# Côte-des-Neiges

Côte-des-Neiges (French pronunciation:, locally) is a neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at the geographic centre of the Island of Montreal on the western slope of Mount Royal and is part of the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

## History

Historically, the original settlement, the Village of Côte-des-Neiges, was founded in 1862 and annexed by Montreal in two parts in 1908 and 1910. In 1876, land owner and farmer James Swail began residential subdivisions on the eastern side of Decelles Avenue. In 1906, a large housing development was started in the area, called Northmount Heights, built by developer Northmount Land Company. Much of this area has been expropriated by the Université de Montréal.
Geographically it was bordered by Decelles Avenue to the north east and the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery to the south east, Westmount to the southwest and situated on the confluence of Côte-des-Neiges Road and Queen Mary Road. It was one of the last areas of the city of Montreal to be developed and urbanized. Up until World War II it remained a village surrounded by working farms to the north and west. A ski hill to the south near present-day Ridgewood Avenue at the foot of the mountain and present day Saint Joseph's Oratory, was once used regularly by the Montreal Ski Club into the 1940s.

## Demographics

Today, the neighbourhood has a large immigrant and student population, and is one of the most densely populated and ethnically diverse neighbourhoods in Canada. With over 100 different ethnic communities, predominantly: Québécois, Filipino, West Indian (Black Canadians), South Asian (Tamils and Bengalis), Jewish, Latin American, Iranian, Chinese, Arab, Vietnamese and most recently Eastern European and African. It is one of the few Montreal neighbourhoods where neither the French nor English language dominate. Both national languages are spoken equally, along with many others by a high number of multilingual speakers.

## Education

The Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM) operates Francophone public schools. For instance:
* École primaire des Nations
* École primaire Félix-Leclerc
* École primaire Iona
The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) operates Anglophone public schools.
The Montreal Public Libraries Network operates the Côte-des-Neiges library and the Bibliothèque interculturelle.
The main campus of Université de Montréal and its two schools HÉC Montréal and Polytechnique Montréal are located within the neighbourhood.

## Points of interest

The most notable institutions in Côte-des-Neiges are Université de Montréal, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Saint-Justine's Hospital, the Jewish General Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital, Plaza Côte-des-Neiges, and Saint Joseph's Oratory (the large domed basilica, perched above the neighbourhood, which is by far its most important tourist attraction).

## Metro stations

* Orange Line
** Snowdon
** Côte-Sainte-Catherine
** Plamondon
** Namur
** De La Savane
* Blue Line
** Snowdon
** Côte-des-Neiges
** Université-de-Montréal
** Édouard-Montpetit

## Notable people

* André Bouchard - environmentalist, grew up in Côte-des-Neiges
* Normand Brathwaite - actor and comedian, born in Côte-des-Neiges
* Napoléon Charbonneau - lawyer, lived in Côte-des-Neiges
* John Hamilton Fulton - banker, born in Côte-des-Neiges
* Kris Joseph - basketball player, grew up in Côte-des-Neiges
* Alexander Julien - musician, member of Vision Eternel, born in Côte-des-Neiges
* Marie-Anne-Marcelle Mallet - nun, born in Côte-des-Neiges
* David Ross McCord - lawyer, lived in Côte-des-Neiges
* Pierre Nadeau - journalist, grew up in Côte-des-Neiges
* Léa Roback - trade unionist, died in Côte-des-Neiges
* Sugar Sammy - comedian and actor, grew up in Côte-des-Neiges
* Justin Trudeau - politician, owned a home in Côte-des-Neiges until 2013
* Sophie Grégoire Trudeau - television host, owned a home in Côte-des-Neiges until 2013
* Xue Yiwei - writer, resident in Côte-des-Neiges
* Arthur Yale, politician, cofounder of Plateau-Mount Royal