Welcome - CLD West Island

If you long for a lifestyle that offers a certain city sophistication and culture, coupled with sports and healthy outdoor activities... if you seek a clean, friendly and caring community… then you should seriously consider the West Island.

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SAFE STREETS, PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS

The 12 different municipalities - serving close to 250,000 of Greater Montréal’s nearly three million people - offer a combination of services rarely found in other regions of North America. For instance:

West Islanders expect to be able to use their parks, playgrounds and streets in safety.
They insist on good libraries and cultural centres to sponsor musical and artistic events.
The smaller towns support fewer big-ticket services, but maintain a semi-rural atmosphere with large wooded areas. For a small fee, their residents can use the larger cities’ skating arenas and Olympic pools.
Swift removal of snow, efficient garbage collection, drinkable tap water are expected.

The WI, as many write it, invites only clean industry to invest in the area.

The West Island is a multicultural community with a cosmopolitan flavour. Relations between Anglophones and Francophones are good - most residents are bilingual.

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VIBRANT CULTURAL COMMUNITY

Although it has traditionally attracted English-speaking residents, the WI has a definite French flavour and zest for life. You may want to learn some French to fully enjoy living in Québec. However, in the stores or on the street, people try to respond in your language, be it English or French. The province’s extensive healthcare and social services are available in both languages. (See the section titled YOUR HEALTH).

Some families move to the WI specifically because they want their children to know another language and culture. Schools make this easy with French immersion in English schools and special “welcoming classes” for young newcomers in the French sector. (See section on EDUCATION).

You’ll find that some of Canada’s finest sculptors, ceramists, painters, artisans and musicians live and teach on the West Island. They form a vibrant cultural community, working through the cultural centres or establishing their own studios and galleries. Poets and writers also feel at home here and give readings and talks at libraries and cultural centres.

They are attracted partly by the West Island’s lifestyle and culture and partly by its proximity to sophisticated Montréal, our downtown, with its many theatres, concert halls and museums. It is a 25 minute drive to the east of the West Island area.

Ottawa, the nation’s capital, with major museums, art galleries and Canada’s Parliament buildings, is a 90 minute drive west.

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Sports

Montréal is home to the Canadiens’ hockey and Expos’ baseball teams, football, Grand Prix Formula One motor racing, numerous marathons and one of the biggest cycling events in North America.

RESTAURANTS, ENTERTAINMENT

Over the last 30 years, Montréal has welcomed people from all nations. They have inspired the area’s restaurants to cater to cosmopolitan tastes. Everyone in Montréal dines out, using the occasion to meet friends, and enjoy good conversation. You can sit out and watch people, listen to student musicians play for money on Prince Arthur or Duluth streets ... or tune in to the surrounding banter to catch English laced with small Gallicisms such as “he posed the question,” or “I told her she was dreaming in colour”.

Best of all, Greater Montréal provides excellent transportation to the city and around the West Island. In the downtown area, everyone travels by métro or bus. (See section on TRANSPORTATION).

We hope you’ll join us in the West Island and give us the opportunity to wish you:

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