“Peux ce que Veux” is Montru00e9al-Est’s motto. This translates to “I can because I will.” It’s a fitting motto for a town that has weathered changes. It has de-merged from Montreal. It has seen industries rise and fall.
Montru00e9al-Est is located on the Island of Montreal. It is a suburb in southwestern Quebec. Since 1915, Montru00e9al-Est has been home to large oil refineries. These refineries have shaped its identity.
Businessman Joseph Versailles spearheaded Montru00e9al-Est’s establishment. In 1910, he bought 6 square kilometers of land. On June 4, 1910, the town incorporated. It separated from Pointe-aux-Trembles and Saint-Joseph-de-la-Riviu00e8re-des-Prairies. Versailles was mayor until he died in 1931.
In 2002, Montru00e9al-Est merged into the City of Montreal. It became part of the borough of Riviu00e8re-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles-Montru00e9al-Est. A referendum occurred in 2004. Montru00e9al-Est de-merged. It was re-constituted as a city on January 1, 2006. It was the only eastern Montreal Island community to do so.
In 2021, the population was 4,394. This was a 14.1% increase from 2016. The population density was 361.6 per square kilometer. Montru00e9al-Est covers 12.15 square kilometers.
The Dufresne-Nincheri Museum preserves Montru00e9al-Est’s history. It studies and influences the heritage of Montru00e9al-Est. It was originally the Chu00e2teau Dufresne Museum. The museum is located in the borough of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
Notre-Dame Street and Sherbrooke Street serve Montru00e9al-Est. They run east-west through Montreal Island. Montru00e9al-Est and Westmount did not adopt the name Boulevard Renu00e9-Lu00e9vesque for Dorchester Street. In Montru00e9al-Est, it is still called Rue Dorchester.
Montru00e9al-Est preserves a section of Rue de Montigny. Boulevard de Maisonneuve replaced the rest. Rue Sainte-Catherine and Rue Ontario reappear in Montru00e9al-Est. Avenue Georges-V and Avenue Marien are north-south streets.
Joseph Versailles had a vision of a garden city. He wanted a residential area with parks. He planned for long-term economic and industrial development. In 1915, Queen City Oil established itself in Montru00e9al-Est. Despite the economic crisis, more companies arrived in the 1930s. Many oil plants closed between 1983 and 1985. Shell closed in 2010.
Montru00e9al-Est has a vitrail of Joseph Versailles in the city hall. Guido Nincheri created it in 1939. The Veterans Monument stands in the city hall park. It commemorates Montru00e9al-Est citizens who died in the World Wars. The inscription reads: “Protu00e9geons toujours les libertu00e9s, pour lesquelles ils ont donnu00e9 leur vie”. This means, “Let us always protect the freedoms, for which they gave their lives.”
At the u00c9douard-Rivet Recreation Centre, you can find the sculpture u00c9closion by Octavian Olariu. In the Micheline-Gagnon library entrance, there is a painting by Marc Garneau called Tremolo.
Today, Montru00e9al-Est stands as a testament to resilience. It is a community that honors its past. It embraces its future with the spirit of “I can because I will.”