Dorval (; ) is an on-island suburban

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

on the

island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelag ...

in southwestern

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has the largest surface area in Montréal’s west side, it is among the least densely populated. Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport constitutes about 60% of the city's land; consequently, all of Dorval's population is concentrated in the southern part of the city. Dorval is the oldest city in the west side of Montréal, having been founded in 1667, and one of the oldest in

and North America.

History

The history of Dorval dates back more than 350 years to 1665 when Sulpician priests established a mission on the outskirts of Ville-Marie, a French settlement which later became known as

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Dorval was originally named Gentilly. It was later renamed La Présentation-de-la-Vierge-Marie. In 1691, the domain of La Présentation, originally owned by Pierre Le Gardeur de Repentigny, was acquired by Jean-Baptiste Bouchard dit d'Orval. "d'Orval" (French for "of Orval") was added to Bouchard's name by his father Claude in reference his birthplace Orval in Montigny-Lengrain,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It was incorporated as a village in 1892, a town in 1903, and a city in 1956 (in French it was termed a ''cité'', an Old French term from which the English legal term "city" originates). As with many other settlements on the

, the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

, which came to Dorval in 1855, was highly instrumental in attracting many wealthier families, mostly English-speaking, in search of a summer refuge in proximity to their downtown residence and place of work. Access to Dorval from

was also facilitated by the extension of streetcar service to Dorval's eastern city limits in the interwar period. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

many middle-class families migrated to Dorval from the city of

and from other parts of

. This migration was made possible by the widening of highway 20 and by the large-scale construction of new dwellings. This new housing consisted mostly of single family homes with some townhouses and low-rise apartment buildings, built on lands previously used for agriculture and recreational activities. The post-war period also saw the construction of Dorval Gardens shopping centre in 1954, one of

Greater Montreal Greater Montreal (, ) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with a population of 4,02 ...

's first mall-style shopping centres. Today the shopping centre remains the city's principal centre of retail trade. The island named Dorval Island, settled in 1860 and located less than one kilometre offshore from Dorval, constitutes the separate city of L'Île-Dorval despite being a summer cottage community with only five permanent residents as of the

Canada 2011 Census The 2011 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population on May 10, 2011. Statistics Canada, an agency of the Canadian government, conducts a nationwide census every five years. In 2011, it consisted of a mandatory short for ...

. The island is connected to the city of Dorval by a private ferry service. On 1 January 2002, as part of the

2002–2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal Montreal was one of the cities in Quebec affected by the 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec. On January 1, 2002, all the municipalities on the island of Montreal were merged into the city of Montreal. However, following a change of ...

, Dorval was merged into the city of

, being combined with L'Île-Dorval to form the Dorval–L'Île-Dorval borough of

. After a change of government and a 2004 referendum, Dorval was reconstituted as a city on 1 January 2006. Although Dorval had the legal status of ''cité'' prior to the merger, the reconstituted city has the status of ''ville'' (see

Types of municipalities in Quebec The following is a list of the types of local and supralocal territorial units in Quebec, Canada, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy and compiled by t ...

). Nevertheless, the municipal government refers to itself as the "''Cité de Dorval''".

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Dorval had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Languages

According to the

Office québécois de la langue française The (, OQLF; ) is an agency of the Quebec provincial government charged with ensuring legislative requirements with respect to the right to use French are respected. Established on 24 March 1961 by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage, the ...

, Dorval has been officially recognized as a bilingual municipality since 2005-11-02.

Economy

Air Inuit and La Senza have their headquarters in Dorval. Bombardier Inc. houses the headquarters of its

Bombardier Aerospace Bombardier Aviation, a division of Bombardier Inc., is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. The company currently produces the Global and Challenger series of business jets. At its peak, Bombardier operated manufacturing plants in 27 c ...

division in Dorval. Previously Inter-Canadien had its headquarters in Dorval. Air Canada Centre, the headquarters of

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

, are located on the grounds of Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and in Saint-Laurent,

,Investors Contacts
." Air Canada. Retrieved 4 December 2010. "Air Canada Centre, 7373 Côte-Vertu Blvd. West Saint-Laurent, Quebec H4S 1Z3 ." near

Dorval Dorval (; ) is an Greater Montreal, on-island suburban City (Quebec), city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has t ...

Local government

List of former mayors: * Désiré Girouard (1892–1893) * James B. Allan (1893–1894) * Benjamin Décarie (1894–1895) * Hartland St. Clair MacDougall (1895) * Charles Décarie (1895–1896) * Robert FitzGibbon (1896–1897) * Joseph Dosithée Legault Deslauriés (1897–1899) * William de Montmolin Marler (1899–1901) * Jean-Baptiste Meloche (1901–1903) * Harry Markland Molson (1903–1905) * Amable Lallemand (1905–1907) * Anthony Haig Sims (1907–1909) * Benjamin Décarie (1909–1911) * William A. C. Hamilton (1911–1913) * Joseph Leroux (1913–1915) * Charles-C. Décarie (1915–1923) * Harvey Thompson (1923–1925) * Avila Décarie (1925–1927) * E.-Raphaël Chadillon (1927–1933) * Arthur Cecil Comber (1933–1937, 1941–1943) * J. Arthur Lajoie (1937–1939) * Ernest H. Décarie (1939–1941) * Joseph Ovila Adrien Valois (1943–1947) * Stanley Mason Elliot (1947–1948) * Ovila Cardinal (1948–1955) * Robert John Pratt (1955–1964) * Sarto Desnoyers (1964–1982) * Peter Blyth Yeomans (1982–2002) * Edgar Rouleau (2002–2021) * Marc Doret (2021–present)

Infrastructure

Aéroports de Montréal, the

airport authority, has its headquarters in Leigh-Capreol Place (French: place Leigh-Capreol) in Dorval.

Trudeau Airport

Most of Montreal's principal airport, Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (previously known as ''Dorval Airport''), is in Dorval.Detailed Map of Dorval
." Dorval. Retrieved 4 November 2010. Originally a military airfield used mainly to refuel new fighters and bombers being flown to Great Britain during the Second World War, Trudeau Airport today serves over 18 million passengers annually.

Education

The '' Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys'' operates Francophone public schools, but were previously operated by the '' Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys'' until 15 June 2020. The change was a result of a law passed by the Quebec government that changed the school board system from denominational to

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

. Schools include: * ''Centre d'éducation des adultes Jeanne-Sauvé'' (adult school) * '' École secondaire Dorval-Jean-XXIII'' (secondary school) * ''École primaire Gentilly'' (primary school) The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) operates Anglophone public schools. * Dorval Elementary School, formerly known as Courtland Park Elementary School until 2006.

Notable residents

* Jason Demers (born 1988), NHL ice hockey player

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Quebec populated places on the Saint Lawrence River 1667 establishments in the French colonial empire Populated places established in 1667 Island of Montreal municipalities Bilingual cities and towns in Quebec