The St. Laurent Shopping Centre (French: ''Centre St-Laurent'') is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

located in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is owned and operated by Morguard REIT. The shopping mall is located just north of Highway 417 at the corner of St. Laurent Boulevard and Coventry Road. The mall opened in October 1967 housing 50 retailers with Simpson-Sears (later Sears),

Freimans A.J. Freiman Limited, or Freimans ( ), was a landmark department store at 73 Rideau Street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1918 by Archibald J. Freiman. History Archibald Jacob Freiman was born in Lithuania in 1880, and emigrated to Ha ...

and

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

as original anchors. Sears was the last original

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

to leave the mall, closing on January 8, 2018 due to bankruptcy of the chain. Hudson's Bay was the mall's oldest anchor tenant, having purchased

in December 1971 and rebranding the store to The Bay in June 1973. On March 13, 1991, The Bay moved to its last two-level location as part of a mall expansion. It is adjacent to the former space of The Bay and 50% larger. The former store was converted to a food court, office space, and other retailers. The mall is also anchored by

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1948 in Washington, D.C.; its first store was built in April 1948, with i ...

. St. Laurent Centre is the third largest mall in terms of total space in the National Capital Region behind

Rideau Centre The Rideau Centre () (corporately styled as CF Rideau Centre) is a three-level shopping centre on Rideau Street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It borders on Rideau Street, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Canal, the Mackenzie King Bridge, and N ...

and

Bayshore Shopping Centre Bayshore Shopping Centre is a major shopping mall located in the Nepean district of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The mall is one of the busiest in the National Capital Region as it attracts almost 8 million visitors per year from across the city an ...

with 880,736 sq ft of leasable area, although a large portion of the mall's gross leasable area is utilized by non-retail tenants. It is currently the 27th largest mall in Canada. The mall's owner, Morguard, has applied to the

City of Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatinea ...

for

land-use planning Land use planning or ''Land-use regulation'' is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. ...

approvals to permit an expansion of the mall, bringing the overall size to . If approved, the expansion would make St. Laurent Centre the 10th largest mall in Canada. The expansion plan is currently on hold indefinitely. The mall has a total of 195 stores and services on three levels. The centre also hosts a large amount of non-retail tenants including office space, a dental clinic, a gym (

GoodLife Fitness GoodLife Fitness Centres Inc. is the largest health club company in Canada with over 450 locations across the country, under the banner of four brands.

), a second-run theatre and a career college (Willis College).

OC Transpo OC Transpo is the primary Transit district, public transport agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operating bus rapid transit, light rail, conventional transit bus, bus routes, and door-to-door paratransit in the nation's capital regi ...

's St-Laurent station is connected to the mall, and is served by

O-Train The O-Train is a light rail system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system consists of three lines, all of which are fully Grade separation, grade-separated. As of March 2025, one line is currently being extended an ...

Line 1, OC Transpo buses, and intercity service by Megabus and Rider Express. On the afternoon of September 16, 2022, there was a physical altercation involving multiple people in their late teens and early 20s. The event took place just outside the mall's

Dollarama Dollarama Inc. is a Canadian dollar store retail chain headquartered in Mount Royal, Quebec. Since 2009, it has been Canada's biggest retailer of items for five dollars or less. Dollarama has over 1400 stores and is active in all of Canada; Onta ...

. Marcus Maloney (19) was stabbed, and later pronounced deceased in hospital. Mohammed Osman (18) was later charged with

second degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, ...

, along with two counts of

aggravated assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result ...

and one count of breaching release conditions after being apprehended by Ottawa Police overnight.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Laurent Centre Shopping malls established in 1967 Shopping malls in Ottawa