Côte Saint-Luc, along with Hampstead and Montreal West, forms an enclave within the City of Montreal. Côte Saint-Luc itself contains two distinct exclaves that are nestled between Hampstead and Montreal. The larger of the two contains a residential development north of Hampstead and the Decarie Square Mall, while the smaller one consists of fifteen residential buildings along Macdonald Avenue.
The area encompassing Côte Saint-Luc was first settled in the 18th century, and was incorporated as a village in 1903.[12] Its name may commemorate the 18th-century military officer Luc de la Corne Saint-Luc.[8]
Throughout the 1920s, the town grew quickly and accepted many immigrant populations leaving Montreal, notably German-Jewish and British families. Railway development and industrial activities were relocated to the north. An example of this is an old farmhouse, near the intersection of Westminster and Côte Saint-Luc, which today is a strip mall.[citation needed]
Still, Côte Saint-Luc remained a small agricultural community until the mid-20th century. The population grew from 747 residents to over 20,000 between 1940 and the mid-1960s, due to substantial immigration following World War II. It was officially incorporated as a town in 1951,[12] and as a city in 1958.[3]
Côte Saint-Luc was forcibly merged with the city of Montreal on January 1, 2002. It was amalgamated with its neighbouring suburbs of Hampstead and Montreal West to form the borough of Côte-Saint-Luc—Hampstead—Montréal-Ouest. In a referendum held on June 20, 2004, Côte Saint-Luc residents voted to demerge; Côte Saint-Luc was re-established as a separate city on January 1, 2006.[8]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Côte Saint-Luc had a population of 34,504 living in 14,603 of its 15,548 total private dwellings, a change of 6.3% from its 2016 population of 32,448. With a land area of 7.04 km2 (2.72 sq mi), it had a population density of 4,901.1/km2 (12,693.9/sq mi) in 2021.[17]
Outside Israel, Côte-Saint-Luc contains the world's seventh largest Jewish community as a percentage of total population, with 69.1% of the population being Jewish.[18]
Côte Saint-Luc operates a full-time Public Security Department that enforces municipal by-laws, and in 2006 launched the Volunteer Citizens on Patrol (vCOP) program that allows residents to help deter crime. Côte Saint-Luc also runs the only volunteer EMS first responder system on the island of Montreal, which responds to more than 3,000 calls early. Advanced care and transportation to local hospitals is provided by Urgences-santé. In 2008–2009, the Montreal Fire Department implemented an island-wide first responder system set to replace the Côte Saint-Luc EMS; however, the city fought to keep their system and private member's bill was passed in the National Assembly of Quebec to exclude Côte Saint-Luc from the Montreal Fire Department.
The city's Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Public Library was named in honour of Eleanor London, who served as the city's chief librarian for 36 years. The Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Library is one of few libraries in North America that is open every day of the year.[citation needed]
The Cavendish Mall was once the city's central hub, housing stores like Steinberg's, Eaton's and Discus. In recent years, part of the mall has been replaced with single family homes, townhouses and apartment buildings.
^The Commission de toponymie du Québec adopted the spelling Côte-Saint-Luc in 1969,[3] but the city maintains the original spelling, which omits a hyphen between "Côte" and "Saint-Luc". The city was also known historically in English as Cote St. Luke.[9][10]
References
^"Village de la Côte Saint-Luc"(PDF). Statuts de la province de Québec (in French). 1903. pp. 622–623. Archived(PDF) from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
