L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève


L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève is a borough of the city of Montreal.

History

On 24 October 1678, the government of Louis de Buade de Frontenac granted Île Bizard, then named Île Bonaventure as a seigniory to Jacques Bizard. This was the first concession on the West Island of Montreal. The village of Sainte-Geneviève was born in the early eighteenth century. Antoine Faucon, father of Saint-Sulpice, participated in the construction of the first church in the village's history. The Municipality of the Village of Sainte-Geneviève was created in 1859.
During the first half of the twentieth century, farmers in Île Bizard and Sainte-Geneviève were then oriented toward gardening. The territory was thus transformed into a garden of Montreal. In 1959, it was incorporated as Ville Sainte-Geneviève.
From the late 1950s, the creation of two major golf courses opened the door to massive sales of land and the abandonment of agriculture, which had become unprofitable. In 1959, the Royal Montreal Golf Club opened, and has since hosted several professional golf tournaments.
Over the last fifty years, urbanization has increased and the population has increased tenfold, especially after the opening of Autoroute 40 that connected the western, central and eastern parts of Montreal.
On January 1, 2002, the municipalities of L'Île-Bizard, Sainte-Geneviève, and Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue were merged into the city of Montreal as the borough of L'Île-Bizard—Sainte-Geneviève—Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. When Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue voted to demerge from Montreal, the borough was reorganized into its present form on January 1, 2006.

Geography

The borough is composed of the former municipalities of L'Île-Bizard and Sainte-Geneviève. The first is a separate island, the largest of the City of Montreal besides the Island of Montreal itself, and the second is a small area on the Island of Montreal. Sainte-Geneviève has a land border with the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro.
The borough is divided into four districts:
The borough has a land area of 23.63 km² and a population of 17,139.

Government

Municipal

As of the November 5, 2017 Montreal municipal election, the current borough council consists of the following councillors:
DistrictPositionName Party
—Borough mayor
Montreal city councillor		Normand Marinacci Projet Montréal
Denis-Benjamin-VigerBorough councillorChristian Larocque Projet Montréal
Jacques-BizardBorough councillorRobert Samoszewski Projet Montréal
Pierre-ForetierBorough councillorYves Sarault Projet Montréal
Sainte-GenevièveBorough councillorSuzanne Marceau Équipe Coderre

Federal and provincial representation

Part of Sainte-Geneviève lies within the federal riding of Lac-Saint-Louis; Île Bizard and the other half of Sainte-Geneviève lie within the riding of Pierrefonds—Dollard.
Provincially, the borough lies in the electoral district of Nelligan.

Demographics

LanguagePopulationPercentage
French9,71558%
English5,39532%
Other languages1,67510%

Features

Sainte-Geneviève and Île Bizard are connected by the Jacques Bizard Bridge. Île Bizard contains part of the Cap-Saint-Jacques Nature Park as well as the Boisé de l'Île Bizard Nature Park. Sainte-Geneviève's features include the Cégep Gérald-Godin. Plans have been advanced in the past to cross Île Bizard with an autoroute as part of a beltway around Montreal, but these have so far come to nothing mainly out of concern for the island's nature areas.
Pierre Bouvier from Simple Plan was from there.
Île Bizard have also produced the francophone musical groups Exterio and :fr:Kamakazi|Kamakazi

Education

The Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys operates Francophone public schools.
Primary schools include:
The Lester B. Pearson School Board operates Anglophone public schools in the area.
The Montreal Public Libraries Network operates the Île-Bizard library.

Notable residents