local bus serving Monkland Avenue in NDG. Its eastern end is Villa Maria metro station.

Express (day)

  • 420 Notre-Dame-De-Grâce Express: Commuter express bus that stops along Cavendish Boulevard and Sherbrooke before going to Downtown Montreal.

All night

  • 356: Night bus that serves Sherbrooke street in NDG. Runs from 2:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.

Streetscape

The main commercial streets are Monkland Avenue, Somerled Avenue and Sherbrooke Street West. Monkland Village has a group of shops on the east part of Monkland Avenue that were renewed in the 1990s. The Décarie Expressway is a big sunken road that runs north–south and divides eastern NDG into two parts. Several bridges connect both sides of the area 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, who was an important leader in Canada.
  • Borden: Named after Robert Borden, who was 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, who was 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 in the area. The offices of the English Montreal School Board are located here, managing English public schools with around 38,000 students across 40 primary schools, 17 secondary schools, and 32 other learning places.

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
The Administration Building at Concordia University's Loyola campus.

English Schools

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

High schools

Private

Public

The Administration Building of the English Montreal School Board in NDG.

Universities

Public libraries

The Montreal Public Libraries Network runs libraries in the area.

Notable residents

Actors, musicians, artists

An outdoor ice hockey rink located at Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Park. L’Église Sainte-Augustine de Canterbury, now known as River's Edge Community Church, is in the background.

Athletes and sports officials/personalities

Politicians

Geographic location

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, often called NDG, is a neighborhood in Montreal. It is located in the city's West End and had a population of 68,152 in 2021. Before 1910, it was its own municipality, but it was later joined with 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.

Images

Blank map of Montreal and Laval Islands for learning about the region's geography.
A pair of duplex houses on a street in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, captured in 1948.

Related articles

Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
Montreal West
Côte-Saint-Luc Road
Saint-Jacques Escarpment
Montreal
Borough

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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