Timeline of Montreal history
The timeline of the history of Montreal shows the significant events in the history of Montreal that transformed it from a small fort into a big city of North America.
Pre-European period
- The area known today as Montreal had been inhabited by the Algonquin, Huron, and Iroquois for some 8,000 years, while the oldest known artifact found in Montreal proper is about 2,000 years old.[1]
- In the earliest oral history, the Algonquins were from the Atlantic coast. Together with other Anicinàpek, they arrived at the "First Stopping Place" (Montreal). There, the Nation found a "turtle-shaped island" marked by miigis (cowrie) shells.
- The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee were centred from at least 1000 CE in northern New York, but their influence extended into what is now southern Ontario and the Montreal area of modern Quebec.[2]
- 1142 – The Iroquois Confederacy is, from oral tradition, supposed to have been formed in 1142 CE.[3]
- In the modern Iroquois language, Montreal is called Tiohtià:ke. Other native languages, such as Algonquin, refer to it as Moniang.[4]
- The St. Lawrence Iroquoians established the village of Hochelaga at the foot of Mount Royal.[5]
16th Century
- 1535 – Cartier renamed Saint Lawrence River in honour of the Deacon Lawrence on August 10 (Feast day of the Roman martyr). Previous to this, Saint Lawrence River had been known by other names, including the Hochelaga River and the Canada River. At that time, Cartier penetrated far into the interior for the first time, via the river.
- 1535 – September 19, Jacques Cartier starts his journey from Quebec City to Montreal, while in search of a passage to Asia.
- 1535 – September 28, Jacques Cartier navigates on Lac Saint-Pierre.
- 1535 – Jacques Cartier visited Hochelaga on October 2, claiming the St. Lawrence Valley for France.[6] He became the first European to reach the area now known as Montreal when he entered the village of Hochelega. Cartier estimated the population to be "over a thousand".
- 1535 – October 3, Jacques Cartier climbed up the Montreal mountain and named it Mont Royal. He wrote: "Nous nommasmes icelle montaigne le mont Royal." (We named the said mountain mont Royal.) The name Montreal is generally thought to be derived from "Mont Royal", the name given to the mountain by Cartier in 1535.
- 1541 – Jacques Cartier returns to Sault-au-Récollet.
- 1556 – On his map of Hochelega, Italian geographer Giovanni Battista Ramusio wrote Monte Real to designate Mont Royal.
- 1570 – Algonquin formed an alliance with the Montagnais to the east.
- 1575 – In his Cosmographie universelle de tout le monde, historiographer François de Belleforest was the first to use the form Montreal with reference to this area. In translation it would read: "let us now look at Hochelaga, ... in the midst of the countryside is the village, or Cité royale, adjacent to a mountain on which farming is practiced. The Christians call this city Montreal...".
- 1580 – As we will see below, the St. Lawrence Iroquoians seem to have simply vacated the Saint Lawrence River valley sometime prior to 1580.
17th Century
1610s
- 1611 – Samuel de Champlain, in company with a young Huron Indian, whom he had taken to and brought back from France on a previous voyage, visited the Island of Montreal.
- 1611 – Samuel de Champlain decided to establish a fur trading post where present-day Pointe-à-Callière stands as part of a project to create a French colonial empire. He and his crew spent a few weeks clearing a site that he named "Place Royale", dug two gardens and planted seed that grew well, confirming that the soil was fertile.
- 1611 – A young man named Louis tragically drowns, thus giving his name to both Sault-Saint-Louis and Lake Saint-Louis.
- 1611 – Saint Helen's Island was named by Samuel de Champlain in honour of his wife.
- 1612 – On Champlain's map the mountain is called Montreal.
- 1613 – New arrival of Samuel de Champlain at Sault-au-Récollet and "Place Royale."
- 1614 – As they had in 1612, the Aboriginals waited in vain for Samuel de Champlain to arrive at the Saint-Louis Rapids.
- 1613-20 – The Compagnie des Marchands operated in New France but as a result of a breach of their contract, lost their rights in 1621 to the Compagnie de Montmorency.
- 1615 – Denis Jamet and Joseph Le Caron say the first mass on the Island of Montreal.[7][8]
- 1615 – Samuel de Champlain, expected at the Saint-Louis Rapids in late June, still had not arrived on July 8, when the Aboriginals, angry, decided to leave, taking with them Joseph Le Caron and twelwe Frenchmen.
- 1615 – Les Franciscains des Recollets, an order of French missionaries, are the first to settle Canada. In their honor, the area later known as Griffintown is called 'Faubourg des Recollets.'
1620s
1630s
1640s
- 1641 – Foundation of the Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal pour la conversion des sauvages de la Nouvelle-France.
- 1641 – Charles Lallemant obtained the concession of the Island of Montreal for the colony of Jérôme Le Royer de la Dauversière, and recruited Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance, the nurse and treasurer of the contingent.
- 1641 – Some fifty French settlers, both men and women who were promised free land are recruited in France by Jérôme Le Royer de la Dauversière, of Anjou, on behalf of the Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal. The society hoped to convert the Natives and create a model Catholic community.
- 1641 – On May 9, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve and his recruits left La Rochelle in two ships. Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve boarded one with a secular priest for the Ursuline Convent and twenty-five men; Jeanne Mance, and a woman, the Jesuit father La Place, and 12 men went aboard the second. At first the two ships were able to stay together, but after eight days they were driven apart by the winds. François Dollier de Casson wrote that "the ship carrying Mademoiselle Mance experienced little other than calm weather, M. de Maison-neufve's encountered such violent storms that it had to put back to port three times."
- 1641 – A third vessel was sent by the Company from Dieppe; she contain ten men and was the first to reach Canada.
- 1641 – On August 8, the ship of Jeanne Mance arrived at Quebec City.
- 1641 – The ship of Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve arrived at Quebec City only on August 20, when hope of his appearing that year was being abandoned. Fall storms delayed their plans for the settlement of Montreal.
- 1641 – Accompanied by Barthélemy Vimont and Charles de Montmagny, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve went up the river, and took formal possession of the island on the 15th of October in the name of the 'Society of Our Lady of Montreal.' Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve is the first governor.
- 1641 – Jean Bourdon's map shows the "abitation du Monreal".
- 1641-42 – The colonists spent the winter at St Michel, near Sillery, in the house of Pierre de Puiseaux (1566–1647).
- 1642 – In February, all the associates went together to the Notre Dame de Paris; those of them who were priest officiated, and all of them supplicated the Queen of Angels to take the Montreal Island under her protection.
- 1642 – On May 8, Maisonneuve led his company – in a pinnace, a barge, and two rowboats – to the site of the new colony. Charles de Montmagny accompanied the mission.
- 1642 – The arrival on May 17; the mission named Ville Marie was built at Place Royal.
- 1642 – Barthélemy Vimont, the superior of the Jesuits, says the first messe in Ville Marie on May 18.
- 1642 – The Algonquin Joseph Oumasasikweie and his wife, Mitigoukwe (later Jeanne) were the first Indians to be baptized and married with full church rites at Ville-Marie on July 28.
- 1642 – The construction of Fort Ville-Marie began around the initial hamlet as protection against Iroquois attacks, and by the time the palisade was complete in 1646, it was an impressive sight.
- 1642 – Fort Richelieu built by Charles de Montmagny; it was commenced on August 13, when 40 men led by Charles de Montmagny arrived at the site.
- 1642 – Assumption of Mary celebrated on August 15; a great number bothe of French and Indians were present. On the evening of this day, Maisonneuve visit Mont Royal. Two old Indians accompanied him to the summit.
- 1642 – Big flood on December 23.
- 1643 – The first Mount Royal Cross was erected on January 6.
- 1643 – In March, Tessouat arrived at the new settlement of Ville-Marie, where his nephew Joseph Oumasasikweie was then living. To the surprise of all, Tessouat requested baptism and a Christian marriage. His conversion was greatly prized because of his importance as chief and because of his former hostility. Great solemnity therefore was observed in the ceremonies on 9 March. Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve granted land to Tessouat and gave him two men to help cultivate it.
- 1643 – On June 9, the first persons were killed at Montreal during the first attack by the Iroquois. Forty Iroquois warriors surprised six Frenchmen at work hewing timber within a gunshot of the fort; Iroquois killed three of them and took the remaining three prisoners.
- 1643 – At the end of August, a vessel with a reinforcement commanded by Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonge arrived at Ville-Marie; he played a leading role there. His wife arrived with d'Ailleboust, accompanied by her sister, Mademoiselle Philippine de Boulogne.
- 1643 – Marie-Madeline de Chauvigny de la Peltrie and Madame de Puiseaux left Ville-Marie.
- 1643 – Jean Boisseau's map shows the "Sault de Montreal".
- 1643 – La Dauversière published a book on Ville-Marie, The Purpose of Montreal, that raised support for the project in Paris. Written in 1643, it describes the settlement shortly after its founding: "There is a chapel there that serves as a parish, under the title of Notre Dame.… The inhabitants live for the most part communally, as in a sort of inn; others live on their private means, but all live in Jesus Christ, with one heart and soul."
- 1643-45 – The Iroquois harass Montreal.
- 1644 – Iroquois attack on March 16.
- 1644 – Eighty Iroquois attack on March 30. Barthélemy Vimont says that two Frenchmen were made prisoners, and burned.
- 1645 – The hospital was initially located within the fort. Then Maisonneuve granted the first concession outside the fortifications to Jeanne Mance so that she could build her Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal; work began on it on October 8, 1645. By 1659 Jeanne Mance had brought from France three nuns from the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph to act as staff.
- 1645 – The treaty with the Iroquois. The peace of a few months was broken and the Iroquois terror once more haunted forest and stream.
- 1645 – In October, Huron and Algonkins Indians broke into the house of Pierre Gadoys (Gadoyes) (1594–1667) on several occasions to steal food from him and beat him. Pierre returned to the Quebec City area from 1646–1647.
- 1645-46 – Tessouat wintered at Montreal where he planted corn, but he withdrew to Trois-Rivières, urging others to do likewise, in the face of reports that Iroquois raids were imminent. This probably resulted from his learning that the French had abandoned non-Christian Algonkins in the 1645 treaty with the Iroquois.
- 1646-53 – The war with Iroquois.
- 1646 – The Fort Richelieu was abandoned at the end of the year; it was burned down by the Iroquois in February 1647. In 1665, the Carignan-Salières Regiment rebuilt the fort on the same site.
- 1647 – Jacques de La Ferté from the Company of One Hundred Associates granted La Prairie to the Jesuits.
- 1647 – The first ball in Montreal.
- 1648 – First land concession, to the Pierre Gadoys and Louise Mauger (1598–1690) household on January 4; the land comprised 40 arpents (34 acres; 14 ha) and the location of the property coincides with the present rue Saint Pierre in the east, Rue McGill in the west, Rue Saint-Paul in the south and rue Ontario in the north. Before, the inhabitants of Ville Marie lived a communal life working in the fields during the day and then bedding down within the fortified walls of the village during the evening hours.
- 1648 – Adrienne Du Vivier arrived; she and her husband, Augustin Hébert, are often referred to as "Montreal's First Citizens."
- 1648 – The first white child is born in Ville Marie, Barbe Meusnier, on November 24.
- 1648 – Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonge was appointed governor of New France, at the recomandation of Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve.
- 1648 – The mill built.
- 1648 – The Iroquois invaded Huronia and wiped out most of the Huron's and French missionaries living in the territory. The French settlers and Iroquois would fight many battles around the outskirts of New France.
- 1640s – René Menard was the confessor of the family of Sieur Charles Dailleboust des Musseaux (1621–1700) in Ville-Marie.
1650s
- 1650 – November 18 – The first European inhabitant in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce was Jean Descarries (or Descaris), born in Igé en Perche.
- 1650 – Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve built a home for himself on Rue Saint-Paul.
- 1651 – 40 arpents (34 acres; 14 ha) were granted to the settlers as common land. But the Iroquois threat made living outside the fort so risky that everyone – including Jeanne Mance and her patients – had to come back inside the walls.
- 1651 – The first theatre piece played at Montreal – Le Cid – on April 16.
- 1651 – On June 6, 50 Iroquois attacked the settlement.
- 1651 – On July 26, 200 Iroquois attacked the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal.
- 1651 – Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve made a land concession on Rue de la Commune for Jean de Saint-Père in October.
- 1652 – May 26: A troop of 50 Iroquois killed the cowherd at Montreal, named Antoine Rob, near the hill St. Louis.
- 1652 – "July 29: Two Iroquois, having slipped in under the cover of the corn, attacked Martine Messier, the wife of Antoine Primot who, by defending herself courageously, gave the soldiers of the fort time to come to her aid and put the enemy to flight. She received six shots, none of which are mortal." wrote a Jesuit priest in his diary.
- 1653 – The Grande Recrue: Jeanne Mance took the money that was to have been spent on the hospital and used it to recruit some one hundred people; the contingent arrived at Ville Marie on November 16. Of the 95 who embark in Saint-Nazaire, 24 were massacred by Iroquois; 4 drowned; one burnt when his house caught fire.[9]
- 1653 – Congregation of Notre Dame founded.
- 1654 – A concession for Charles le Moyne at Pointe-Saint-Charles and on Rue Saint-Paul.
- 1654 – Michel Messier (age 14) was captured in the autumn. He was set free the following summer and taken to Ville Marie by a Mohawk captain names "La Frande Armee" at the time when some Iroquois captains, held in the fort, were exchanged for all of the French prisoners.
- 1654 – Outaouais came for the first time at Montreal for commercial resons.
- 1654 – Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve grants Jeanne Mance 112 arpents (95 acres; 38 ha) of land in Nazareth fief. She and her nuns convert the property to a farm known as 'Le Grange des Pauvres', using the proceeds of food sales to support the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal.
- 1655 – Peace Treaty with the Iroquois; only for a few months.
- 1656-58 – Sainte Marie among the Iroquois in use.
- 1657 – On 28 January, as she was returning from mass, Jeanne Mance fell on the ice, fractured her right arm, and dislocated her wrist. Although cured, Jeanne was unable to use her arm. Because of this infirmity she was obliged to consider having herself replaced as the head of the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal. She waited, however, for the return of Maisonneuve, who had set out for France again in 1655. He was to return only at the end of July 1657, together with the first parish clergy for Ville-Marie, which would consist of three Sulpicians under the leadership of Abbé Queylus.
- 1657 – On 17 May, at Saint-Nazaire, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonge, as well as three Sulpicians (Gabriel Souart, Antoine d'Allet, and Dominique Galinier) under the leadership of Gabriel de Queylus, the first superior of Saint-Sulpice at Montreal, boarded the ship bound for Ville Marie. The travellers, after a stormy crossing, landed on the Île d'Orléans, 29 July.
- 1657 – In the middle of August, four priests (Gabriel de Queylus, Gabriel Souart, Antoine d'Allet, and Dominique Galinier) belonging to the Society of Saint-Sulpice in Paris landed in Montreal to take over from the Jesuits.
- 1657 – Jean de Saint-Père – the first town clerk (greffier) and first Notary public of the settlement, Nicolas Godé, and Jacques Noël were killed by Iroquois on October 25.
- 1657 – Marguerite Bourgeoys – the town's first teacher, who would found a community of teachers -, openes the first school in a former stable on November 25.
- 1657 – Charles le Moyne was granted land on the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River, across from Saint Helen's Island.
- 1658 – Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve signed a contract with Jacques Archambault, to have him dig "a well in Fort Ville-Marie in the middle of the Court or parade ground."
- 1658 – In November, a Ville-Marie tribunal convicted Rene Besnard dit Bourjoly of casting a spell of impotence over Pierre (Gadoyes) Gadois, a rival for the hand of a woman he had courted. Besnard was flogged, imprisoned, and sentenced to death, although the latter punishment was reduced to banishment. In August 1660 François de Laval annulled the still-barren marriage of Pierre Gadois and Marie Pontonnier on the grounds of "permanent impotence caused by witchcraft". In their later marriages to others, this "sterile" couple had a total of 25 children.
1660s
- 1660 – Adam Dollard des Ormeaux died in the Battle of Long Sault.
- 1660 – Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonge died at Montreal on 31 May, at the age of 48. He left no children. He was buried on June 1, in the cemetery of the hospital that stood on the site of today's Place d'Armes.
- 1660 – Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers escorted 60 small boats from Pays d'en-Haut to Montreal.
- 1660 – François de Laval made his first pastoral visit to Montreal in August.
- 1661 – Michel Messier was again captured by Iroquois with a few settlers on March 24.
- 1661 – In March, Pierre (Gadoyes) Gadois bravely fought during an Iroquois attack on the colony.
- 1661 – The Sulpicians built a home for themselves on Rue Saint-Paul.
- 1661 – Jacques Le Maistre, bursar of the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, killed by Iroquois in a field belonging to the Maison Saint-Gabriel farm, on August 29.
- 1661 – Guillaume Vignal, Jacques Dufresne, Claude de Brigeart and René Cuillerier Léveillé are taken prisoner by Iroquois on l'Île-à-la-Pierre, Longueuil, on October 25. Guillaume Vignal was killed by Iroquois at La Prairie, on October 27.
- 1661 – The boys' school founded by Gabriel Souart, who prided himself on being the first school-master of Ville Marie.
- 1662 – January 4 – Jeanne Le Ber was baptized the day she was born by Gabriel Souart, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve being her godfather and Jeanne Mance her godmother.
- 1662 – Lambert Closse died on February 6 in combat fighting the Iroquois.
- 1662 – Confrérie de la Sainte-Famille founded by Pierre-Joseph-Marie Chaumonot.
- 1663 – An earthquake at 5:30 p.m. on February 5.
- 1663 – In Mars, Seigniorial rights to the Island of Montreal were transferred by the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal to the Sulpicians. The Sulpicians became the seigneurs of Montreal, taking over from Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve.
- 1663 – New France becomes a royal province. The New France Sovereign Council is created to administer the colonies under the absolute authority of the King on September 18.
- 1663 – A Ville-Marie resident was fined 10 livres for plowing in plain view on a Sunday.
- 1664 – The first court in Montreal.
- 1665 – Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve returned to France. The missionary dreams of the first Montrealers had given way to the lure of money to be made in furs. Although he had lived in Ville-Marie for twenty-three years, he never became a landowner, choosing to dedicate himself to his religious cause. Back in Paris, he lived in a secluded cabin that he built, and remained humble and discreet until his death.
- 1665 – Fort Chambly built; then it was called Fort Saint Louis.
- 1665 – The authorities sent the Carignan-Salières Regiment here as reinforcements.
- 1666 – According to census of New France, Ville-Marie now hast 582 inhabitants. 24 of the 111 families living in Montreal had already been formed in France. A few houses, flanked by a windmill and fort, and connected by a footpath where now runs Rue Saint-Paul, represented the beginnings of Ville Marie.
- 1666 – The arrival of the Sulpician priest Jean Cavelier (born 1636). His brother, René-Robert Cavelier will come next year.
- 1666 – The Sulpicians possessed, beginning in 1666, a little orchard inside the fenced garden of the Saint-Sulpice Seminary (Montreal).
- 1666-75 – Fort Saint-Jean built.
- 1667 – Kahnawake founded.
- 1667 – Boucherville founded as a seigneurial parish by Pierre Boucher. Pierre Boucher began farming this year but did not receive his Seigneury until 1672 when he built a palisade to protect the community from the Iroquois.
- 1667 – Almost from its foundation, pelts were bartered in Montreal, but it was after 1667 that the town became a great place for trade. An annual market for pelts took place in June on the common of Pointe-à-Callière.
- 1667 – The Sulpician priests established Gentilly. It was later renamed La Présentation-de-la-Vierge-Marie and finally Dorval.
- 1668 – Five more Sulpicians came to the colony, among them René Bréhant de Galinée and François Dollier de Casson, who were to win distinction as missionaries and explorers. Many Sulpician missions pushed out from Ville Marie, along the upper Saint Lawrence River and the north shore of Lake Ontario.
- 1668 – Pierre Raffeix establish a mission at Kahnawake.
- 1668 – Maison Saint-Gabriel was bought for receiving the King's Daughters. The current structure dates back to 1698; it was rebuilt in 1698 after a fire in 1693.
- 1669 – Louis XIV orders that all the valid men of New France between 16 and 60 years of age must do their mandatory military service. Every parish will have its militia.
- 1660s – On the top of the hill called 'Coteau Saint-Louis' was erected an intrenched mill – Moulin du Coteau – which could be used as a redoubt to protect the inhabitants.
1670s
- 1670 – The map of the trip of Montrealer René Bréhant de Galinée demonstrated that the Great Lakes were all connected.
- 1670 – Terrebonne founded.
- 1670 – Hudson's Bay Company founded.
- 1670 – St. Xavier Dez Praiz is a little above Ville-Marie and contains 60 settlers.
- 1670 – François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, the superior of the Saint-Sulpice Seminary (Montreal), suggested digging Lachine Canal, a canal circumventing the Lachine Rapids; this initial project did not materialize. Montreal had always been the last navigable point on the St. Lawrence River.
- 1670 – Through Jean Talon's influence, François-Marie Perrot was appointed governor of Montreal by a royal commission in 1670 and arrived in New France that year.
- 1670-80 – At first trading was done in people's home, but traders soon set up stalls between Saint-Paul and the Little St. Pierre River, west of the marketplace. Natives – some 900 of them in 1672 – camped on the point, not far from the seigneurs’ gardens.
- 1671 – Fort Senneville built.
- 1671 – Marguerite Bourgeoys received a warm welcome at Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve home in Paris.
- 1672 – Bénigne Basset Des Lauriers was responsible for the first street layouts in Montreal. The original plan of Old Montreal consisted of 10 streets, of which three ran parallel to the river, such as Notre-Dame Street, Rue Saint-Paul, Saint Jacques Street; the other seven ran perpendicular to the river, such as rue Saint Pierre, rue Saint François Xavier, rue Saint Jean Baptiste, rue Saint Gabriel, rue Saint Vincent, rue de l'Hôpital. The Rue Saint-Paul was paved.
- 1672 – The cross is planted to designate the future emplacement of the first Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal) on June 29 and the next day, are laid the first five stones.
- 1672 – As a churchwarden, Pierre Gadois supervised the construction of a public well in the Place d'Armes.
- 1672 – Michel-Sidrac Dugue de Boisbriand obtained possession of the seigneury of the Île Sainte-Thérèse in October.
- 1673 – Charles le Moyne was granted the Seigneury of Châteauguay.
- 1674 – François-Marie Perrot and François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon went to France. Perrot was shut up in the Bastille for some months and then sent back to his governor's duties at Montreal. Louis de Buade de Frontenac was very severely reprimanded by the king for his attitude towards M. de Fénelon.
- 1674 – Pointe-aux-Trembles founded; it was annexed to Montreal in 1982.
- 1674 – Louis Jolliet wrecked at Sault-Saint-Louis in May.
- 1676 – Sulpician mission founded at Mount Royal. Guillaume Bailly spent some time directing the mission.
- 1676 – Establishment of the catholic parish Saints-Anges-Gardiens (Lachine).
- 1677 – Jacques Bizard was sent to Montreal by Frontenac to investigate claims of illegal sale of alcohol to the Natives. However, the leader of the smugglers, Montreal Governor François-Marie Perrot, imprisoned Bizard. With the help of Frontenac, Bizard was liberated and Perrot was removed from office.
- 1678 – Jacques Bizard was granted île Bonaventure on which he created a seigneury.
- 1678 – Lachine parish created.
- 1678 – Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel completed.
- 1678 – Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut left Montreal for Lake Superior in September, spending the winter near Sault Sainte Marie.
- 1679 – Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut reaches the western end of the Lake Superior in the fall of the 1679 where he concluded peace talks between the Saulteur and Sioux nations.
- 1679 – Jeanne Le Ber chose a life of reclusion.
- 1679 – The brigantine Le Griffon, commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is towed to the southern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes.
- 1670s – A big orchard was planted on the side of the Mont Royal, in the middle of the 1670s.
1680s
- 1680 – 493 inhabitants.
- 1680 – Kateri Tekakwitha died. Pierre Cholonec wrote her life.
- 1680-85 – More and more voyageurs, coureurs des bois and missionaries were exploring the regions upriver from Montreal. As the new territory opened up, part of the fur trade shifted toward the Great Lakes. Fewer and fewer Natives came to Montreal, and the annual fur fair became less popular from 1680 to 1685.
- 1681 – Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut was forced to return to Montreal and then France in 1681 to defend himself against accusations of treason, returning the following year.
- 1682 – Montrealer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle travelled all the way to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
- 1682 – The Notre-Dame Church completed; constructed by François Bailly. Throughout the 18th century the city's primary landmarks were the bell tower of Notre-Dame and Citadel hill. The church was demolished in 1830 and his bell tower in 1843. Foundations from the original Notre-Dame Church lie under the Place d'Armes Square.
- 1683 – The Sulpicians, seigneurs of the island, ordered the final demolition of the old seigniorial residence.
- 1683 – The seigneury of Mille-Isles was granted to Michel-Sidrac Dugué de Boisbriand, who was governor of Montreal in 1670.
- 1684 – The Congregation of Notre Dame convent is destroyed by a fire.
- 1684 – Louis-Hector de Callière is named governor of Montreal.
- 1684 – Charles le Moyne was granted the Seigneury of Île Perrot.
- 1684-87 – Saint-Sulpice Seminary (Montreal) built. Its clock was constructed in 1701.
- 1685 – Fort de la Montagne, known primarily as Fort Belmont, constructed by François Vachon de Belmont.
- 1685 – Monsieur Souart open across the first Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal), the first school for boys, with 73 boys.
- 1686 – Treaty of Whitehall.
- 1686 – Pierre Troyes led an overland expedition from Montreal to the shore of the Hudson Bay where they managed to capture many of the company's forts by surprise. New France would wage several naval raids into the bay the following years and almost succeeded in driving the English from this part of the continent altogether.
- 1686 – Jacques Le Ber built a stone mill on the Island of Montreal near the Ottawa River to provide the inhabitants of that area with a shelter in case of attack by the Five Nations.
- 1686-87 – François Provost is temporary governor of Montreal.
- 1687-89 – A wooden palisade was erected to protect the town. Some years after the city was founded, the initial fort was abandoned and the town continued its development at Coteau Saint-Louis, around which wooden fortifications were built in 1687 and 1689.
- 1687 – An epidemic of typhus kills approximately 150 people with the autumn.
- 1688 – The treaty between Governor and Onondaga chief Otreouti, who promised the neutrality of the Onondagas, Cayugas, and Oneidas at Montreal; Nicolas Perrot served as interpreter.
- 1688 – Governor Louis-Hector de Callière built his residence on the place of the abandoned fort.
- 1689 – On June 13, construction was begun by the Montreal Sulpicians on a 2 km canal to support their monopoly on flour-milling. François Dollier de Casson asserted that such a canal (Lachine Canal) would supply water to Montreal's mills while simultaneously facilitating westbound navigation.
- 1689 – Lachine massacre.
- 1689 – The construction by François Vachon de Belmont of Fort Lorette starts at Sault-au-Récollet.
- 1689 – Soon after her release by the Iroquois, Madeleine D'Allone takes possession of a house in Montreal.
1690s
- 1690 – Battle of Rivière des Prairies / Battle of Coulée Grou on July 2.
- 1690 – The Citadel, Montreal built.
- 1691 – Fort Senneville was burned down by Iroquois, with only the mill itself left standing.
- 1691 – Madeleine de Verchères becomes a hero in New France for defending Fort Vercheres against the Iroquois while waiting for French Army reinforcements.
- 1691 – Battle of La Prairie on August 11.
- 1691 – An encounter with an English and Iroquois war party near Fort Chambly.
- 1692 – The Jesuits and Récollets are back in Montreal. The Jesuits constructed their residence near the Place Jacques-Cartier and the Récollets in the west.
- 1693 – Place d'Armes was first developed.
- 1693 – Marguerite Bourgeoys handed over Congregation of Notre Dame to her successor, Marie Barbier de l'Assomption.
- 1693 – Lawyers first tried to obtain official recognition of Bar of Montreal but were refused by Governor General of New France Louis de Buade de Frontenac who upheld the 1678 edict by the Sovereign Council that denied recognition of the legal profession.
- 1693 – Jacques Le Ber joined a war party of 300 Canadians, 100 soldiers, and 230 Indians that attacked the Mohawks in their own territory.
- 1694 – The Jesuits opened an elementary school.
- 1694 – Louis Tantouin de la Touche is named subdelegated of the intendant.
- 1694 – Frères Hospitaliers de la Croix et de Saint-Joseph, (known after their founder as the Frères Charon) founded.
- 1694 – Louis-Hector de Callière was awarded the cross of Saint-Louis. During his years as governor of Montreal, the Iroquois war had enhanced the importance of that position.
- 1694 – François Vachon de Belmont finished the mission on the slopes of Mount Royal. Its circular stone fortress towers still stand on the grounds of the Grand Seminary on Sherbrooke Street.
- 1695 – Nicolas Perrot brought the Miami, Sauk, Menominee, Potawatomi and Fox chiefs to Montreal at the governor's request, regarding war with the Iroquois.
- 1695 – Saint-Charles-Sur-Richelieu is granted to Zacharie-François Hertel, Sieur de la Fresnière (March 1).
- 1696 – Fire at Fort de la Montagne. The Hurons were transferred to Fort Lorette.
- 1696 – Jacques Le Ber was ennobled.
- 1698 – A chapel dedicated to St. Anne is founded at the south end of Murray street. Le Quartier Ste-Anne becomes infamous as a den of licentiousness, and the clergy restricts the sale of liquor around the chapel.
- 1698 – Bishop Saint-Vallier, returning from France, accompanied two English gentlemen, one of them a Protestant minister, on a visit to Jeanne Le Ber.
- 1700 – At the turn of the 18th century Montreal's population was about 1,500 souls, which gradually grew to about 7,500 in the year 1760, at the time of the British conquest.
- 1700 – Gédéon de Catalogne was employed by Sulpicians in Octobre to dig the Lachine Canal.
- 1700-31 – François Vachon de Belmont was the fifth superior of the Montreal Sulpicians.
18th century
1710s
- 1710 – The population of Montreal is now 3,500.
- 1710-20 – Maison Quesnel (5010 boulevard Saint-Joseph) built by Olivier Quesnel.
- 1711 – The court ordered the construction of a stone wall around the city.
- 1713 – Jurisdiction of the Government of Montreal began to the west of Maskinongé, Quebec and Yamaska and ended at the extremity of the inhabited area, namely fort Saint-Jean, Châteauguay and Vaudreuil.
- 1713 – Michel Bégon decide to erect stone fortifications. The wooden walls were replaced with stone ones due to the threat of British attack. The project was only completed in 1744.
- 1713 – The Pointe-Claire parish was first established in the name of St. Francis of Sales and dedicated to St. Joachim the following year.
- 1716 – Jacques Talbot dit Gervais become a schoolmaster at Montreal.
- 1717–1744 – The stone fortifications were erected according to plans by the architect Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry. The stone fortifications rose six metres in height and measured 3.5 km in circumference around the city. The fortifications correspond roughly to the present-day limits of Old Montreal, with Rue Berri to the east, Rue de la Commune to the south, Rue McGill to the west, and Ruelle de la Fortification to the north.
- 1716 – Pierre de Lagrené was named superior.
- 1719 – Pointe-aux-Trembles windmill was built at the corner of Notre-Dame Street and Third Avenue. Its three storeys make it the tallest windmill in Quebec that still stands.
- 1719-20 – Maison Jean-Gabriel Picard (5430 boulevard Saint-Joseph) built. It is one of Lachine's two oldest houses.
1720s
- 1720 – Foundation of the St. Lawrence parish.
- 1721 – Louis XV of France grants the Sulpicians a new seigniory on the shore of the Lake of Two Mountains, where they open an Indian mission at Oka.
- 1721 – The great fire. Wood constructions are prohibited in city limits.
- 1726 – A dam was built to link the river bank to the Île de la Visitation – one of the most impressive feats of civil engineering of the French regime. It was in operation until 1960.
1730s
- 1731 – The Société de Saint-Sulpice granted the first concession of territory to be apportioned to the Paroisse Sainte-Geneviève.
- 1731 – The orchards covered 90 arpents (76 acres; 31 ha) on the Island of Montreal, on the side of the mountain and around town. From 1731 to 1781, the surface area occupied by the orchards rose from 90 to 402 arpents (76 to 340 acres; 31 to 137 ha). The common cultivars at the time were the Calville blanc, Calville rouge, Famous, Reinette, Bourassa, Pomme blanche, Pomme grise of Montreal.
- 1732 – Montreal earthquake at 11:00 a.m. on September 16.
- 1733 – François Poulin de Francheville founded the Compagnie des Forges de Saint-Maurice, but he died that same year.
- 1734 – The construction of Fort St. Frédéric starts.
- 1734 – Marie-Joseph Angélique (a slave owned by Thérèse de Couagne) was tried and convicted of setting fire to her owner's home, burning much of what is now referred to as Old Montreal. Historian Marcel Trudel has documented the presence of at least 2,077 slaves in Montreal during the early part of its history.
- 1737 – Inauguration of the Chemin du Roy on the North Shore (Laval) between Montreal and Quebec City. The road's construction took 4 years and required the building of 13 bridges. From now on, people can travel from one city to the other in 4 days.
- 1737 – Plague Epidemic.
- 1738 – Marie-Marguerite d'Youville founds Grey Nuns. In 1747, she becomes director of the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal.
1740s
- 1740 – 22,000 lived under the government of Montréal. The population was mostly rural, city having populations of 4200 for Montréal.[10]
- 1744 – The appearance in August of the Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle-France; author Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix. Charlevoix penned much of his work at Montreal.
- 1745-82 – Maison Jean-Baptiste-Mallet (5550 boulevard Saint-Joseph) built.
- 1749 – Fort de La Présentation built.
- 1749 – Pehr Kalm visited Montreal, where he was entertained by the Baron de Longueuil. Pehr Kalm noted that "some of the houses of the town are built of the stone, but most of them are of timber, though very neatly built."
- 1749 – While planning further exploration of the Saskatchewan River and points west, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye died at Montreal on December 5.
- 1749-51 – De la Visitation Church (1747 Gouin Boulevard) was built to replace the small chapel at Fort Lorette. It is the oldest church in Montreal and the only built during the New France still standing. The church was consecrated by Henri-Marie Dubreil de Pontbriand in 1752.
1750s
1760s
- 1760 – In the spring, a French army is collected in the neighbourhood of Montreal, under the command of Chevalier de Levis.
- 1760 – Last meeting of New France Sovereign Council occurred on April 28, day of the Battle of Sainte-Foy.
- 1760 – On May 9, British ships arrive at Quebec City, forcing the French Army back to Montreal.
- 1760 – Battle of the Thousand Islands.
- 1760 – Henri-Marie Dubreil de Pontbriand died at Saint-Sulpice Seminary (Montreal) on June 8.
- 1760 – On September 6, Colonel William Haviland lay on the South Shore.
- 1760 – On September 6, Jeffrey Amherst arrived at Lachine.
- 1760 – September 6–7 – A council of war, at Montreal, favors capitulation.
- 1760 – Monday September 8 – Jeffrey Amherst's, Murray's, and Haviland's commands, around Montreal, are about 17,000.
- 1760 – The British, under General Jeffrey Amherst, march from Lachine through Nazareth Fief (the name used for Griffintown at this time), through the Recollet Gate and into the walled city of Montreal.
- 1760 – The Articles of Capitulation of Montreal were signed on September 8, in the British camp before the city of Montreal. They were agreed upon between Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal and Jeffrey Amherst. Most of the North American fighting ended with the surrender of Montreal, on September 8.
- 1760 – The Sulpicians (led by Étienne Montgolfier) negotiate a land claims settlement with the British, enabling them to remain seigneurs of Montreal Island after the conquest. They honour King George III's consort, Charlotte, by naming the bell in the parish church after her.
- 1760 – On September 21, Jeffrey Amherst appointed brigadier Thomas Gage as military governor of the Montreal district; he was governor until 1763.
- 1761 – July 30 – William Bewen, accused of having intoxicated soldiers and of selling rum without licence, is found guilty, having been accessory to his associate, Isaac Lawrence, who has the habit of selling rum to the soldiers, – condemned to receive 200 stripes of the cat o'nine tails, and to be driven from the town at the beat of the drum.
- 1761 – July 1 – Isaac Lawrence was similarly condemned.
- 1761 – August 6 – Joseph Burgen, one of those who came following the army, is accused and convicted for theft, and condemned to be hanged by the neck until death shall ensue. The general approved the sentence, but pardoned him on the condition that he left his government without delay.
- 1761 – August 13 – George Skipper and Bellair, bakers, accused and arraigned by Captain Disney, for having sold bread, which had not the requesite weight. – acquitted.
- 1761 – By an ordinance dated October 13, Thomas Gage divided the district of Montreal into six subdivisions, and set up in each a "chamber of justice", composed of from five to seven militia officers, presided over by a captain. This chamber was to sit every fortnight; and it had the power of trying both civil and criminal offenders, and of inflicting corporal punishment, prison, or fine. All appeals, and all serious offences, such as theft or murder, were to go for trial before British courts-martial, one of which was to be constituted monthly for each two subdivisions. Every award was subject to the approval of the governor, who might lessen or commute, though he might not increase, the punishment.
- 1762 – July 26 – Governor Thomas Gage endeavors to arrange for the money exchange values. He orders that six livres tournois shall be equal to eight shillings, or ten sols of Montreal money.
- 1762 – August 3 – Thomas Gage sees that different standards of measurements are being used, and to prevent frauds from slipping ino the commercial life of city, established that, in Montreal, the English standard yard measure should be used.
- 1762 – October 8 – Thomas Gage has to settle the prices, which the bakers of the town should charge for various kinds of bread.
- 1763 – Treaty of Paris. The town was already the centre of the North American Fur Trade. After the British took possession, Montreal became the emporium of a great traffic in the fur-fields of the north and west.
- 1763 – A big fire.
- 1763 – Col. Ralph Burton became governor of Montreal on October 29; he was governor until the end of military regime in Montreal, in 1764.
- 1764 – August 10 – The end of military regime in Montreal.
- 1764 – August 28 – The proclamation establishing a Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace in each district of Quebec.
- 1764 – Thomas Walker was appointed a justice of the peace, and on December 6 he was the victim of an assault by the military, in which one of his ears was cut off. The incident greatly embittered feeling in the colony, and Walker became the centre of a violent agitation.
- 1764 – Between 1764 and 1837, there were only six clercks of the peace for the district of Montreal, who govern Montreal's affairs, with the office dominated by three clercks, John Burke (1764–87), John Reid (1787–1811), and John (Jean-Baptiste) Delisle (1814–38).
- 1765 – There are 136 Protestants in Montreal, and 500 in Canada
- 1765 – March 22 – The Stamp Act is passed.
- 1765 – On Saturday the 18th of May, a fire that started on Saint-Paul Street destroys 108 houses, rendering 215 families homeless.
- 1765 – Governor James Murray authorized the creation of the "Community of Lawyers" (Communauté des avocats), which granted commissions to its members that allowed them to practice law in the triple capacity of lawyer, notary and land surveyor. The precursor of the present-day Bar of Montreal, the Community of Lawyers adopted the first-ever code of ethics and conduct.
- 1765 – After a great deal of legal wrangling the trial in the Thomas Walker case was finally held in July, but the soldiers were acquitted and the suspicion between the military and the merchant class only deepened. Thomas Walker took the merchants' complaints to London. Murray was instructed to reinstate Walker and to "support him in that unmolested pursuit of Trade, which as a British subject, he is entitled to".
- 1766 – The attack on the merchant Thomas Walker on December 6, 1764, produced the chaos that resulted in the recall of both Ralph Burton and Murray to Britain.
- 1766 – The Stamp Act is repealed.
- 1766 – Brigadier-General Carleton becomes Lieutenant-Governor.
- 1766 – The town is divided in districts.
- 1766 – On June 23, governor Murray appointed Pierre du Calvet Justice of the Peace at the new Court of Common Pleas for the district of Montreal.
- 1767 – Collège de Montréal, a classical college, is founded by Sulpician Curateau de la Blaiserie in the rectory at Longue Pointe.
- 1768 – A big fire on April 11.
- 1768 – Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal established.
- 1769 – Many American merchants avoid business relations with British merchants.
1770s
- 1771 – Re-building of the old Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel (burned 1754) is begun.
- 1773 – The Fabrique of Montreal have a college for instructing youths in arithmetic, geography, English and Belles Lettres
- 1773 – 7 October – the erection in Place d'Armes of George III Monument of thanksgiving to George III. It was the first monument to be erected in Montreal. It is no longer in existence, having suffered mutilation in May 1775.
- 1774 – The British Parliament passed the Quebec Act that allowed Quebec to maintain the French Civil Code as its judicial system and sanctioned the freedom of religious choice, allowing the Roman Catholic Church to remain.
- 1775 – Invasion of Canada (1775); Montreal capitulates to the Americans on November 13.
- 1775 – April 19 – The American Revolutionary War begins at Lexington, Massachusetts.
- 1775 – May 1 – The bust of George III in Place d'Armes, Montreal, is found defaced – adorned with beads, cross and mitre, with the words "Pope of Canada – Sot (fool) of England", in an act to denounce the Quebec Act, which guarantees the use of French language, culture and freedom of religion. A reward of 500 guineas does not lead to apprehension of the culprit.
- 1775 – June 9 – Martial Law is declared in Canada.
- 1775 – August 21 – Generals Hon Yost Schuyler and Richard Montgomery, with 1,000 Americans come to Canada and invite the inhabitants to rebel.
- 1775 – September 17-November 3 – Siege of Fort St. Jean.
- 1775 – September 25 – attempting to take Montreal, Ethan Allen and many of his 150 followers are captured at Longue Pointe, and are sent to England.
- 1775 – October 18 – The Americans capture Chambly.
- 1775 – Richard Montgomery occupied Saint Paul's Island on November 8.
- 1775 – On November 9, Richard Montgomery crossed to Pointe-Saint-Charles, where he was greeted as a liberator.[11]
- 1775 – November 12 – General Richard Montgomery tells Montrealers that, being defenceless, they cannot stipulate terms; but promises to respect personal rights. He demands the keys of public stores, and appoints 9:00 am tomorrow for the army's entrance, by the Recollet gate.
- 1775 – Montreal fell without any significant fighting on November 13, as Carleton, deciding that the city was indefensible (and having suffered significant militia desertion upon the news of the fall of St. Johns), withdrew.
- 1775 – November 13 – The Continental Army invades Montreal and appropriates royal stores. Richard Montgomery is joined by Benedict Arnold.
- 1775 – Richard Montgomery used some of the captured boats to move towards Quebec City with about 300 troops on November 28, leaving about 200 in Montreal under the command of General David Wooster.[12]
- 1776 – April 29 – American colonists, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase and the Jesuit Charles Caroll stay in Thomas Walker's house in Montreal while trying to gain support from Montrealers against the British.
- 1776 – Benjamin Franklin and Charles Caroll left Montreal on May 11, following news that the American forces at Quebec City were in panicked retreat, to return to Philadelphia.
- 1776 – May – With only 1765 soldiers remaining in Montreal, the colonial force was overcome by the British.
- 1776 – Within four hours, Benedict Arnold and the American forces garrisoned around Montreal had abandoned the city (but not before trying to burn it down), leaving it in the hands of the local militia. Carleton's fleet arrived in Montreal on June 17.[13]
- 1776 – May 18–27 – Battle of the Cedars.
- 1776 – Colonel Benedict Arnold destroyed the Fort Senneville.
- 1777 – Opening of Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal.
- 1778 – June 3 – The first issue of the Gazette du Commerce et Littéraire pour la Ville et District de Montréal (official organ of Académie de Montréal), the first newspaper in Montreal, was printed, in the Château Ramezay, by Fleury Mesplet, a former employee of Benjamin Franklin.
- 1779 – On June 2, The publishing of the Gazette Littéraire is stopped.
- 1779 – Fleury Mesplet and Valentin Jautard are arrested by order of the governor on June 4.
1780s
- 1781 – Coteau-du-Lac canal completed. It was the first work of its kind in North America.
- 1781-83 – Pierre-Louis Panet practiced as a notary in Montreal.
- 1782 – Councillor Finlay proposes to establish English schools in Canadian parishes, and to prohibit using the French language in the Law Courts after a certain time.
- 1783 – The United Empire Loyalists settle in Canada.
- 1783 – The North West Company of Montreal was officially created.
- 1783 – A lottery is started in Montreal, to defray the cost of a new gaol.
- 1783 – Fleury Mesplet gets out of prison in September.
- 1785 – Fleury Mesplet founds the newspaper The Montreal Gazette / Gazette de Montréal on August 28.
- 1785 – In February, the Beaver Club is formed by members of the North West Company.
- 1785 – A dark day on October 10. Candles are lighted at noon.
- 1785 – Maison Papineau (or Maison John-Campbell) built at 440 Bonsecours Street. It was modified in 1831 and 1965.
- 1786 – John Molson founds the Molson Breweries. Molson continues to produce beer on the site of the original brewery.
- 1787 – Prince William Henry, the late William IV, arrived at Montreal on September 8.
- 1787–1811 – John Reid is clerck of the peace for the district of Montreal, who govern Montreal's affairs.
- 1788 – The Gazette, formerly a French journal, appears in English.
- 1789 – Lord Grenville proposes that land in Upper Canada be held in free and common soccage, and that the tenure of Lower Canadian lands be optional with the inhabitants.
- 1789 – May 4 – The justices of the peace, who govern Montreal's affairs, order "the price and assize of bread, for this month" to be: "the white loaf of 4lbs. at 13d., or 30 sous", etc., and that bakers of the city and suburbs do conform thereto, and mark their bread with their initials.
- 1789 – Christ Church opens for service on December 20.
1790s
- 1790 – Lower Canada is divided into three districts, instead of two.
- 1791 – Edmund Burke supports the proposed constitution for Canada, saying that:-"To attempt to amalgamate two populations, composed of races of men diverse in language, laws and habitudes, is complete absurdity. Let the proposed constitution be founded on man's nature, the only solid basis for an enduring government." Fox declares that England can retain Canada "through the good will of the Canadians alone."
- 1791 – The last Jesuit at Montreal, Father Bernard Well, died towards the end of March or the beginning of April. Jean-Joseph Casot came up to Montreal and gave away in charity every movable possession of the Montreal Jesuits. After the death of Father Well, the Jesuit residence at Montreal was used for government purposes.
- 1791 – On May 8, members of the Presbyterian congregation of Montreal gather to elect a committee to discuss the building of the first Presbyterian church in Canada, later, to be known as the St. Gabriel Street Church.
- 1791 – Thomas McCord leases Nazareth fief from the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal nuns for 99 years, but five years later, while he is away on business, the land is illegally sold by McCord's associate, Patrick Langan, to Mrs. Mary Griffin.
- 1792 – On May 7, Lower Canada is divided into 21 counties.
- 1792 – June – Of 50 members of the New assembly for Lower Canada, 15 are English.
- 1792 – December 20 – a fortnightly mail is established between Canada and the United States.
- 1792 – December – A bill to abolish slavery in Lower Canada does not pass.
- 1792 – Opening of the first post office in Montreal on December 20.
- 1792 – Montrealer Joseph Bouchette was send to Upper Canada and helped survey Toronto Harbour and produced maps that included the Toronto Islands.
- 1793 – Importation of slaves into Canada is prohibited on July 9.
- 1794 – James Monk was appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench of Montreal.
- 1795 – James Monk, Chief Justice of Lower Canada, purchased an estate in Montreal that had previously belonged to the Décarie family. The first Monk residence, built in 1803, was the central section of the present-day Villa Maria.
- 1795 – A Canadian regiment is raised, but disbanded, owing to Britain's unfavourable experience of training colonists to use arms.
- 1796 – The Habeas Corpus Act is suspended in Lower Canada.
- 1796 – Attorney-General Jonathan Sewell reports the District of Montreal satisfied with British rule, but that the French Minister to Washington, Pierre Adet, deludes the people with the syatement that France had conquered Spain, Italy and Austria and will shortly attack Great Britain, through her colonies.
- 1796 – The Montreal Library, the first public library in the city is founded.
- 1796 – January – At a general election in Lower Canada, less than half the old members are returned. Some are defeated for preferring English as the language of Parliament.
- 1797 – January 18 – A weekly mail is established between Canada and the United States.
- 1797 – January 18 – This notice appears in the Quebec Gazette: – "A mail for the upper counties, comprehending Niagara and Detroit, will be closed, at this office on Monday, 30th instant, at four o'clock in the evening, to be forwarded, from Montreal, by the annual winter express, on Thursday, 2nd February next."
- 1799 – Mary Griffin obtained the lease to the Griffintown from a business associate of Thomas McCord.
- 1799 – The census of 1799 lists 9,000 inhabitants while that of 1761 lists 5,500.
- 1799 – Citizens of Montreal petition to secure master's rights over slaves
- 1799 – A measure respecting slavery in Lower Canada does not pass.
- 1799 – Of twenty-one members of Council, in Lower Canada, six are French Canadians.
- 1799 – The Court House is completed.
- 1799 – January 3 – Parliament appropriated $5,000 for a new Montreal Court House.
- 1800 – Alexander Skakel moves from Quebec City to Montreal and establishes the Classical and Mathematical School. This was the principal educational institution for the English-speaking population.
- 1800 – Thomas Walker was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Montreal County.
- 1800 – Thomas Porteous (merchant) purchased the seigneury of Terrebonne.
19th century
- 1801 – As part of their drive to improve urban planning, Montreal's Commissioners made the decision to take the fortifications down.
- 1801 – Joseph Frobisher and others are incorporated to supply Montreal with water.
- 1802 – The King assents to the endowment of a college at Montreal.
- 1802 – The first unofficial cavalry corps was formed in Montreal.
- 1802 – Alexander MacKenzie is knighted for his achievements in the North West on February 10.
- 1803 – The central section of the present-day Villa Maria built. It was the first James Monk residence.
- 1803 – June – Christ Church destroyed by fire.
- 1803 – Aug 2 – As result of the war between France and England, Canada renewed the Alien Act.
- 1803-15 – Napoleonic Wars. With the Napoleonic Wars came a demand for large amounts of squared timber for shipbuilding. Montreal was able to fulfil the demand, and this expansion of the city's economic base was reflected in a rise in population to 26,154 by the year 1825.
- 1803 – The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site built.
- 1804-17 – The taking down of Montreal's fortifications took 13 years, from 1804 to 1817. Vestiges of the fortifications can still be seen at Champs de Mars, and at the Pointe-à-Callière Museum.
- 1804 – There are 142 slaves in the District of Montreal and more than twice as many in the Province.
- 1804 – Locks are placed at Coteau, Cascades and at Long Sault.
- 1805 – Thomas McCord returns to Montreal and recovers the land, which has been divided by Mary Griffin into streets and lots. The name Griffintown sticks.
- 1805 – Thomas Porteous (merchant) opened a store at Sainte-Thérèse-de-Blainville, where he also produced potash.
- 1805 – The first aqueduct in the old city.
- 1806 – Parliament orders the publisher of the Montreal Gazette to be arrested for censuring the majority's vote upon the Gaol.
- 1806 – Maison du Pressoir built.
- 1807 – May – The Canadian Courant and Montreal Advertiser are first issued; owner and editor: Nahum Mower.
- 1807 – The brothers James and Charles Brown began publishing the Canadian Gazette/Gazette canadienne in July.
- 1807 – An Act provides for a new Market House at Montreal.
- 1808 – In early 1808, sick and in debt, Edward Edwards sold the Montreal Gazette to the Browns, who the following month announced their intention to rejuvenate it.
- 1808 – Legal importation of slaves is banned.
- 1808 – July 12 – 5 privates of the 100th Regiment, Montreal, charged with desertion and will be transported as felons to NSW for 7 yrs and then to serve as soldiers in that colony.
- 1808-11 – A new prison was built.
- 1809 – August 17 – The foundation of Nelson's Column is laid in Montreal. Installed on the Place Jacques-Cartier, Nelson's Column was the second monument to be erected in Montreal.
- 1809 – November 3 – John Molson's steam-boat PS Accommodation sails from Montreal to Quebec. It is 85 feet over all, has a 6 horse-power engine, makes the distance in 36 hours, but stops at night and reaches Quebec on the 6th. The PS Accommodation is the second steam-boat in America and probably in the world. The fare for an adult is £2.10s.od =$10.
1810s
- 1810 – John Jacob Astor founds the Pacific Fur Company. (His great-grandson, John Jacob Astor IV died on the RMS Titanic).
- 1810 – November 26 – John Molson asks the exclusive right to construct and navigate steam-boats on the Saint Lawrence River for 15 years.
- 1811 – Founding of the newspaper the Montreal Herald by William Grey and Mungo Kay, founders, owners and publishers.
- 1812 – June 18 – The United States declares war against Great Britain over territorial disputes in Canada (War of 1812). There are 4,000 British troops in Canada. Four Canadian battalions are assembled.
- 1812 – July 11 – U.S. troops invade Canada.
- 1812 – August 20 – Launch of John Molson's second steamboat, the "Swiftsure", at Montreal.
- 1812 – Jean-Marie Mondelet was named coroner for Montreal.
- 1814 – The Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain.
- 1814-38 – John (Jean-Baptiste) Delisle is clerck of the peace for the district of Montreal, who govern Montreal's affairs.
- 1815 – A Montreal General Hospital will result from a society formed this year.
- 1815 – March – Parliament votes $25,000 for Lachine Canal.
- 1816 – Population of Montreal is about 16,000.
- 1816 – The National School is opened.
- 1816 – May 14 – Thomas A. Turner and Robert Armour, Esq., are appointed Commissioners for the improvement of internal navigation between Montreal and Lachine, under the Provincial Act 48 George III,c.19.
- 1816-18 – John Coape Sherbrooke was the Governor General of British North America; the Sherbrooke Street is named after him.
- 1817 – The Bank of Montreal begins operations in June. Mary Griffin's husband, Robert, went on to become the first clerk of the Bank of Montreal upon its formation in 1817.
- 1817 – The Guy Street was named on August 30, for Étienne Guy, a notary who gave the city the land for the street.
- 1818 – Saint Helen's Island was purchased by the British government. Fort de l'Île Sainte-Hélène was built on the island as defences for the city, in consequence of the War of 1812.
- 1819 – Darkness at noon on November 9.
1820s
- 1820 – January 29 – Death of George III in the 60th year of his reign. Parliament is dissolved.
- 1820 – June 18 – The Governor Earl of Dalhousie arrives.
- 1820 – August 28 – The Montreal Bible Society is established.
- 1821 – The North West Company of Montreal and Hudson's Bay Company merged.
- 1821 – The Earl of Dalhousie presents Dalhousie Square to Montreal
- 1821 – Union of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company
- 1821 – Population of Lower Canada is 397,600; of Upper Canada is 129,100
- 1821 – March 17 – Act of incorporation of the Bank of Montreal passed.
- 1821 – March 31 – McGill University established by Royal Charter.
- 1821 – Beginning of Lachine Canal digging on July 17.
- 1821 – The British garrison starts the construction of the Fort de l'Île Sainte-Hélène. It was completed in 1823 and partially rebuilt in 1863, after a fire as a preventive measure against an eventual American attack. The garrison left the island in 1870.
- 1822 – Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal founded.
- 1822 – Parliament grants $50,000 for the Chambly Canal, and $12,000 for the Lachine Canal.
- 1822 – Opening of the British and Canadian School.
- 1822 – Montreal's population is 18,767.
- 1822 – April 23 – First meeting of the Montreal Committee of Trade; Montreal Board of Trade was its successor.
- 1822 – The first iron bridge is erected on March 8.
- 1822 – May 1 – The Montreal General Hospital building is completed; Medical staff: Dr. John Stevenson, A.F. Holmes, William Robertson and William Caldwell.
- 1822 – In September, a whale (42 feet 8 inches in length, 6 feet across the back, and 7 feet deep) found its way up the Saint Lawrence River, till nearly opposite the city, where it continuate to play for several days, not being able, from the shallowness of the water, to navigate its way down the river.
- 1824 – Recollet Convent opens as a school for Irish children.
- 1824 – First Saint Patrick's Day Parade organized on March 17.
- 1824 – Construction on the new Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal) begins, designed by famous New York architect James O'Donnell, an Irish Protestant.
- 1824 – Founding of the Medical Association of Montreal.
- 1825 – The Lachine Canal was finally opened, and new industries sprang up in the St. Antoine's ward area as a direct outcome of the resulting easier transport of goods. Shipping immediately increases and, along with the destruction of the city walls, Montreal comes to be an economic, rather than military, city. Gradually, the city's harbour facilities expanded. In 1830 the wharves were rudimentary and stretched for only a short distance along De la Commune Street. By 1848 the wharves were stone dressed and extended for over two miles along the riverfront.
- 1825 – Maison Joseph Dagenais built.
- 1825 – First permanent theatre building in Montreal, Theatre Royal, opened. It was built by John Molson to attract bigger names to the city, which lacked such a venue. It cost the magnate $30,000. The house was demolished in 1844 and the site was used for the Bonsecours Market. Another venue, also called Theatre Royal, was built not far away in Old Montreal; this building, too, no longer exists.
- 1826-37 and 1842-99 – La Minerve published.
- 1827 – Fleming windmill (13, avenue Strathyre) built.
- 1829 – Most of Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal) is now completed. Work continues for more than a decade on the two bell towers. A new skyline began to develop.
1830s
- 1830 – Maison Pierre Persillier dit Lachapelle built.
- 1830 – The Montreal harbour is officially incorporated.
- 1831 – Alexis de Tocqueville visited Montreal in August–September.
- 1831 – Dominique Mondelet (seigneur) was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Montreal County.
- 1832 – Charter of incorporation for the city of Montreal (27,000 inhabitants).
- 1832 – Exchange coffee house opened.
- 1832 – May 21 – Riot following a partial election: 3 death.
- 1832 – Thousands deaths by cholera in Montreal.
- 1832-34 – Sainte-Anne Market built.
- 1833 – Jacques Viger became the first mayor. He was elected mayor of Montreal by city councillors.
- 1833 – Coat of arms of Montreal adopted.
- 1833 – February 6 – General Fast to mark the removal of Cholera morbus.
- 1833 – July 14 – first communion services at Erskine Church
- 1833 – August 18 – First Trans-Atlantic steamship SS Royal William steams from Pictou, Nova Scotia.
- 1834 – Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society founded on March 6.
- 1834 – August 1 – Slavery comes to an end in all British territories, including British North America.
- 1834 – Hungreds deaths by cholera in Montreal.
- 1835 – Founding of the loyalist Montreal Constitutional Association in January.
- 1835 – January – De la Gauchetière Street church opened (Erskine)
- 1836 – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal is form separate from the diocese of Quebec on May 13, 1836.
- 1836 – Montreal is lighted by the Montreal Gas Light Co.
- 1836 – On July 21, the first railway line in British North America connected La Prairie with Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
- 1836 – Pied-du-Courant Prison opened.
- 1837 – Lieu historique national de Sir George-Étienne Cartier built. In 1848, Cartier bought the house, where he lived until 1871. It was a hotel after 1871 and in 1973 the house was bought by the federal government.
- 1837 – Britain refuses to grant more home rule in Canada, which leads to the Rebellions of 1837.
- 1837 – On the November 6, a trifling skirmish between two political parties in the Place d'Armes led the way to Lower Canada Rebellion.
- 1837 – On December 5, martial law was declared in Montreal.
- 1837 – General suspension of business during the Lower Canada Rebellion.
- 1838 – Coal gas street lighting was introduced.
- 1838 – The Old Montreal Custom House is finished
- 1838 – The "Lord Sydenham" steamboat runs the Lachine Rapids.
- 1838 – Montreal rebel leader Robert Nelson read a declaration of independence to a crowd at Napierville in 1838.
- 1838 – November 3 – Second Rebellion in Canada.
- 1838 – December 13 – Sir John Colborne, Governor General, Messrs. Moffat, Stuart and Badgley go to England to represent British Canadian views.
- 1838 – December 21 – Execution of the rebels Joseph-Narcisse Cardinal and Joseph Duquet, at Pied-du-Courant Prison.
- 1839 – February 15 – Chevalier DeLorimer, Charles Hindelang, and others who joined the Rebellion are executed at Pied-du-Courant Prison.
- 1839 – June 24 – Last meeting of the Committee of Trade, forerunner of the Montreal Board of Trade.
- 1839 – September 26 – Canadian rebels are transported to New South Wales, Canada.
- 1839 – October 19 – Hon. C. Thompson, Governor of Upper and Lower Canada, arrives. It is determined that Upper and Lower Canada shall share revenue in the ratio of 2 to 3.
- 1830s – Montreal population surpassed Quebec City population.
1840s
- 1840 – Grand séminaire de Montréal founded by Sulpicians.
- 1840 – The Sulpicians surrender their seigneurial rights to Montreal Island.
- 1840 – Peter McGill elected mayor of Montreal.
- 1840 – Exports from Montreal $419,281.
- 1840 – The Act of Union combines Lower Canada and Upper Canada.
- 1840 – April 6 – First meeting to organize the new Board of Trade, Montreal; Hon. Peter McGill in the chair. A committee is named to secure incorporation. Austin Cuvillier is the chairman and James Holmes the secretary at $100 per annum for services, room, fuel and lights.
- 1840 – August 19 – Lachine Rapids first navigated in a steamboat.
- 1841 – Lower Canada becomes Canada East.
- 1841 – January – Provisional Directors of the Mercantile Library Association, Montreal, elected.
- 1841 – There are now at least 6,500 Irish Catholics in Montreal. Most of the immigrants to Montreal settle in Griffintown, particularly in the area west of McGill Street (Montreal). In this district, the area between the Lachine Railroad and the Lachine Canal becomes a slum.
- 1841 – West Bell Tower of Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal), called "Perserverance" and housing the 10,900 kg bell "Le Gros Bourdon" / "Jean-Baptiste", completed.
- 1842 – March 19 – The incorporation of the Montreal Board of Trade is proclaimed.
- 1842 – Geological Survey of Canada formed.
- 1842 – In May, Charles Dickens appeared at Theatre Royal, in Montreal, surrounded by local talent. While Dickens was in Montreal he produced, directed and acted in three plays.
- 1843 – A Museum of the Geological Survey is begun at Montreal.
- 1843 – The Cornwall Canal and the Chambly Canal are opened.
- 1843 – Survey of the Boundary between the U.S. and Canada is begun.
- 1843 – Service de police de la Ville de Montréal established on Mars 15.
- 1843 – Joseph Bourret is elected Mayor of Montreal.
- 1843 – June 12 – Lord Metcalfe comes to Montreal.
- 1843 – The first labour strike in Canada occurs. The Lachine Canal was widened in the 1840s under conditions of bitter conflict between contractors and Irish labourers. Working 16 hours a day for low wages, labourers were paid in company scrip that could only be exchanged in company stores.
- 1843 – After completion of the East Bell Tower of Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal), called "Temperence" and housing a ten-bell carillon, Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal) finally finished.
- 1843 – Superior Joseph-Vincent Quiblier authorizes construction of St. Patrick's Church for the city's English-speaking Roman Catholics. Pierre Louis Morin designs this church with the help of the Jesuit Félix Martin.
- 1843 – Foundation of the religious congregation of the Sisters of Providence by Émelie Gamelin.
- 1843 – Foundation of the religious congregation Saints-Noms-de-Jésus-et-de-Marie.
- 1844 – The Mercantile Library Association purchases the "Montreal Library".
- 1844 – Government moves from Kingston to Montreal.
- 1844 – Institut canadien de Montréal founded on December 17.
- 1845 – The Mechanics Institute, Montreal is incorporated
- 1844 – The seat of the government of Canada East and Canada West was moved from Kingston to Montreal.
- 1844 – Église Sainte-Geneviève (Montréal) completed.
- 1845 – James Ferrier is Mayor of Montreal.
- 1845 – Opening of the Canadian Baptist College
- 1845 – Ottawa Hotel, Montreal built.
- 1845 – Morgan's opened.
- 1846 – Creation of the village of Côte-Saint-Louis on September 14.
- 1846 – Foundation of the Montreal City and District Savings Bank, now known as the Laurentian Bank.
- 1847 – The Montreal Telegraph Company founded. In 1850, the year prior to Hugh Allan's presidency, Montreal Telegraph Co operated merely 500 miles of line, all in the province of Canada.
- 1847 – Telegraph service between Montreal and Toronto, between Montreal and Quebec City, and between Montreal and New York City established.
- 1847 – Bonsecours Market opened. It housed City Hall between 1852 and 1878.
- 1847 – The first Bonaventure Station was built on Saint Jacques Street as the main terminal for railway from Montreal to Lachine.
- 1847 – The railway from Montreal to Lachine is opened.
- 1847-48 – Thousands of Irish immigrants died from disease at Goose Village, Montreal.
- 1847 – Desbarats & Derbyshire (Georges-Édouard Desbarats and Stewart Derbyshire) start a glass factory at Vaudreuil.
- 1847 – January 30 – Lord Elgin, Governor, arrives at Montreal.
- 1847 – The first mass was celebrated in the St. Patrick's Basilica on St. Patrick's Day, March 17.
- 1847 – September 1 – Lord Elgin visits the immigrant sheds at Pointe-Saint-Charles.
- 1847 – October 23 – 65 immigrants die in a week at Pointe-Saint-Charles.
- 1847 – November 1–9, 634 deaths of immigrants since January 1.
- 1847 – November – Death of John Easton Mills, mayor of Montreal
- 1847 – Bank of Montreal Head Office, Montreal built.
- 1847 – Arrived of Brother of Saint-Viateur in Montreal.
- 1847 – Formation of the Montreal Society of Artists.
- 1847 – Cégep de Saint-Laurent established.
- 1847-48 – Between 3,500 and 6,000 Irish immigrants die of typhus at Windmill Point in Pointe-Saint-Charles, across the canal from Griffintown.
- 1848 – January 2 – Wellington and Commissioners streets flooded.
- 1848 – June – Emulating the "Lord Sydenham's" success in 1838, several steamboats run the Lachine Rapids.
- 1848 – July 5 – Run on the Savings Bank, Montreal, followed by re-deposit.
- 1848 – August – Abraham de Sola becomes Professor of Hebrew at McGill University; Henry Aspinwall Howe becomes Rector of the High School
- 1848 – September 20 – Opening of the Jesuits' College in Montreal
- 1848 – December 22 – Close of navigation to Montreal
- 1848 – Montreal's road bill is $26,950
- 1848 – Creation of the Lachine village.
- 1848 – Foundation of the religious congregation of Sisters of Mercy.
- 1848 – Domtar founded.
- 1849 – Burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal.
- 1849 – Beauharnois Canal is opened.
- 1849 – Road expenditure of Montreal is $14,054
- 1849 – Édouard-Raymond Fabre is Mayor of Montreal.
- 1849 – April 25 – For sanctioning the Rebellion Losses Bill, Lord Elgin is mobbed and the Parliament House in Montreal is burned. Parliament will now sit alternately in Quebec and Toronto.
- 1849 – August – Montreal Annexation Manifesto published; it is opposed in Toronto.
- 1849 – December 9 – Close of navigation from Montreal.
- 1849 – Rebellion Losses Bill.
- 1849 – The Bar of Montreal became an independent corporation through the Act to incorporate the Bar of Lower Canada.
1850s
- 1850 – The population of Montreal reaches 50,000.
- 1850 – Anglican Diocese of Montreal established.
- 1850 – Riots, extensive fires and general depression
- 1850 – Montreal's road expenditure $10,631 – least in 23 years
- 1850 – Opening of the Ann Street School
- 1850 – Value of Montreal's trade $1,793,695.
- 1850 – March 21 – First meeting of the Mount Royal Cemetery Company.
- 1850 – March 21 – Opening of Navigation to Montreal.
- 1850 – Begins of St. Lawrence dredging to allow oceanic boat getting to Montreal.
- 1851 – Grand Trunk Railway Company formed.
- 1851 – Population of Montreal 57,715.
- 1851 – Charles Wilson, Mayor of Montreal, elected by the Council.
- 1851 – Hon. James Morris is the first Canadian Post-Master General.
- 1851 – July – The bloomer costume appears in Montreal.
- 1851 – November 19 – First YMCA on the continent opened in Montreal.
- 1851 – December 6 – Close of Navigation to Montreal
- 1851-53 – Église Saint-Pierre-Apôtre de Montréal built.
- 1852 – Charles Wilson (Canadian politician) became the first elected mayor.
- 1852 – Laval University is opened.
- 1852 – Institut canadien de Montréal (founded 1844) is incorporated.
- 1852 – Hon. Charles Wilson is re-elected Mayor of Montreal
- 1852 – Opening of the Panet Street School
- 1852 – February – The Mount Royal Cemetery Company buys grounds.
- 1852 – April 28 – Opening of navigation to Montreal
- 1852 – July 8 – Beginning of Great Fire of 1852, which burns 11,000 houses in Montreal; 20% of the east city is devastated.
- 1852 – October – The Bank of Montreal issue's notes like England's – denomination watermarked
- 1852 – December 21 – Close of navigation at Montreal
- 1852 – December – In one day the sum of $5,000 is raised for a Merchants' Exchange in Montreal.
- 1853 – The first screw steamer, up the Saint Lawrence River, arrives from Liverpool. Canadian Steam Navigation Company run regular services from Liverpool and Glasgow to Quebec City and Montreal, twice a month in summer and once a month in winter.
- 1853 – Hon. C. Wilson is the last Mayor the Council of Montreal elect.
- 1853 – The Montreal Board of Trade disfavour Caughnawaga, for the Saint Lawrence River terminus of a canal from Lake Champlain.
- 1853 – April 18 – Opening of Navigation at Montreal.
- 1853 – May 23 – First charter for steamers from Montreal to Great Britain.
- 1853 – June 9 – Alessandro Gavazzi repeated his diatribe at Montreal's First Congregational Church (Zion Church). Riots kill 40 people.
- 1853 – June 18 – The Grand Trunk Railway opened to Portland. Portland became the primary ice-free winter seaport for Canadian exports upon completion of the Grand Trunk Railway to Montreal.
- 1853 – July 22 – Pier No.1, of the Victoria Bridge, is begun.
- 1853 – October 8 – William Molson Bank opens in Montreal, under the Free Banking Act.
- 1853 – Canal de l'Aqueduc built.
- 1853 – Notre-Dame-de-Grâce built.
- 1854 – Villa Maria founded.
- 1854 – Reciprocity between Canada and the U.S. is adopted
- 1854 – Wolfred Nelson is the first Mayor the people of Montreal elect.
- 1854 – Institut canadien de Montréal enters its new building.
- 1854 – March – 2,000 miles of Railway under contract in Canada.
- 1854 – April 25 – Opening of navigation to Montreal.
- 1854 – May – The new Montreal Post Office to have six delivery wickets.
- 1854 – May 11 – First arrival from sea, at Montreal
- 1854 – July – Six Nation Indians offer to fight the Queen's enemies anywhere
- 1854 – July 20 – The first stone of the Victoria Bridge, across the St. Lawrence, is laid.
- 1854 – August 1 – Messrs. Dorion, Holton, and Young are declared elected for Montreal.
- 1854 – August 2 – First coffer-dam of Victoria Bridge ready for masonry.
- 1854 – October 16 – Twenty-one vessels in port at Montreal.
- 1854 – December 2 – Close of Navigation from Montreal.
- 1854 – Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery opened.
- 1854 – St. Ann's Church is consecrated, becoming the centre of Griffintown life; it opens on December 8 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) and was designed by John Ostell. The Sulpicians donated the land for the church and provided the Irish-born pastors: Father Michael O'Brien, Father Michael O'Farrell and Father James Hogan (priest 1867–1884). Some residents of Griffintown claimed that St. Ann's ("down the hill") was actually more of a center for the Irish in Montreal than St. Patrick's Basilica, Montreal's ("up the hill") was, since most of the city's Irish lived in Griffintown.
- 1854 – Cholera kills more than 1,000 citizens.
- 1854 – Canada Steamship Lines Inc. established.
- 1855 – The Redpath Sugar Refinery starts.
- 1855 – The Mechanics' Institute building, Montreal, is opened.
- 1855 – The Post Office at Montreal is completed.
- 1855 – Sir Edmund Walker Head is Governor of B.N.A.
- 1855 – Hugh Allan and Andrew Allen establish the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company, with four steamships fortnightly.
- 1855 – April – Petition for a fixed seat in Parliament is signed.
- 1855 – April 19 – Bank of Montreal's stock to be increased to $2,000,000.
- 1855 – April 27 – Opening of navigation at Montreal.
- 1855 – May 19 The Molson Bank is incorporated.
- 1855 – October 1 – The Molson Bank began business.
- 1855 – October 19 – G.T. Railway open to Brockville.
- 1855 – November 25 – Last clearance from Montreal, for the sea.
- 1855 – December 3 – Navigation closes at Montreal
- 1856 – The citizens of Montreal elect Henry Starnes Mayor.
- 1856 – Montreal's Water Works made ready for use
- 1856 – The Allan's four steamships, between Montreal and Liverpool bring 3,031 passengers, Westward (average voyage 13 days).
- 1856 – April 24 – Navigation opens to Montreal
- 1856 – June 9 – Twenty-six vessels in port at Montreal
- 1856 – September 16 – Balloon ascension from Griffintown, in the "Canada"
- 1856 – The Grand Trunk Railway commenced through passenger service between Montreal and Toronto on October 27 with great celebrations being held in Kingston to celebrate this accomplishment. The first passenger train left Toronto and travelled to Montreal in 14 hours.
- 1856 – November 24 – Last clearance from Montreal for the season
- 1856 – December 3 – Close of navigation from Montreal
- 1856 – December 10 – Burning of Christ Church Cathedral (Montreal).
- 1856 – Montreal Lacrosse Club established.
- 1856 – The Old Montreal Courthouse, now known as the Lucien-Saulnier Building, designed by John Ostell was inaugurated.
- 1856 – Photographer William Notman opens his business in Montreal.
- 1857 – April 18 – Opening of navigation at Montreal
- 1857 – June 13–26 ocean steamships at Montreal today
- 1857 – June 26 – Fire on board the steamer "Montreal" en route from Quebec to Montreal – 253 lives lost, including Stephen C. Phillips.
- 1857 – Opening of the Saint-James club on July 14; still the oldest private club of Montreal.
- 1857 – September 7 – 500 of the 39th Regiment leave Montreal, possibly for the Crimea.
- 1857 – December 13 – Close of navigation in the Old Port of Montreal.
- 1857 – Saint-Enfant-Jésus du Mile-End Church completed.
- 1857 – The lower part of Griffintown entirely submerged by river flooding.
- 1857 – An economic slump provoked numerous bankruptcies.
- 1857–2000 – Seagram operated. The former Seagram headquarters in Montreal now belongs to McGill University under the name Martlet House.
- 1858 – Formation of the Royal Canadian Regiment.
- 1858 – The Natural History Society's Building in Montreal is completed
- 1858 – The Merchants' Exchange Building in Montreal is finished
- 1858 – C.S. Rodier is elected Mayor of Montreal.
- 1858 – January 5 – J.J.C. Abbott buys the Montreal Bytown and Prescott Railway for $5,300
- 1858 – January 27 – The Queen names Ottawa the seat of the Government
- 1858 – January 28 – Dorcas Society of the United Presbyterian Church is founded.
- 1858 – February 6 – Reports upon site for Christ Church Cathedral.
- 1858 – February 20 – In Griffintown, beds stand in three feet of water
- 1858 – January 30 – First ship from sea in port of Montreal
- 1858 – November 20 – The last ship leaves Montreal for the sea.
- 1858 – A group of 158 members left the Institut canadien de Montréal to found the Institut Canadien-français de Montréal, which opted to obey the doctrine of the Catholic clergy and did not lend books judged immoral by it.
- 1858 – Cathédrale Saint-Jacques (UQAM) built.
- 1858 – Édifice Edmonstone, Allan & Co. built.
- 1858 – Riots and street fights run rampant through Griffintown on election day when D'Arcy McGee is chosen to represent the Montreal West riding, including Griffintown, in the federal government.
- 1859 – Mgr Ignace Bourget condemned the Institut canadien de Montréal, excommunicating its members, and on July 7, 1869, Rome added the institute's Annuaire for the year 1868 to the Catholic Church's Index of prohibited books.
- 1859 – Montreal real estate assessed, $26,812,290; revenue $286,252.
- 1859 – Montreal O.S.S. Co. bring 1,882 cabin and 2,941 steerage passengers.
- 1859 – April 4 – Opening of Navigation at Montreal.
- 1859 – December 11 – Close of Navigation from Montreal.
- 1859 – December 12 – The Victoria Bridge opened.
- 1859 – December 17 – The first passenger train passes through the Victoria Bridge.
- 1859 – The Black Rock is erected by canal workers on Bridge St. to honour the Windmill Point victims.
- 1859 – Foundation of the National Bank of Canada.
1860s
- 1860 – Victoria Square, Montreal opened.
- 1860 – Maison Boucher built.
- 1860 – Montreal's real estate valued $27,649,550; revenue $316,323
- 1860 – 240 ocean ships of 118,216 tons burthen trade to Montreal
- 1860 – February 20 – The wreck of the Allan Line steamship SS Hungarian with a number of Montrealers on board.
- 1860 – April – Hon. Alexander Tilloch Galt's proposed Bank of Issue excites interest.
- 1860 – April 10 – Opening of navigation at Montreal
- 1860 – Formation of the Art Association of Montreal on April 23. It assumed its present name, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, in 1948–49.
- 1860 – May – Crystal Palace built for the Montreal Industrial Exhibition of 1860.
- 1860 – August 25 – The Prince of Wales visits Montreal. The Prince holds a reception in Hon. Alexander Tilloch Galt's mansion at Sherbrooke.
- 1860 – August 25 – Opening of the Victoria Railway Bridge.
- 1860 – September 28 – Death of Hon. Peter McGill.
- 1860 – November 27 – Opening of the Christ Church Cathedral (Montreal).
- 1860 – December 7 – Close of navigation in Montreal.
- 1861 – Population of Montreal city is now 90,323 inhabitants.
- 1861 – The street horsecar is introduced as public transportation on 27 November. It was operated by Montreal City Passenger Railway Company 1861–1886.
- 1861 – Griffintown again flooded.
- 1861 – Population of Montreal, with suburbs 101,602; of the city only, 91,169.; Montreal's increase in 30 years – 76%.
- 1861 – January – British troops ordered to Canada.
- 1861 – January 18 – A meeting in Montreal, respecting extradition of John Anderson, a slave charged with murder, is addressed by Hon. Messrs. Dorion, Drummond and Holton, Revds. W. Bond, Cordner, Benjamin Holmes and John Dougall, Esqrs., and Dr. Hingston, and opposes surrender.
- 1861 – February – John Anderson not to be surrendered, without instructions from England.
- 1861 – American Civil War begins in April.
- 1861 – April 15 – Great inundation at Montreal.
- 1861 – April 24 – Opening of navigation to Montreal.
- 1861 – June 13 – Prince Alfred arrives in Montreal.
- 1861 – June – John Anderson (escaped slave) reaches England.
- 1861 – June 6 – Formation of the Canada Presbyterian Church by fusion of the Free Church and the United Presbyterian body.
- 1861 – July – Montreal's M.P.P.s are Messrs. McGee, Rose and Cartier.
- 1861 – December – Six steamers chartered to bring troops to Canada.
- 1861 – December 22 – Close of navigation from Montreal.
- 1861 – St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church (Montreal) founded.
- 1861 – The village of Saint-Jean-Baptist separates from the village of Côte-Saint-Louis on January 5.
- 1862 – Numismatic and Antiquarian Society formed at Montreal.
- 1862 – Jean-Louis Beaudry is elected Mayor.
- 1862 – The Montreal Corn Exchange Association is organized.
- 1862 – Montreal Sailor's Institute founded.
- 1862 – Ocean steamers trading to Montreal have increased from 5,545 tons in 1854, to 62,912; other ocean vessels from 58,416 to 195,348 tons.
- 1862 – January – Military companies organizing throughout Canada.
- 1862 – January 4 – Victoria Bridge is guarded tonight, to prevent its destruction, threatened from the USA.
- 1862 – January – Lord Monck expects Canadians to wear mourning for Price Albert who died December 14.
- 1862 – April 2 – By-law to establish a Montreal Fire Department.
- 1862 – April 5 – Opening of navigation.
- 1862 – April 28 – The "Shandon" reaches Montreal.
- 1862 – May 20 – The Montreal Water Works are commenced.
- 1862 – May 24 – Ministry gazetted: Hon. J.S. MacDonald, L.V. Sicotte, J. Morris, A.A. Dorion, M.H. Foley, W. McDougall, W.P. Howland, N.J. Tessier, T.D. McGee, F. Evanturel, A. Wilson and J.J.C. Abbott, Q.C., solicitor general for Lower Canada
- 1862 – August 28 – Burial at St. Andrew's, of Simon Fraser, discoverer of the Fraser River.
- 1862 – December 7 – Close of navigation from Montreal
- 1863 – Bounties for USA recruits and substitutes often reach $2,000, inducing kidnapping and contraventions of the British Foreign Enlistment Act, for which heavy bail is exacted. The bonds are estreated, with profit to the Canadian Treasury.
- 1863 – Shipbuilding at Montreal $150,000 in value.
- 1863 – For 16 yrs Montreal's harbour has been open an average of 238 days: shortest season 224, longest 252 days.
- 1863 – A report on the Ottawa and French River Project shows, Chicago to Liverpool, 760 miles less, by Montreal, than by New York.
- 1863 – The Montreal Corn Exchange is incorporated. – T. Cramp, President, H. Lyman, Vice President, and D.A.P. Watt, Treasurer of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.
- 1863 – Daily capacity of Montreal's water-works increased from 5 to 9 million gallons by a new turbine wheel.
- 1863 – Eight floating elevators at Montreal discharge hourly 24,000 bushels
- 1863 – Houses built this year in Montreal – 736; in 8 years – 4,014.
- 1863 – Montreal's real estate assessed at $34,832,930; revenue $406,532.
- 1863 – Fire Alarm established on January 19.
- 1863 – April 25 – Opening of navigation to Montreal
- 1863 – May 12 – Protestant House of Refuge in Montreal incorporated.
- 1863 – June 13 – Eighty-six vessels in port at Montreal
- 1863 – November 20 – Death of Lord Elgin, formerly Governor of Canada.
- 1863 – December 12 – Close of navigation from Montreal.
- 1863 – Art Association of Montreal, a pioneer Canadian society of artists and art collectors, incorporated.
- 1864 – Buildings erected in Montreal – 1,019.
- 1864 – Since 1840 Montreal has expended $1,724,502 on roads.
- 1864 – The Montreal City Passenger Railway Company has 10 miles of track, $240,000 paid capital and carries 1,485,725 passengers at 5 cents each.
- 1864 – Power derived from the Lachine Canal only 5.124 horse power. It is estimated that nearly a thousand times that power runs to waste at Lachine Rapids.
- 1864 – Ocean-going vessels at Montreal at one time – 82.
- 1864 – Gold medals named after Anne Molson, Shakespeare and Sir William Edmond Logan are founded as prizes for McGill College students.
- 1864 – The Montreal Ocean Steamship Line brings 10,425 passengers from Europe, in an average trip of 12 days and 19 hours.
- 1864 – April 13 – Navigation opens at Montreal
- 1864 – April 21 – In a published letter T.D. McGee says of Fenianism:- "Even the threat of assassination, covertly conveyed, and so eminently in keeping with the entire humbug, has no terrors for me. I trust I shall outlive these threats.
- 1864 – St. James the Apostle Anglican Church was first opened for worship in May.
- 1864 – June 9 – Absorption of short railways declared dangerous to trade.
- 1864 – June 28 – repeal of the U.S. Fugitive Slave Act.
- 1864 – September – Confederation under discussion; some prefer Union, as tending to community of sentiment.
- 1864 – September 21 – Six companies of Scots Fusilier Guards leave Montreal. Present: Col Dyde, Col. Routh, Major Heward, Major Lyman, and Brigade Major McPherson.
- 1864 – In October, delegates from across British North America developed the terms for Confederation at a three-week conference in Quebec City. After the Quebec Conference, there remained the task of selling Confederation to the citizens.
- 1864 – October – C.J. Brydges passes Confederation delegates over the Grand Trunk Railway.
- 1864 – October 29 – Photographer John G. Parks opens his business in Montreal.
- 1864 – November 10 – Continued examination of raiders at Montreal.
- 1864 – November 30 – Hon. Alexander Tilloch Galt addresses his constituents on Confederation.
- 1864 – December – Mr. Hodges, who helped to build Victoria Bridge is pressing Bulstrode peat into bricks, which burn well.
- 1864 – December – Close of navigation at Montreal.
- 1864 – A committee of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York favours continued reciprocity because it has increased trade to $300,000,000 since 1854. They desire free navigation of the Saint Lawrence River and Great Lakes.
- 1865 – Canadian Banks can now stipulate any rate of interest.
- 1865 – The Parliament of Upper Canada and Lower Canada favors Confederation.
- 1865 – Increased intercolonial trade is expected to follow Reciprocity, as it is, this year, over half a million less than in the year before the treaty.
- 1865 – The Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada is Incorporated.
- 1865 – The Montreal Board of Trade Building erected in 1855 is burned.
- 1865 – William Robb (1836–1915), future treasurer of Montreal enters Montreal's employ.
- 1865 – The Elizabeth Torrance Gold medal for McGill University students is founded.
- 1865 – April 10 – Opening of navigation at Montreal.
- 1865 – July 11–14 – Convention at Detroit to promote a new Reciprocity treaty. Montrealers attend, but only to give desired information. The Convention passes resolutions favouring a new Reciprocity treaty.
- 1865 – September 27 – Delegation to Montreal to form an Intercolonial Board of Trade.
- 1865 – December 3 – Church of the Gesu opened. It was built and designed by Irish architect Patrick Keely.
- 1865 – December 16 – Close of navigation at Montreal.
- 1866–1966 – Montreal Technoparc was used as a landfill and dumpsite from 1866 until 1966, and then was paved to serve as a parking lot for Expo 67.
- 1866 – The Montreal Ocean S.S. Co.'s 9 steam-ships are of 20,152 tons register.
- 1866 – The International Bank and the Bank of Upper Canada disappear from official returns. The Union Bank and the Mechanics Bank is listed.
- 1866 – The U.S. dollar is worth 96 cents.
- 1866 – Molson Bank Building, Montreal built.
- 1866 – Tonnage trading to Montreal – 199,053.
- 1866 – The tax-payerselect Henry Starnes to be Mayor of Montreal.
- 1866 – The Montreal Glass Co., at Hudson, makes chimneys, bottles and insulators.
- 1866 – British and Canadian School is transferred to the Protestant School Board
- 1866 – March 13 – The Prince of Wales Regiment and Battery of Artillery leave Montreal to repel Fenian invaders.
- 1866 – March 17 – The Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty terminates
- 1866 – April 18 – Opening of navigation at Montreal.
- 1866 – April 29 – The second building of Erskine Church is opened at the corner of Peel Street and Saint Catherine Street
- 1866 – July 18 – The 47th Regiment reaches Montreal from Kingston.
- 1866 – October 30 – Dinner for Sir Georges Cartier at Montreal.
- 1866 – Ogilvy (Montreal) founded.
- 1866 – First successful transatlantic telegraph cable is laid.
- 1867 – Canada East becomes the Province of Quebec.
- 1867 – The Montreal Presbyterian College is organized and lectures are started at Erskine Church.
- 1867 – The Canadian Bank of Commerce is listed.
- 1867 – The Commercial Bank incorporated with the Merchants Bank.
- 1867 – January 11 – Fenians sentenced at Toronto.
- 1867 – March – Cornerstone of St. Patrick's Hall, Montreal, laid
- 1867 – March 29 – The B.N.A. Act to confederate the Provinces passes the British Imperial Parliament.
- 1867 – April 22 – Late opening of navigation at Montreal
- 1867 – July 1 – The Dominion of Canada is formed by the confederation of several provinces.
- 1867 – August 1 – The 25th Regiment leaves Montreal.
- 1867 – September 3 – The 69th Regiment arrives in Montreal.
- 1867 – November 4 – Parish Church, Montreal, struck by lightning.
- 1867 – November 6 – The Parliament of the Dominion first meets.
- 1867 – November 18 – Sir John Rose becomes Minister of Finance.
- 1867 – December 6 – Close of navigation at Montreal.
- 1867 – Quebec Liberal Party founded on July 1.
- 1867 – Creation of the Saint-Henri parish starting from the territory of Notre-Dame de Gâce parish.
- 1868 – Thomas D'Arcy McGee was assassinated by pistol shot in April. He was given a state funeral in Ottawa and interred in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges. Patrick J. Whelan, a Fenian sympathizer, was accused, tried, convicted, and hanged for the crime.
- 1868 – Burial of Thomas D'Arcy McGee on April 13.
- 1868 – September 11 – His Lordship Bishop Fulford, the first Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Montreal, died at his residence after a painful illness, and was buried in Mount Royal Cemetery.
- 1869 – First Transcontinental Railroad completed on May 10.
- 1869 – Red River Rebellion.
- 1869 – Eaton's founded.
- 1869 – Ignace Bourget refused to let Henrietta Brown, widow of typographer Louis-Joseph Guibord (1809–1869), bury her husband's remains in the Côte-des-Neiges Catholic cemetery because he was a member of the Institut canadien de Montréal. Henrietta Brown's lawyer, Joseph Doutre, also member of the Institut canadien de Montréal, ultimately won his case before the Privy Council on November 28, 1872. (See: Guibord case.)
- 1869 – Collège Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur established.
- 1869-83 – Canadian Illustrated News published.
- 1869 – Montreal Star founded.
1870s
- 1870 – Second Fenian Raid
- 1870 – Édifice Merchant's Bank built.
- 1870 – Édifice de la Great Scottish Life Insurance built.
- 1870 – The Shamrock Lacrosse Club wins a game played against the Indians of Caughnawaga. Father Hogan, pastor of St. Patrick's Basilica, Montreal, is leader of the Shamrock Lacrosse Club.
- 1870 – Launch of Montrealers Journal: Opinion Publique, by Laurent-Olivier David.
- 1870 – The village of Lachine becomes the town of Lachine.
- 1871 – Population of Montreal city is now 107,225 inhabitants.
- 1871 – Foundation of Sun Life by Matthew Hamilton Gault.
- 1871 – Visit of the Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia in December. At Montreal, he had breakfast with the mayor of the city, and then visited Lachine.
- 1872 – Montreal Exchange created.
- 1872 – Montreal Royals founded.
- 1872-78 – Montreal City Hall.
- 1872 – November 21 the ceremony of formally presenting to the city the statue of Queen Victoria in Victoria Square was performed by Lord Dufferin, the Governor-General.
- 1872 – Victoria Memorial (Montreal) unveiled on November 21.
- 1873 – Sir George-Étienne Cartier died in London, and his funeral in Montreal was the largest ever seen in the city. The expenses of his obsequies were borne by the Dominion Government.
- 1873 – École Polytechnique de Montréal founded.
- 1873-82 – Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal built.
- 1874 – May – YWCA organized in Montreal.
- 1874 – Édifice des Commissaires built.
- 1874 – Saint Helen's Island became a park in vogue.
- 1874 – Shaughnessy House built for Duncan McIntyre by architect William T. Thomas. McIntyre sold it to William Van Horne who in turn sold it to Thomas Shaughnessy The house was declared a national historic site in 1974 and is now part of the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Shaughnessy Village was named for Shaughnessy House.
- 1874-78 – The Harbour Commission Building constructed.
- 1875 – Creation of the town Saint-Henri.
- 1875 – The village of Outremont separates from the village of Côte-Saint-Louis.
- 1875 – September 2 – The Guibord case occasions some ill feeling in Montreal, but by the energetic action of Dr. William Hales Hingston, the Mayor, all passed off without any actual disturbance. Louis-Joseph Guibord corpse taken back to Protestant cemetery.
- 1875 – Hockey, the game known today, is first played in Montreal in 1875, according to rules devised by James George Aylwin Creighton, a McGill University student.
- 1875 – Municipality of Verdun is created, detached from the parish of Notre-Dame of Montreal.
- 1875 – June 15 – Formation of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
- 1875 – Montreal Academy of Music inaugurated.
- 1875 – Montreal and New York City are now linked by train.
- 1875 – Burial of Louis-Joseph Guibord finally accomplished under an armed military escort on November 16.
- 1876 – Dorchester Square opened.
- 1876 – Place du Canada opened.
- 1876 – Inauguration of the Mount Royal Park on May 24.
- 1876 – Maison Racine built.
- 1876 – Maison Fortin built.
- 1877 – Montreal Victorias founded.
- 1877 – Thomas George Roddick introduced Lister's antiseptic methods to the Montreal General Hospital.
- 1877 – The first telephone conversation with Quebec.
- 1878 – Université de Montréal is established.
- 1878 – Windsor Hotel completed.
- 1876 – Mount Royal Park opened.
- 1878 – St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church (Montreal) built.
- 1878 – Foundation of the Royal Golf Club of Montreal.
- 1878 – The village Saint-Louis of the End Mile separates from the village of Côte-Saint-Louis on March 9.
- 1879 – Mary Gallagher of Griffintown was murdered by jealous rival Susan Kennedy on June 27. It was a sensational story. In Victorian times women were regarded as gentle, submissive creatures, and the press had a field day. It's said Gallagher's ghost returns every seven years to haunt the neighbourhood. Kennedy was convicted and sentenced to be hanged on Dec. 5, 1879, but the sentence was commuted and Kennedy was transferred to the Kingston Penitentiary.
- 1879 – In a strange turn of events, Michael Flanagan who was cleared of all charges regarding the death of Mary Gallagher, was loading barges in the Wellington Bassin when he fell and drowned on December 5, the very same day Susan Kennedy was supposed to be hanged. He was interred at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery (section N, lot number 00764)
- 1879 – The Art Association of Montreal erected as the result of private generosity, an art gallery in Montreal.
- 1879 – Robillard Block built.
- 1879 – Printing of the first edition of the newspaper La Patrie by Honoré Beaugrand.
1880s
- 1880 – Bell Canada founded.
- 1881 – Douglas Hospital founded on July 19.
- 1881 – Population of Montreal city is around 140,700 inhabitants.
- 1881 – Montreal have the autorisation to open a branch of Laval University in Montreal.
- 1881 – Mark Twain remarked of Montreal that "this is the first time I was ever in a city where you couldn't throw a brick without breaking a church window"; Mark Twain visited Montreal in November.
- 1882 – Redpath Museum established.
- 1882 – Opening of the Montreal-Sorel railway.
- 1882 – Montreal had its first electric lighting.
- 1882 – The Canadian Pacific hires William Cornelius Van Horne as general manager with an annual salary of $50,000.
- 1883 – First Winter Carnival in Montreal.
- 1883–1985 – Montreal Locomotive Works operated.
- 1883-84 – Gare Dalhousie built.
- 1884–1933 – Montreal Hockey Club operated.
- 1884 – First print of the newspaper La Presse.
- 1884–1920 – Mount Royal Funicular Railway brought sightseers to Mont Royal peak.
- 1885 – The Small-pox epidemic in the summer.
- 1885 – Last Spike (Canadian Pacific Railway) on November 7. The last spike is driven by Donald Alexander Smith.
- 1885 – The Fraser-Hickson Library opened.
- 1885 – Saint-Joachim de Pointe-Claire completed.
- 1885 – A new Young Men's Society hall (community center) is built – it includes a gymnasium, recreation hall, metting hall, library and offices.
- 1885 – A Small Pox Epidemic kills 3,164 Montrealers (over 150,000 inhabitant).
- 1885-86 – Massive flooding and fires recorded in Griffintown.
- 1886 – First Trans Canada train departure on June 28.
- 1886 – On July 4, the first scheduled Canadian Pacific Railway transcontinental passenger train reached Vancouver, after travelling for five days, 19 hours. It was the first scheduled train to cross Canada from sea to sea.
- 1886 – Montreal Shamrocks founded.
- 1886 – Worst flooding recorded – also two major fires.
- 1886 – Dominion Bridge Company founded.
- 1886-95 – Montreal Crystals operated.
- 1887 – New York Life Insurance Building, Montreal erected.
- 1887–1889 – Windsor Station (Montreal) built.
- 1888 – Parc Lafontaine created.
- 1888 – The Mont-Saint-Louis College founded.
- 1888 – William Cornelius Van Horne becomes President of the Canadian Pacific.
- 1889 – Montreal Trust Company founded.
- 1889 – Saint James United Church (Montreal) built in June.
1890s
on June 20, 1897
- 1890 – In the hospital of the Kingston Penitentiary, Susan Kennedy who had been found guilty of murdering Mary Gallagher in 1879, dies on September 26.
- 1890 – Incorporation of Côte-Saint-Antoine.
- 1890 – Sanctuaire du Saint-Sacrement built.
- 1891 – Population of Montreal city is around 216,650 inhabitants.
- 1891-94 – Monument national built.
- 1892 – February 1 – The Hon. James McShane is re-elected Mayor of Montreal.
- 1892 – February 21 – Death of Ashton Oxenden, formerly Anglican Bishop of Montreal.
- 1892 – March 8 – The followers of Hon. Honoré Mercier are defeated at the Polls by large majorities. Montreal elects only Conservatives, Hon. J.S. Hall and Messrs. Martineau, Auge, Parizeau, Morris and Kennedy, with majorities from 132 to 2,307.
- 1892 – March 28 – Publication of the late J.W. Tempest's will, bequeathing the Art Association of Montreal about $80,000
- 1892 – April 2 – Secret Cleege Societies are condemned at the McGill Convocation.
- 1892 – April 3 – Following three incendiary fires, today Bonsecours Market is on fire. Loss $20,000 without insurance. Many fireman are, with difficulty, saved from suffocation.
- 1892 – Value of Canada's registered shipping $32,510,775
- 1892 – April 9 – Charles Glackmeyer (1820–1892), for 40 years Montreal's City Clerk (1859–1891), dies.
- 1892 – April 12 – Navigation at Montreal is 5 days earlier than last year
- 1892 – May 20 – Hon. John Smythe Hall reelectet in Quebec general election, 1892.
- 1892 – May 24 Hon. John Abbott, Prime Minister, Premier Oliver Mowat and Chief Justice Alexandre Lacoste are to be knighted
- 1892 – June 28- July 1 The Second Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire, held in London, England, at which Sir Donald A. Smith and Peter Redpath, Esq., represent the Montreal Board of Trade, while favouring closer commercial relations between the Mother Country and dependencies, regards preferential protection as impolitic and inconsistent with the principals of economy. The Congress favors an Imperial Commercial Code, higher commercial education, decimal money, common weights and measures, and penny postage through the Empire.
- 1892 – July – Sir Donald Smith desires the inauguration of the Royal Hospital (costing Lord Mount-Stephen and himself $1,000,000) to be a simple taking of possession by the lame and the sick, for whom it is intended.
- 1892 – July 4 Hon. Edward Blake reaches Ireland, of which he intends to represent a consituency in the British Imperial Parliament.
- 1892 – July 12 Cyrus West Field, projector of the transatlantic telegraph cable, dies.
- 1892 – July 19 Montreal grants thirty years' franchise to the Montreal Street Railway Company.
- 1892 – November 30 The Montreal Board of Trade protests against Civil Contracts without tenders.
- 1892 – December 16 Founding of the Montreal Women's Club.
- 1892 – December 30 – The ice-bridges to Montreal are being made passable.
- 1892 – December 31 – Montreal's past year expediture on roads was $959,866.79
- 1892 – December 31 – There have been 1,688 insolvencies with $13,766,191 of liabilities in Canada in twelve months.
- 1892 – The era of public transportation in Montreal began in 1892 with the inauguration of the electric tram. The trams constituted a very practical way to get from one end of the city to the other, especially for workers. They also made possible the development of new neighbourhoods, since workers could then live at some distance from their workplaces.
- 1892 – Baron de Hirsch Cemetery (Montreal) established.
- 1892 – First electric tramways.
- 1892 – Viauville established.
- 1893 – Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal established.
- 1893 – Redpath Library built.
- 1893 – Stanley Cup established.
- 1893 – The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association is the first Hockey team to win the newly donated Stanley Cup.
- 1893 – Schulich Library (one of the 13 branches of the McGill Library) built.
- 1893 – Jacques Cartier Monument unveiled.
- 1894 – Pioneers Monument Obelisk (Montreal) unveiled on May 17.
- 1894 – Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral consecrated.
- 1894 – The Montreal AAA win the Stanley Cup.
- 1894 – The name of Côte-Saint-Antoine is officially changed to Westmount.
- 1894 – Elizabeth Binmore is the first woman graduate of McGill University to obtain the degree of M.A.
- 1895 – Jean-Olivier Chénier Monument unveiled on April 24.
- 1895 – The Château Ramezay is turned into a museum.
- 1895 – The Montreal Victorias win the Stanley Cup in 1895, 1896, 1897 and 1898.
- 1895 – The Macdonald Monument in memory of John A. Macdonald was unveiled by Earl of Aberdeen, Governor General of Canada on June 6.
- 1895 – The Maisonneuve Monument in memory of Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, by artist Louis-Philippe Hébert, was opened on July 1 in the Place d'Armes square.
- 1895 – The village of Outremont becomes the town of Outremont.
- 1895 – Birth of the "École Littéraire de Montréal" (AKA Literary School of Montreal).
- 1895 – The village Saint-Louis of the End Mile becomes the town of Saint-Louis on November 21.
- 1895 – The prison governor's residence was built and named after Charles-Amédée-Vallée, the last governor of the Montreal prison.
- 1896 – Carmel de Montréal built.
- 1896 – Creation of the Villeray village on October 30.
- 1896 – Motion Pictures are first shown in Canada for the first time at the Palace Theatre at 972 St. Lawrence at Viger, on June 27.
- 1897 – Lion of Belfort (Montreal) unveiled on May 24.
- 1897 – A survey of living conditions is conducted by Mr. Herbert Brown Ames. He graphically points out the discrepancy in living conditions between wealthy areas of Montreal ('the upper city') and the areas inhabited by the working-class ('the city below the hill'): "The sanitary accommodation of 'the city below the hill' is a disgrace to any nineteenth century city on this or any other continent. I presume there is hardly a house in all the upper city without modern plumbing, and yet in the lower city not less than half the homes have indoor water-closet privileges. In Griffintown only one home in four is suitably equipped, beyond the canal (in Pointe-Saint-Charles) it is but little better. Our city by-law prohibits the erection of further out-door closets, but it contains no provision for eradicating those already in use. With sewers in almost every street, no excuse for permitting this state of affairs to continue now exists, except it lies in neglect and in greed."
- 1897 – Foundation of Builder' S Exchange, which became Montreal Association construction.
- 1897 – Paul Bruchési became bishop of Montreal.
- 1897 – Canadian Car and Foundry history goes back to 1897, but the main company was established in 1909 from an amalgamation of several companies and later became part of Hawker Siddeley Canada through the purchase of Avro Canada in the late 1950s.
- 1898 – Place Viger constructed.
- 1898 – Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal founded on June 1.
- 1898 – Montreal Arena opened on December 31.
- 1898 – London and Lancashire Life Building, Montreal completed.
- 1898–1903 – Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church built.
- 1899 – The Montreal Shamrocks win the Stanley Cup.
- 1899 – Incorporation of Loyola College on March 10.
- 1899 – October 30 – The First Canadian Contingent of the Boer Wars, sets sail to South Africa on the SS Sardinian, of the Allan Line, bearing Canada's initial quota of fighting men, including the men of "E Company" of Montreal.
- 1899 – In the afternoon of November 21, Montrealers saw the first car. At the wheel of this first steam-powered automobile was Ucal-Henri Dandurand, accompanied by the mayor Raymond Préfontaine. There they sat in the new machine, descending Côte du Beaver Hall without difficulty and climbing back up through the streets in the same fashion. The first car weighed between 500 and 600 pounds and reached the dizzying speed of 15 to 20 km per hour!
- 1899 – Édifice La Presse built.
- 1899 – CCM (hockey) founded.
- 1899 – Construction of a dam in the Old Port of Montreal: there will be no more flooding.
- 1900 – Re-election of Raymond Préfontaine to Montreal City Hall on February 1.
- 1900 – Desjardins Group founded.
- 1900 – The Montreal Shamrocks win the Stanley Cup.
20th century
- 1901 – Montreal Light, Heat & Power established.
- 1901 – Population of Montreal city is around 267,730 inhabitants.
- 1901 – The city counted 1033 men and 4 women in Chinese community. Clustered together along Saint Laurent Boulevard and De la Gauchetière Street, the Chinese establishments served as living quarters as well for the first Chinese and, from the end of the 19th century onwards, constituted a distinctive neighbourhood: Chinatown.
- 1901 – The Mount Royal Cemetery Company established the first crematorium in Canada.
- 1901-09 – Saint-Édouard Church built.
- 1901–1903 – Église Saint-Léon de Westmount built.
- 1902 – The Montreal AAA win the Stanley Cup.
- 1902 – Election of James Cochrane to Montreal City Hall on February 1.
- 1902 – Rio Tinto Alcan founded.
- 1903 – The Montreal Stock Exchange commissioned the architect George B. Post, to design its building on St. François-Xavier Street. Montreal Stock Exchange would occupy the building from 1904 to 1965. Today, the Centaur Theatre is in the building.
- 1903 – Monument to Ignace Bourget was unveiled in front of Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral on June 24. Sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert.
- 1903 – General strike by the trams employees of Montreal on February 6.
- 1903 – Ignace Bourget Monument unveiled on June 24.
- 1903 – The building of the Centre d'histoire de Montréal was erected.
- 1903 – Ancienne bibliothèque centrale completed.
- 1903 – Foundation of the Insurance Company "La sauvegarde".
- 1903 – Old Central Library opened.
- 1903 – CMC Electronics founded.
- 1904 – Montreal Children's Hospital founded.
- 1904 – CPR Angus Shops built.
- 1904 – Election of Hormidas Laporte to Montreal town hall on February 18.
- 1904 – During the federal election, Léo-Ernest Ouimet used his kinetoscope to project election results on to the front wall of the newspaper La Patrie.
- 1905 – The name Saint Laurent Boulevard was made official.
- 1905 – A bylaw made Saint Laurent Boulevard the dividing line between the city's eastern and western sections. Street numbers begin at Saint Lawrence River and continue outward, with street names being suffixed by Ouest (West) or Est (East), depending on their orientation.
- 1905 – Annexation Villeray village to Montreal city on September 11.
- 1905 – Annexation of Saint-Henri city to Montreal city on November 27.
- 1905 – Dominion Textile founded.
- 1906 – Opening of the first cinema in Montreal. Ouimetoscope inaugurated on January 1.
- 1906 – The Montreal Wanderers win the Stanley Cup.
- 1906 – Dominion Park opened.
- 1906 – First demonstration of a zeppelin in Montreal.
- 1906 – Bordeaux-Cartierville became a village.
- 1906 – The McGill Student Union Building opened. In 1965, it was decided that the old Student Union Building would be the new home of the McCord Museum.
- 1906 – Dominion Car and Foundry incorporated.
- 1906-09 – Old Canadian Bank of Commerce Building, Montreal built.
- 1907 – The village of Verdun becomes the town of Verdun on February 28.
- 1907 – Boer War Memorial unveiled on May 24.
- 1907 – Inauguration of Blue Bonnets Horse Race yard on June 14.
- 1907 – The Montreal Wanderers win the Stanley Cup.
- 1907 – Head Office of Royal Bank of Canada moved from Halifax to Montreal.
- 1907 – Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine founded.
- 1907 – Canadian Express built.
- 1907 – Davis House (later Purvis Hall) built for Mortimer Davis; arhitect Robert Findlay.
- 1907-12 – Ross and Macdonald operated.
- 1908 – Election of Louis Payette to Montreal City Hall on February 3.
- 1908 – The Montreal Wanderers win the Stanley Cup.
- 1908 – Bens De Luxe Delicatessen & Restaurant opened.
- 1908 – The statue of John Young was erected. It is the work of sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert.
- 1909 – March 17 Run-away Train crashes into Windsor Station (Montreal).
- 1909 – December 4 – Montreal Canadiens are founded
- 1909 – Jubilee Arena opened.
- 1909 – Jeanne Mance Monument unveiled on September 2.
- 1909 – Annexation of Saint-Louis city to Montreal city on November 31.
- 1909 – Canada Car Company merged with several other companies to form Canadian Car and Foundry.
- 1908-10 – Côte-des-Neiges annexed.
- 1909-56 – The Montreal and Southern Counties Railway was an interurban streetcar line that ran between Montreal and Granby.
1910s
- 1910 – Foundation of the newspaper Le Devoir on January 10.
- 1910 – Election of James J. Guerin to Montreal town hall on February 1.
- 1910 – The Montreal Wanderers win the Stanley Cup.
- 1910 – Maisonneuve Park established.
- 1910 – Ahuntsic annexed to Montreal.
- 1910 – Adoption of a bill allowing multiples annexations of suburb town of Montreal on June 4.
- 1910 – Côte-Saint-Paul merged into the city of Montreal at the same time as neighbouring Ville-Émard.
- 1910 – Great Eucharistic Congress in Montreal on September 6.
- 1911 – The McGill Daily founded.
- 1911 – SNC-Lavalin founded.
- 1911 – Église Saint-Viateur d'Outremont built.
- 1911 – Shaw and Décary buy in one day the grounds of the future town of Mount-Royal for Canadian National Railway.
- 1911 – SNC-Lavalin founded.
- 1911 – John Young Monument unveiled on October 4; it was built in 1908.
- 1912 – The Sulpicians open their library on Saint Denis Street.
- 1912 – Calvary Congregational Church and Bethlehem Congregational Church unite under the Calvary name.
- 1912 – Election of Louis-Arsène Lavallée to Montreal City Hall on February 1.
- 1912 – April 15 – The sinking of the steamship Titanic with a number of Montrealers on board.
- 1912 – September 3 – Jack Haney on "The first Trans-Canada Auto trip" (Halifax: August 27, 1912, to Victoria: October 17, 1912) arrives in Montreal.
- 1912 – December 31 – Ritz-Carlton Montreal opens.
- 1912 – Montreal Pool Room opened.
- 1912 – Saint Helen's Island Lighthouse built. It is located below the Fort de l'Île Sainte-Hélène at the west side of the island in Montreal harbor.
- 1912 – Montreal Museum of Fine Arts moved into its present home, a neoclassical building designed by Edward and W.S. Maxwell. A new wing opened in 1976.
- 1912 – Nesbitt, Thomson and Company founded.
- 1912-13 – Montreal Municipal Court built. It was opened in January 1914.
- 1912-14 – Maisonneuve Market is built. This Beaux-Arts building is the crowning achievement of well-known architect Marius Dufresne.
- 1912–2004 – J B Lefebvre operated.
- 1913 – May 29 – The sinking of the steamship Empress of Ireland with a number of Montrealers on board.
- 1913 – Establishment of a permanent troop of Yiddish theatre in Montreal.
- 1914 – Jewish Public Library (Montreal) founded.
- 1914 – Election of Médéric Martin to Montreal City Hall on April 6.
- 1914 – Maisonneuve Market was opened in September.
- 1914 – Saint-Sulpice Library built
- 1914 – The Edward VII Monument unveiled in the Phillips Square on October 1.
- 1914 – Foundation of the catholic working Federation of Montreal.
- 1915 – May 7 – The sinking of the RMS Lusitania with a number of Montrealers on board.
- 1915 – Théâtre Saint-Denis built.
- 1915 – Inauguration of new custom at 105, McGill Street (Montreal).
- 1915 – Fermière Monument unveiled.
- 1915 – William Cornelius Van Horne dies on September 15 in Montreal.
- 1915-18 – Château Dufresne built.
- 1916 – March 1 – Fire burns the Grand Trunk Railway Station.
- 1916 – The Montreal Canadiens win their first Stanley Cup on March 30.
- 1916 – August 24 – Big Demonstration anticonscriptionnist on the Place d'Armes.
- 1916 – Bordeaux-Cartierville annexed on December 22.
- 1916 – Les petits Baigneurs completed.
- 1917 – L'Action nationale launched.
- 1917 – In the ensuing Conscription Crisis of 1917, riots broke out on the streets of Montreal.
- 1917 – Abitibi Power and Paper Company founded.
- 1918 – Province of Quebec put Montreal under his control.
- 1918 – Annexation of the Maisonneuve city to the city of Montreal on February 9.
- 1918 – The Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau established.
- 1918 – Mount Royal Tunnel completed. First train under the mountain on October 21; it transports millitaires leaving for Sevastopol to Russia.
- 1918 – Canadian National Railway created.
- 1919 – CINW (originally XWA) Montreal is the first radio station to broadcast regular programming, on December 1.
- 1919 – Montreal Canadiens founded.
- 1919 – Fairmount Bagel opened. Montreal-style bagel introduced.
- 1919 – Church of the Madonna della Difesa inaugurated.
- 1919 – The George-Étienne Cartier Monument to Sir George-Étienne Cartier unveiled in front of Mount Royal on September 6; sculptor George William Hill.
- 1919 – The Montreal Clock Tower cornerstone was laid by the Prince of Wales, on October 31. It was completed in 1922.
- 1919 – On November 22, the city's first regular bus service was launched on St-Étienne Street, better known as Bridge St.
- 1919 – Canadian International Paper Company formed.
- 1919 – Monument aux braves de N.D.G. unveiled.
1920s
- 1920 – Mount Royal Arena opened.
- 1920 – The monument of Adam Dollard des Ormeaux inaugurated on June 24 (Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day) in the Parc Lafontaine; sculptor Alfred Laliberté and architect Alphonse Venne. In 1956, the monument was moved in the actual location.
- 1920 – The Prohibition movement in the United States turned Montreal night life into a haven for Americans looking for alcohol.
- 1921 – McCord Museum established.
- 1921 – Société des alcools du Québec established; it is in the former Pied-du-Courant Prison.
- 1921 – The Allen opens on May 20, as the Palace Theatre. It was renamed Allen Theatre in 1922.
- 1922 – Mount Royal Hotel opened.
- 1922 – The construction of Édifice Ernest-Cormier began.
- 1922 – CKAC radio is first on the air September 22. This was the world's first commercial station broadcasting in French.
- 1922 – Dante Monument unveiled on October 22.
- 1923 – The congregation Notre-Dame de Montréal was founded by Marie Lacoste Gérin-Lajoie.
- 1923-24 – Rialto Theatre (Montreal) constructed.
- 1923-83 – Belmont Park, Montreal operated.
- 1924 – Montreal Maroons founded.
- 1924 – An illuminated Mount Royal Cross was installed by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste, which is now owned by the city.
- 1924 – Election of Charles Duquette to Montreal City Hall on March 25.
- 1924 – Foundation of "l'Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences" on May 14.
- 1924 – Bank of Montreal acquires Molson Bank on October 30.
- 1924 – Montreal Forum opened on November 29.
- 1924 – Samuel Bronfman set up shop as a distributor, founding the Distillers Corporation in Montreal, specializing in cheap whiskey, and concurrently taking advantage of the prohibition in the United States. Samuel Bronfman's Distillers Corporation acquired Joseph E. Seagram & Sons of Waterloo, Ontario, from the heirs of Joseph Seagram in 1928.
- 1924-25 – Saint-Ambroise Church built.
- 1925 – The Roddick Gates were formally opened by Amy Redpath Roddick on May 28, 1925.
- 1925 – June 10 – The Methodist churches, Congregational churches, and a large portion of the Presbyterian churches join to form the United Church of Canada.
- 1925 – Power Corporation of Canada founded.
- 1925 – Hallward House (later Martlet House) inaugurated. It housted the Seagram headquarters; now Martlet House belongs to McGill University.
- 1925-27 – Eaton's store constructed.
- 1926 – Montreal Curb Market/Canadian Stock Exchange created.
- 1926 – The Patriots Monument was unveiled on June 24 (Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day); it is the work of Alfred Laliberté. On each its three faces a carved bronze medallion represents Chevalier de Lorimier, Louis-Joseph Papineau, and Wolfred Nelson. The monument is in the Place of the Patriots, which is in front of former Pied-du-Courant Prison.
- 1926 – The Monitor (Montreal) launched.
- 1926 – Reitmans founded.
- 1927 – Collège André-Grasset is founded by the Sulpicians.
- 1927 – Laurier Palace Theatre Fire.
- 1927 – The era of Montreal's first skyscrapers began: Old Royal Bank Building, Montreal, the Sun Life Building, Aldred Building, etc. Until 1927, legislation prevented builders from putting up structures over ten stories high.
- 1927 – Dunn's founded.
- 1928 – Théâtre Outremont built.
- 1928 – Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport built.
- 1928 – Schwartz's established.
- 1928 – Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines founded.
- 1928 – Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf established.
- 1929 – Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple officially opened on June 22.
- 1929 – Collège de Maisonneuve established.
- 1929-85 – Seville Theatre operated.
1930s
1940s
1950s
- 1950 – The Sulpicians, in financial straits, are obliged to sell their property west of Atwater Ave. to industrialist Alexis Nihon.
- 1951 – Congregation Shaare Zedek founded.
- 1951 – Théâtre du Nouveau Monde founded.
- 1951 – Birth of the Commission de Transport de Montreal ancestor of the actual STM.
- 1951 – Station Centrale d'Autobus Montreal built.
- 1951 – St-Hubert opened.
- 1951-52 – Saint-Sixte Church built.
- 1951-61 – Montreal's population grew by 35% and Toronto's by 45%.[16]
- 1951-61 – Civic Action League operated.
- 1952 – Montreal Bus service replaces streetcars on Boulevard St-Laurent. Gradually, trams began to be replaced by busses. There was a subway about to be built, and the decision was taken to retire the trams in 1959.
- 1952 – CBFT first air on September 6.
- 1953 – Montreal Barbarians established.
- 1953 – Pope Pius XII names Paul-Émile Léger, a Sulpician, a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
- 1953 – Wilfrid Laurier Memorial unveiled on October 12.
- 1954 – CBMT first air on September 6.
- 1954 – CJMS (defunct) first air.
- 1954 – Montreal Heart Institute founded.
- 1954 – Greater Montreal Real Estate Board founded.
- 1954 – Humanist Fellowship of Montreal founded.
- 1954 – Dic Ann's Hamburgers founded.
- 1954 – Jean Drapeau was elected for the first time.
- 1954 – The Globe (tabloid) founded.
- 1954 – Saint-Arsène Church built.
- 1954 – Quebecor World founded by Pierre Péladeau.
- 1955 – March 17 – Richard Riot on Saint Catherine Street following the suspension of Maurice Richard.
- 1955 – Gaz Métro founded.
- 1955 – Dorchester Street is widened in boulevard, many building where destroyed to make place to the new axis.
- 1957 – The lowest temperature ever recorded was on January 15.
- 1957 – CKMI-TV first air on March 17.
- 1957 – Cogeco founded.
- 1958 – Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre founded.
- 1958 – Queen Elizabeth Hotel completed.
- 1958 – Laurentian Autoroute inaugurated.
- 1958 – The Côte-Saint-Luc village becomes the town of Côte Saint-Luc.
- 1959 – Inauguration of the Saint Lawrence Seaway on June 26.
- 1959 – On August 30, having completed its chosen route along the Papineau-Rosemont line, the tram entered the station for the last time at 4:50 p.m. For 67 years, these cars invaded the streets, carrying the citizenry to the four corners of the town.
- 1959 – Centre Rockland opened.
- 1959 – LaSalle College established.
- 1959 – CKGM first air.
1960s
[[File:Various ethnic groups from many areas on Canada Day and the Centennial of Confederation.jpg|thumb| The Centennial of Confederation on July 1, 1967 [[File:Habitat panorama.jpg|thumb|Habitat 67]]
- 1960 – Paul Sauvé Arena built.
- 1960 – CFOX launched.
- 1960 – Opening of the Métropolitain boulevard between Côte de liesse and PIE IX.
- 1960 – Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom (Westmount, Quebec) completed.
- 1961 – CFCF-TV first air on January 20.
- 1961 – Lafleur Restaurants opened.
- 1961 – TVA first air on February 19.
- 1961 – Ultramar founded.
- 1961 – Astral Media founded.
- 1961-71 – Montreal's population grew by 20% and Toronto's by 25%.[17]
- 1962 – Montreal's first underground tunnel between Place Ville-Marie and the Central Station.
- 1962 – Place Ville-Marie opened.
- 1962 – Tour CIBC constructed.
- 1962 – CJFM-FM first air.
- 1962 – Édifice Hydro-Québec completed.
- 1962 – Tour Telus constructed.
- 1962 – CFMB launched.
- 1962 – Pont Viau opened.
- 1962 – Champlain Bridge, Montreal open on June 29.
- 1962-72 – Front de libération du Québec operated.
- 1963 – Tour de la Bourse constructed.
- 1963 – CHOM-FM first air.
- 1963 – TVA (TV network) launched.
- 1963 – Place Versailles began with Steinberg, Miracle Mart and some 30 small stores.
- 1963 – Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier built.
- 1963 – Cinémathèque québécoise founded.
- 1963 – On August 13 the construction of the Expo 67 site begins.
- 1963 – The town of Rivière-des-Prairies is attached to Montreal.
- 1964 – Le Journal de Montréal established.
- 1964 – CKMF-FM first air.
- 1964 – Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art established.
- 1964 – Establishment of the Le Journal de Montréal by Pierre Péladeau on July 15. Quebecor
- 1964 – Vidéotron founded.
- 1964-67 – Place Bonaventure constructed.
- 1965 – Fairview Pointe-Claire inaugurated.
- 1965 – Lakeshore General Hospital founded.
- 1965 – Île Notre-Dame created.
- 1965 – CJRM-FM (defunct) first air.
- 1965 – Herzing College founded.
- 1966 – Weloganite was discovered by Geological Survey of Canada mineralogist Ann Phyllis Sabina Stenson (born 1930) who was investigating mineral occurrences in a Montreal area limestone quarry.
- 1966 – Montreal Planetarium inaugurated on April 1.
- 1966 – Inauguration of Montreal subway on September 14.
- 1966 – Galeries des Sources opened.
- 1966 – Montreal Aquarium built.
- 1966 – De Maisonneuve Boulevard was created as a oneway street, following the construction of the Montreal Metro.
- 1967 – Casino de Montréal built.
- 1967 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel opened on March 11.
- 1967 – La Ronde (amusement park) opened in April.
- 1967 – Montreal Biosphère opened.
- 1967 – Château Champlain constructed.
- 1967-72 – Expo Express in use.
- 1967 – The Vive le Québec libre speech delivered on July 24.
- 1967 – Place Alexis Nihon opened.
- 1967 – Westmount Square constructed.
- 1967 – Saint Joseph's Oratory completed.
- 1967 – Institut de pastorale des Dominicains established.
- 1967 – Habitat 67 built.
- 1967 – Mouvement Souveraineté-Association formed.
- 1967 – Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne founded.
- 1967 – Opening of the Décarie motorway.
- 1967 – Expo 67 opens April 28.
- 1967 – MEGA Brands founded.
- 1967 – Mikes (restaurant) founded.
- 1967 – Collège Ahuntsic established.
- 1967 – After receiving more than 50,306,648 people, Expo 67 closes its doors on Sunday October 29.
- 1968 – Plaza Côte-des-Neiges constructed.
- 1968 – Galeries d'Anjou opened.
- 1968 – 500 Place D'Armes completed.
- 1968 – Parti Québécois founded.
- 1968 – Future Electronics founded.
- 1968 – Cégep du Vieux Montréal established.
- 1969 – On February 13, the Montreal Stock Exchange was attacked by Front de libération du Québec with a massive bomb that wounded 38 people.
- 1969 – Papineau-Leblanc Bridge opened.
- 1969 – Centaur Theatre founded; it is the city's largest English-language theatre company.
- 1969 – Sir George Williams Computer Riot.
- 1969 – Montreal International Auto Show was launched.
- 1969 – Centaur Theatre founded.
- 1969 – Institut national de la recherche scientifique established.
- 1969 – École nationale d'administration publique established.
- 1969 – La Joute built.
- 1969 – McLennan Library completed.
- 1969 – Concordia University Television founded.
- 1969 – Horizon Weekly launched.
- 1969 – Provigo founded.
- 1969 – Creation of the CUM, Montreal suprastructure municipal organisation.
- 1969 – Montreal Expos founded. First game for the Montreal Expos at Jarry Park Stadium on April 14.
- 1969 – October 7 – Murray-Hill riot. Illegal 16 hours Strike of Montreal Police, chaos in the city.
- 1969 – Aquarius Records (record label) is a Canadian independent record label, established during the summer of 1969.
- 1969 – Loto-Québec founded.
1970s
1980s
- 1980 – Opéra de Montréal founded.
- 1980 – The first Montreal International Jazz Festival was in 1980.
- 1980 – The Link (newspaper) founded.
- 1980 – CIBL-FM first air.
- 1980 – On June 23, Terry Fox ran into Montreal (within Marathon of Hope) with Montreal Alouettes kicker Don Sweet and four wheelchair athletes.
- 1980 – Écomusée du fier monde opened.
- 1980 – Classé produced its first power amplifier.
- 1980 – International Floralies fair
- 1980 – Wallace fountain was offered to the City of Montreal by the city of Paris during the 1980 International Floralies fair.
- 1981 – Les Presses Chinoises launched.
- 1981 – McGill Tribune founded.
- 1981-83 – Montreal Manic operated.
- 1982 – Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir founded.
- 1982 – Centre Sheraton completed.
- 1982 – Amazones d'Hier, Lesbiennes d'Aujourd'hui launced.
- 1982 – Gray Line Montreal founded.
- 1982 – Logibec Groupe Informatique Ltd. founded.
- 1982 – Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir founded.
- 1983 – Palais des congrès de Montréal inaugurated in May.
- 1983 – Centre d'histoire de Montréal opened.
- 1983 – Just for Laughs founded.
- 1983 – Groupaction incorporated.
- 1983 – Pharmascience founded.
- 1983 – I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra founded.
- 1984 – Aeroplan created in July.
- 1984 – A bomb planted by Thomas Bernard Brigham in Central Station (Montreal), killed three French tourists and injured 30–47 other people on September 3. He was widely believed to be protesting Pope John Paul II's impending visit to Canada later that week.
- 1984 – On September 11, Pope John Paul II participated in a youth rally with about 55,000 people in attendance, on the Olympic Stadium.
- 1984 – Frank "Dunie" Ryan, leader West End Gang, was assassinated on November 13.
- 1984 – Cirque du Soleil founded.
- 1984 – Île de la Visitation opened.
- 1984 – L'aut'journal founded.
- 1984 – Dialogic Corporation founded.
- 1984 – Eicon founded.
- 1984 – Gildan Activewear founded.
- 1984 – Maxi (supermarket) founded.
- 1985 – L'International des Feux Loto-Québec has been held yearly in La Ronde over the Dolphins lake, since 1985.
- 1985 – Sunday Express closed. In 1974, the Sunday Express was acquired by Quebecor.
- 1985 – Montreal Mirror founded.
- 1986 – Carrefour Angrignon built.
- 1986 – Le Cheval Blanc opened.
- 1986 – Innauguration of Jean-Talon subway station on June 16.
- 1986 – CFTU-TV first air on August 20.
- 1986 – CFJP-TV first air on September 7.
- 1986 – Léger Marketing founded.
- 1986 – Jean Doré elected as mayor.
- 1986 – Air Transat founded.
- 1986 – Avenue Video established.
- 1986 – Le Cheval Blanc became the first licenced brewpub in Montreal.
- 1986 – Softimage (company) founded. Softimage has been attributed as a pioneer of computer graphics for motion pictures, used in the creation of special effects for movies such as Jurassic Park, Titanic and The Fifth Element.
- 1986 – Conservatoire de musique de St-Eustache opened. In 2009, the Conservatoire was split into two schools; one for music and one for dance.
- 1987 – Montreal Protocol opened for signature.
- 1987 – The first Montreal Museums Day was in May 1987.
- 1987 – Montreal deluge: more than 100 mm of rain in 2 hours transforming Descarie expressway into a river.
- 1987 – Promenades Cathédrale constructed.
- 1987 – Cora (restaurant) opened.
- 1987 – Tour KPMG constructed.
- 1987 – The name of "Dorchester Boulevard" was changed in René Lévesque Boulevard after the death of Quebec premier René Lévesque. A portion of the thoroughfare in the largely anglophone city of Westmount, between Clarke Street and Atwater Street, retains the name "Dorchester Boulevard", as does a portion in the mainly French-speaking Montréal-Est, where it is known as "rue Dorchester".
- 1987 – Bleublancrouge founded.
- 1987 – Dorel Industries formed.
- 1987 – Totem Acoustic founded.
- 1987 – Transat A.T. founded.
- 1988 – Montreal Daily News founded.
- 1988 – FieldTurf formed.
- 1989 – École Polytechnique massacre occurred on December 6. Marc Lépine murdered fourteen women and wounded ten women and four men.
- 1989 – Les FrancoFolies de Montréal founded.
- 1989 – CKUT-FM first air.
- 1989 – Canadian Space Agency formed on December 14.
- 1989 – McAuslan Brewing opened.
- 1989 – Le SuperClub Vidéotron founded.
1990s
21st century
- 2001 – Reorganization of Montreal.
- 2001 – According to Statistics Canada, in 2001,[19] the city of Montreal had 1,583,590 inhabitants. However, 3,635,700 live in the metropolitan area as of 2005 up from 3,426,350, reflecting an annual growth of 1.1 percent.
- 2001 – Gérald Tremblay becomes mayor of Montreal.
- 2001 – Union Montreal founded.
- 2002 – Montreal was merged with the 27 surrounding municipalities on the Island of Montreal on January 1. The merger created a unified city of Montreal covering the entire island of Montreal. Soon, this move proved unpopular.
- 2002 – The official reopening of the Lachine Canal exclusively for pleasure boating on May 17.
- 2002 – Société de transport de Montréal came into being in 2002.
- 2002 – Maurice Boucher was convicted (on the second attempt) with the help of a police informer in May.
- 2002 – The project of Quartier des Spectacles was first presented.
- 2004 – Cité du commerce électronique completed.
- 2004 – Montreal Expos last game.
- 2004 – Several former municipalities, totalling 13% of the population of the Montreal Island, voted to leave the newly unified city in separate referendums in June.
- 2004 – Passenger operations on Montréal-Mirabel International Airport ceased on October 31.
- 2005 – Grande Bibliothèque opened.
- 2005 – Montreal Action Plan.
- 2005 – Montreal hosts the FINA World Aquatic Championships
- 2006 – The demerger took place on January 1, leaving 15 municipalities on the island.
- 2006 – 2006 World Outgames took place from July 26 to August 5.
- 2006 – Declaration of Montreal on July 29.
- 2006 – Dawson College shooting on September 13. Kimveer Gill killed one student and wounded nineteen others before he committed suicide.
- 2006 – De la Concorde overpass collapse on September 30.
- 2007 – Cartier, De La Concorde, and Montmorency subway stations were opened in Laval on April 26.
- 2007 – Montreal is host to a series of preliminary games of the FIFA U-20 World Cup
- 2007 – In June, the Quebec government announced the demolition and reconstruction of Turcot Interchange, projected to be complete in 2016.
- 2007 – Montreal Archipelago Ecological Park announced.
- 2009 – BIXI launched in May.
See also
References
- ^ "Place Royale and the Amerindian presence". Société de développement de Montréal. September 2001. http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/tour/etape9/eng/9text3a.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-09.
- ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia, Iroquois
- ^ Bruce E. Johanson, Dating the Iroquois Confederacy
- ^ http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/montreal_e.php
- ^ Tremblay, Roland (2006). The Saint Lawrence Iroquoians. Corn People.. Montreal, Qc: Les Éditions de l'Homme.
- ^ "Jacques Cartier: New Land for the French King". Pathfinders & Passageways. Archived from the original on 2007-02-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20070216070530/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/24/h24-1330-e.html. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
- ^ (French) "La Première messe sur île de Montréal - 24 juin 1615"
- ^ "Ontario's Pioneer Priest" by John J. O'Gorman
- ^ Roland Auger, La Grande Recrue de 1653. Publications de la Société généalogique canadienne-française (Montreal, 1955).
- ^ NRC. "New France circa 1740", in The Atlas of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, 2003-10-06. Retrieved August 3, 2008.
- ^ Smith (1907), vol 1, p. 474
- ^ Shelton, pp. 122–127
- ^ Stanley, p. 131
- ^ "CRTC Origins". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2008-09-05. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/backgrnd/brochures/b19903.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
- ^ Census of Canada, 1941, Census of Canada, 1951
- ^ Census of Canada, 1961
- ^ Census of Canada, 1971
- ^ "A Short History of Toronto". City of Toronto. http://www.toronto.ca/culture/history/history-shortversion.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Statistics Canada (2002). "Community Highlights for Montréal". http://www12.statcan.ca/english/Profil01/CP01/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CMA&Code1=462__&Geo2=PR&Code2=24&Data=Count&SearchText=montreal&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
External links
Links to related articles
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