Today we may look at the ever-expanding South Shore region as an extension of suburban Montreal. However, only sixty years ago, dozens of small towns dotted a landscape that was largely rural. Visiting the South Shore was thought of as getting away from the city. Montrealers escaped the week’s hectic pace by taking a day trip to the South Shore countryside, or owning a weekend cottage.

The expanded roots of the English Community on the South Shore began with the completion of the Victoria Bridge in 1860, by the Grand Trunk Railway. With the opening of the bridge’s passenger lanes, people who wanted to get away for good from the noise and grime of the city soon began to settle along the rail line.

The better-off folk took root in the towns of Saint-Lambert and Montreal South (now part of Longueuil), which were closest to the city, building fine brick homes similar to those found in NDG. Further down the rail line, Greenfield Park and Mackayville became home to the trades people. Traveling even further along to what is now Saint-Hubert, tiny makeshift villages named Croyden, East Greenfield, and Brookline grew up and became home to hundreds of Anglophone families, many of whose breadwinners worked in the Point St Charles rail yards.

Between 1920 and 1956 the Southern Country Tramway electric commuter cars traveled across to Youville/McGill Station in Old Montreal, allowing people to work in the city and live on the South Shore. Soldiers returning from overseas through Veteran housing programs contributed great growth to the South Shore English-speaking Community in the 1950’s, so that by 1956 the end of the tramway line led to the villages of Mackayville, Croyden and Brookline. During this time East Greenfield became part of St-Hubert while the City of Jacques Cartier merged into Longueuil.

The opening of the Champlain Bridge in the 1960’s and new massive housing programs saw the birth of Brossard and Candiac. The opening of the Longueuil Metro line allowed for quick access to downtown Montreal. These were boom times and Canada’s first two shopping centres were opened on the South Shore.

This community growth continued well into the 70’s. However the times were a-changing, and sensing this, the educators at Saint Lambert Elementary School began teaching the country’s first French immersion program, now used in schools across Canada.

With political change and the Anglophone Exodus from 1976-85, the number of local English schools, churches & community groups diminished. Greenfield Park and Otterburn Park are the only cities still granted official Bilingual status by Québec’s language Bill 101. Riverside English-language School Board came into being in 1998, following the creation of linguistic school boards.

While times continue to change in Montreal’s “shadow,” the English Speaking Community today is regrouping and has become one of the most bilingual and multi-cultural communities in Québec. And wherever you travel you will meet people who will tell you of the great times they had growing up on Montreal’s South Shore!

QAHN is an umbrella organization whose membership includes historical and cultural societies, museums, archives, research groups, and individuals who are passionate about the history of Quebec. Our focus is the province’s English-speaking communities, a subject that is of considerable interest to Francophones and Anglophones alike.

We serve our members by providing information (through this website, Heritage Line, and a newsletter) on heritage-related events throughout the province. We also maintain a communications centre where information may be obtained on government heritage policy, sources of funding, and QAHN activities. Six times a year we publish the Heritage News, a magazine featuring news and stories from across the province, focusing on a different theme each issue (railways, military, education, etc).