Laval, QC: Montreal Area Technical Training & Vocational Schools

ARTICLE: Laval In-Depth

Laval, one of the largest suburbs of the greater Montreal area, is a city in southwestern Quebec. Nestled on Ile Jesus, or Island of Jesus, Laval is separated from Montreal by the Riviere des Prairies, commonly referred to in English as the Back River. Laval is designated as one of 17 "administrative regions" that make up the province of Quebec. As the sixth largest suburb in North America, Laval is home to nearly 350,000 residents. About 75% of Laval's citizens are primarily French-speaking.

Bordered to the south and the east by Montreal, Ile Jesus is still mostly rural, with the majority of the population concentrated in the central and southern regions closest to Montreal. Laval was settled by the Jesuits in the 1600s and only united with the rest of Quebec in the early 1960s, when the city of Chomedey was founded. To deal with increasing urbanization, Quebec annexed the whole island to the city of Laval in 1965.

Laval has recently established itself as an independent city with an economy based on technology and service-based industries. Several pharmaceutical companies are based in Laval, as well as other science and technology firms. These concentrations of industrial, manufacturing, and retail services include:

• Industrial Park Center
• Highway 25 Industrial Park
• Industrial Park East
• Laval Science and High Technology Park

Laval also boasts a variety of entertainment and cultural escapes that include the Cosmodome, home to Canada's Space Camp and Space Science Center.

Sources:

• The City of Laval
• Statistics Canada

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