Nuns' Island facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nuns' Island Île-des-Sœurs
Neighbourhood
Skyline of the southern tip of Nuns' Island
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
City	Montreal
Borough	Verdun
Area
• Total	3.74 km2 (1.44 sq mi)
Population  (2016)
• Total	20,461
• Density	5,470.9/km2 (14,170/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	H3E
Area code(s)	(514) and (438)

Nuns' Island (officially called Île-des-Sœurs) is an island in the Saint Lawrence River. It is part of the big city of Montreal, Quebec, and belongs to the borough of Verdun. It's a modern neighbourhood known for its parks and buildings.

History of Nuns' Island

West Vancouver Park on Nuns' Island.

Nuns' Island was first known as Île Saint-Paul. It was named after Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, who founded Montreal. In 1634, a man named Jean de Lauzon bought the island.

Later, in 1706, a group of nuns from the Congrégation de Notre-Dame bought part of the island. By 1769, they owned the whole island. They kept it for almost 200 years! This is how the island got its common name, "Nuns' Island."

The nuns used the island for farming. They built houses and barns and hired people to help raise animals. For a while, the island even became its own small town called L'Île-Saint-Paul in 1899. This happened because of a disagreement about taxes with the nearby city of Verdun.

The nuns continued farming until 1956. Then, they sold the island to a company. In 1957, the nuns left the island completely. The name île des Sœurs (Nuns' Island) became its official name.

The island started to grow a lot after the Champlain Bridge opened in 1962. This bridge made it easy to get to the island. New buildings and homes were built, and the first residents moved in by 1968. Famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe even designed some buildings there, including apartment towers and a unique gas station.

Some parts of the island were created by adding land to the river in the 1960s and 1970s. The island was also used as a filming location for a horror movie called Shivers in 1975.

Geography of Nuns' Island

A traffic circle on Nuns' Island

Nuns' Island is about 3.74 square kilometers (about 1.4 square miles) in size. It is part of a group of islands called the Hochelaga Archipelago in the St. Lawrence River. The island is located just southeast of the main Island of Montreal. A small water channel separates it from Montreal.

The island has many parks and beautiful views. One popular spot is West Vancouver Park, which looks out over the Saint Lawrence River. There is also a large natural forest called Domaine Saint-Paul. This forest is 26 hectares (about 64 acres) and is very important for over a hundred types of birds. It's one of the last natural forests in southern Montreal.

Inside this forest, there's an artificial lake called Lac des Battures. This lake was created by accident. When land was being added to the island in the 1960s and 1970s, some parts of the river became closed off, forming the lake. Much of the extra land came from digging Montreal's underground Metro system.

Economy of Nuns' Island

Part of the Bell Campus, the headquarters of Bell Canada.

Nuns' Island has several places for shopping and services. These are mostly found around the Place du Commerce shopping centre. There is also a community center and a church near Place Elgar.

A big part of the island's economy is the headquarters of Bell Canada. This company is one of the largest communications companies in Canada. In 2009, Bell Canada brought all its Montreal workers to a new campus on the northern tip of Nuns' Island. This campus is now the main office for the entire company.

Infrastructure of Nuns' Island

Nuns' Island is well-connected by roads. The Autoroute 15 runs through the island. It connects the island to the south side of the St. Lawrence River using the Champlain Bridge. It also connects to the Island of Montreal through another bridge called Pont de l'Île-des-Sœurs. The Clément Bridge links the island to the Bonaventure Expressway (Aut. 10).

There are two schools on the island for younger students: École primaire Île-des-Sœurs and École des Marguerite. Both are part of Montreal's French-language school board.

In July 2023, a new train station opened on the island. It's called Île-des-Sœurs station. This station is part of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) line, which is a modern, driverless train system. It connects Nuns' Island to downtown Montreal and the city of Brossard.

Connecting bus routes

Société de transport de Montréal
Route	Service Times
12 Île-des-Sœurs	All-day 6 am ~ 11 pm
168 Cité-du-Havre	Weekdays 5 am ~ 9 pm
172 du Golf	Weekdays 5 am ~ 1:30 am
176 Berlioz	All-day 5 am ~ 1:30 am

See also

In Spanish: Île-des-Sœurs para niños