The Centre-Sud is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

located in the easternmost edge of the Ville-Marie

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle ...

of the city of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. Home to Montreal's

Gay Village A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-orien ...

and to the Sainte-Marie area, the Centre-Sud has long been seen as one of the city's most complex and troubled neighbourhoods. Having held a notorious reputation for poverty and prostitution for decades, particularly on Rue Ontario and Rue Dufresne, gentrification has changed the neighbourhood considerably in recent years.

History

Early History

During the era of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to King ...

, when the city was fortified, the populated area east of the walls came to be known as ''Faubourg Québec'', a name that would live on as Faubourg à m'lasse.https://ocpm.qc.ca/sites/ocpm.qc.ca/files/pdf/P97/4.2_cartes_historiques_ville-marie_2009.pdf In 1782, the Molson family settled the area, purchasing a small

brasserie In France, Flanders, and the Francophone world, a brasserie () is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. The word ''brasserie'' is also French for "brewery" and, by extension, "the brew ...

from Irishman Thomas Loyd, which eventually developed into the brewery of the same name. Following the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southe ...

, several patriots were hanged at the Pied-du-Courant Prison, a prison by the water. It ceased to be a prison in 1912, and the historic building was acquired by the SAQ in 1921, serving as its head office for a time. Construction of the

Jacques Cartier Bridge The Jacques Cartier Bridge (french: pont Jacques-Cartier) is a steel truss cantilever bridge crossing the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal Island, Montreal, Quebec, to the south shore at Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. The bridge crosses Saint ...

began in 1925, and was opened to traffic on May 14, 1930, becoming a prominent landmark in the neighbourhood. A large section of the neighbourhood known as Faubourg à m'lasse was torn down in 1963 to build the

Maison Radio-Canada Maison Radio-Canada (English: ''CBC House'') is the broadcast headquarters, studios and master control for all French-language radio and television services of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as ''Société Radio-Canada''/S ...

Contemporary

An impoverished

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

neighbourhood, the Centre-Sud began attracting members of the gay and lesbian community in the 1980s, due in part to affordability, after the migration of many gay businesses from other parts of the city. The area between St-Hubert and De Lorimier developed into the

by the 1990s as a result. During the Quebec Biker War, the Rock Machine had their bunker in the Centre-Sud from 1992 to 1997, which contributed to a bad reputation for poverty, organized crime and prostitution. In 2001, a section of the neighbourhood known as ''l'îlot Huron'', where the bunker and other illicit businesses thrived, was demolished to build a ramp to the Jacques Cartier Bridge and a large park, ''Parc des Faubourgs''.

In recent years the neighbourhood has experienced significant

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...

and social change.

Features

The

and the

are prominent in the skyline, as well as the

Sûreté du Québec The (SQ; , ) is the provincial police service for the Canadian province of Quebec. No official English name exists, but the agency's name is sometimes translated to 'Quebec Provincial Police' or QPP in English-language sources. The headquarter ...

's headquarters, known as the ''Prison Parthenais''. Notable features include the

Molson Brewery The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its C ...

, Hopital Notre-Dame,

JTI MacDonald JTI may refer to: * Japan Tobacco International * Join the Impact, an American LGBT political movement * ''Journal of Japanese Trade & Industry'', now called ''Japan Spotlight'' * ''Journal of Theological Interpretation'' * Jubail Technical Institu ...

tobacco company and the historic Pied-du-Courant prison. The Cente-Sud is well known for its

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...

and murals, notably of Québécois singers and actors, including Paul Buissonneau, Raymond Lévesque, Marjo, Robert Gravel,

Pauline Julien Pauline Julien, (May 23, 1928October 1, 1998), nicknamed "La Renarde", was a singer, songwriter, actress, feminist activist and Quebec sovereigntist. Born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Julien was the companion of the poet and Québec provincial ...

, Plume Latraverse and

Yvon Deschamps Yvon Deschamps (born July 31, 1935, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Quebec author, actor, comedian and producer best known for his monologues. His social-commentary-tinged humour propelled him to prominence in Quebec popular culture in the 1970s and 1 ...

. Due to its poverty and proximity to

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

, a significant number of shelters, supervised injection sites and resources for the homeless are located in the neighbourhood. This includes

Dans la Rue Dans la Rue (formerly known as Le Bon Dieu Dans la Rue ) is a secular non-profit operating in English and French to meet the immediate needs of homeless and at-risk youth in the Centre-Sud area of Montreal. History Dans la Rue was founded by i ...

for homeless youth, and the Old Brewery Mission's ''Patricia Mackenzie Pavillion'' for homeless women. Another shelter, ''Refuge des Jeunes'', for young men 18-25, is also in the Centre-Sud.

Public services

The city of Montreal operates the '' Bibliothèque Frontenac'' and '' Bibliothèque Père-Ambroise''

libraries A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

respectively. The city also operates several indoor pools and arenas including the ''Aréna Camillien-Houde'', ''Centre Jean-Claude-Malépart'' and ''Piscine Quintal''. The borough hall of Ville-Marie, is also located in the Centre-Sud, in the Place Dupuis shopping mall.

Geography

The neighbourhood is bordered by the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

to the south, Saint Hubert Street to the west, the

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

rail line to the east and

Sherbrooke Street Sherbrooke Street (officially in french: rue Sherbrooke) is a major east–west artery and at in length, is the second longest street on the Island of Montreal. The street begins in the town of Montreal West and ends on the extreme tip of ...

to the north.

The Plateau ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

is located to the north, Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve to the east and the

Quartier Latin The Latin Quarter of Paris (french: Quartier latin, ) is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistro ...

to the west. Its main arteries running east to west are Rue Ontario, Boulevard De Maisonneuve, Rue Saint Catherine Est and Boulevard René Lévesque. Major streets and avenues running north to south include Saint-Hubert, Papineau, De Lorimier, D'Iberville and Frontenac.

Transportation

The neighbourhood is accessible by the following

Montreal Metro The Montreal Metro (french: Métro de Montréal) is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), was inaugurated on October 14, ...

stations, Frontenac, Papineau, Beaudry and Berri-UQAM (partly). The following STM bus routes pass through the Centre-Sud;

Education

The

Commission scolaire de Montréal The Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSM ''Montreal school board''), was a board from 1998 until 2020, as a result of a law passed by the Quebec government that changed the school board system from religious denomination to linguistic denominatio ...

(CSDM) operates French-language public schools.

Elementary

* ''École Marguerite-Bourgeoys'' * ''École Garneau'' * ''École Champlain'' * ''École Jean-Baptiste-Meilleur'' * ''École Saint-Anselme''

Secondary

* ''École Pierre-Dupuy''

Specialized

* ''École des métiers des Faubourgs-de-Montréal'' * ''École Éducation pour Adultes Centre Lartigue'' * ''École Éducation pour Adultes Centre Gédéon-Ouimet''

Politics

The neighbourhood is part of the

Montreal City Council The Montreal City Council (french: Conseil municipal de Montréal) is the governing body in the mayor–council government in the city of Montreal, Quebec. The head of the city government in Montreal is the mayor, who is first among equals in the ...

district of Sainte-Marie and the federal riding of

Laurier—Sainte-Marie Laurier—Sainte-Marie is a federal electoral district in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1988. Its population in 2016 was 111,835. Geography The district includes Côte Sai ...

. Provincially it’s part of Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques, with a small eastern corner in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve riding, despite not being part of that neighbourhood.

Notable people

* Richard Beaulieu,

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

artist and writer * Janette Bertrand, journalist and actress *

Dino Bravo Adolfo Bresciano (; August 6, 1948 – March 10, 1993) was an Italian-Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Dino Bravo (). After training under Gino Brito, he started his career in Montreal in the 1970s, ...

(1948-1993), professional wrestler * Daniel Breton, environment activist and former MNA for Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques * André Desjardins (1930-2000), corrupt trade unionist and

loanshark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

, notably involved with the mafia and later

Mom Boucher Maurice Boucher (21 June 1953 – 10 July 2022) was a Canadian gangster, convicted murderer, reputed drug trafficker, and outlaw biker—once president of the Hells Angels' Quebec Nomads chapter. Boucher led Montreal's Hells Angels against ...

Camillien Houde Camillien Houde (August 13, 1889 – September 11, 1958) was a Quebec politician, a Member of Parliament, and a four-time mayor of Montreal – one of the few Canadian politicians to have served at all three levels of government. Political c ...

(1889-1958), former

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

of Montreal * Gilles Latulippe (1937-2014), comedian and actor *

Léo Major Léo Major (January 23, 1921 – October 12, 2008) was a Canadians, Canadian soldier who was the only Canadian and one of only three soldiers in the British Commonwealth to receive the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) twice in separate wars. ...

(1921-2008), WW2 veteran and recipient of the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

(DCM) *

Manon Massé Manon Massé (born 1963) is a Canadian politician in Quebec and one of the two current leaders for Québec solidaire since 2017. She has represented Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques in the National Assembly of Quebec since the 2014 general elec ...

, social activist, co-spokesperson of

Québec Solidaire Québec solidaire (QS; ) is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada. The party and media outlets in Canada usually use the name "Québec solidaire" in both French and English, but the party's name is sometimes ...

, MNA for Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques

Popular Culture

The neighbourhood is the subject of Richard Beaulieu’s ''Chroniques du Centre-Sud'', a 2014 graphic novel portraying the neighbourhood in the 1990s. The novel ''Ces Spectres Agités'' by

Louis Hamelin Louis Hamelin (born June 9, 1959 in Saint-Séverin-de-Proulxville, Quebec)Louis Hamelin< ...

is also set in the Centre-Sud. In 2013, a group of collaborative authors and photographers, released ''Hôtel Jolicoeur''. A novel, in a scrapbook format, about a former

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries ...

and

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub p ...

located in the heart of the Centre-Sud, on the corner of Ontario and Papineau. Other novels set in the Centre-Sud include the autobiographies ''Pute de Rue'' (2003) by Roxanne Nadeau and ''L’Enfer d’une fille de rue'' (2020) by Isa-Belle St-Sauveur. The 2003 documentary, ''

Sexe de rue ''Sexe de rue'' (English:''Street Sex'') is a 2003 Canadian documentary film about the history and current conditions of street prostitutes in the Centre-Sud of Montreal, written, directed and co-produced by , who died of a heart attack on 2 ...

'', focuses on prostitution in the neighbourhood.

Atach Tatuq Atach Tatuq was a Canadian hip hop group from Montreal, consisting of musicians DJ Naes, Égypto (Fisdelhom), 1-2 d'Piq, L'Intrus (Jim Lee), Virus, Dee, Khyro, R.U., Casco, Arnak and Haikai. The group's music contains lyrics in both English and Fr ...

released a song about the Centre-Sud in 2005 entitled ''Australie'' in their final album

Deluxxx ''Deluxxx'' is Atach Tatuq's last studio album released on October 4, 2005. The album won the award for the ''Hip hop album of the year'' category at the Félix Awards in 2006. Track listing #"Deluxxx 0001" #"Deluxxx" #"1-2..." (featuring DJ Ne ...

. It's also featured in ''Rue Ontario'', a 2010 single by

Bernard Adamus Bernard Adamus (born December 16, 1977) is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Quebec, whose music draws on folk, blues, country and hip-hop influences.
{{Authority control Neighbourhoods in Montreal Ville-Marie, Montreal Centre-Sud LGBT culture in Montreal Red-light districts in Canada Skid rows Poverty in Canada Homelessness in Canada Urban decay in Canada Gentrification in Canada Hipster neighborhoods