Dorval

History

The history of Dorval dates back more than 350 years to 1665 when Sulpician priests established a mission on the outskirts of Ville-Marie, a French settlement which later became known as Montreal. Dorval was originally named Gentilly. It was later renamed La Présentation-de-la-Vierge-Marie and finally Dorval. It was incorporated as a village in 1892, a town in 1903, and a city in 1956. (In French it was termed a cité, an old term used to translate the English legal term "city.")

As with many other settlements on the island of Montreal, the Grand Trunk Railway, which came to Dorval in 1855, was highly instrumental in attracting many wealthier families, mostly English-speaking, in search of a summer refuge in proximity to their downtown residence and place of work. Access to Dorval from Montreal was also facilitated by the extension of streetcar service to Dorval's eastern city limits in the interwar period. After the Second World War many middle-class families migrated to Dorval from the city of Montreal and from other parts of Canada. This migration was made possible by the widening of highway 20 and by the large-scale construction of new dwellings. This new housing consisted mostly of single family homes with some townhouses and low-rise apartment buildings, built on lands previously used for agriculture and recreational activities. The post-war period also saw the construction of Dorval Gardens shopping centre in 1954, one of Greater Montreal's first mall-style shopping centres. Today the shopping centre remains the city's principal centre of retail trade.

The island named Île Dorval, settled in 1860 and located less than one kilometre offshore from Dorval, constitutes the separate city of L'Île-Dorval despite being a summer cottage community with only five permanent residents as of the Canada 2011 Census. The island is connected to the city of Dorval by a private ferry service.

On January 1, 2002, as part of the 2002–2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal, Dorval was merged into the city of Montreal, being combined with L'Île-Dorval to form the Dorval–L'Île-Dorval borough of Montreal. After a change of government and a 2004 referendum, Dorval was reconstituted as a city on January 1, 2006. Although Dorval had the legal status of cité prior to the merger, the reconstituted city has the status of ville (see Types of municipalities in Quebec). Nevertheless, the municipal government refers to itself as the "Cité de Dorval".

Demographics

Today, the population of Dorval is over 19,000. According to the 2006 census there were 7,815 households in the city. 77.5% of residents had lived in Dorval for more than 5 years. The population density was 866.5/km².

The 2001 census counted about 1.21% of the population as Aboriginal as well as an additional 13.00% of the population who self-identified as having a visible minority status, which included 2.87% who self-identified as Black, 2.27% as Chinese, 1.98% as Filipino, 1.87% as South Asian, 1.32% as Korean, 1.00% as Arab, 0.69% as Latin American, 0.47% as Southeast Asian, and 0.20% as Japanese.

A large Inuit population has also established itself in Dorval but this does not appear on official census data because most Inuit choose to associate themselves with their village or reside only part-time in Dorval.

English was mother tongue to 47.5% of Dorval residents according to the 2006 census (counting both single and multiple responses), compared to 47.1% in 2001 and 50.2% in 1996; while French was mother tongue to 32.1% of residents in 2006, compared to 36.9% in 2001 and 35.8% in 1996.

City council

The present mayor of Dorval is Edgar Rouleau. There are six city councilors.

1. Claude Valiquet (District 1)
2. Michel Hébert (District 2)
3. Daniel da Chão (District 3)
4. Marc Doret (District 4)
5. Christopher von Roretz (District 5)
6. Margo Heron (District 6)

Economy

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

Previously Inter-Canadien had its headquarters in Dorval.

Air Canada Centre, the headquarters of Air Canada, are located on the grounds of Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and in Saint-Laurent, Montreal, near Dorval.

Education

The Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys operates Francophone public schools.

Schools include:

The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) operates Anglophone public schools.

Infrastructure

Aéroports de Montréal, the Greater Montreal airport authority, has its headquarters in Leigh-Capreol Place (French: place Leigh-Capreol) in Dorval.

Trudeau Airport

Most of Montreal's principal airport, Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (previously known as Dorval Airport), is in Dorval. From 1975 to 2005, Dorval Airport was one of two passenger airports serving Greater Montreal. Since 2005, it has become the metropolitan area's sole passenger airport. Originally a military airfield used mainly to refuel new fighters and bombers being flown to Great Britain during the Second World War, Trudeau Airport today serves over 14 million passengers annually. The airport is by far the largest employer in the West Island, let alone Dorval. It is also a major source of municipal tax revenue.