Neighbourhood guide

Outremont

Elegance on the other side of the mountain

Montréal17 spots

The vibe

Outremont is best crossed in a low voice: avenues lined with tall trees, stately homes with fine woodwork, parks designed like gardens. On Bernard and Laurier, cafés serve a quiet French-speaking bourgeoisie, while Hasidic families animate their own streets, shops and synagogues. Two worlds share the same sidewalk — and that is precisely what gives the place its character.

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UGO signatures

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See & discover

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Where to eat

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Drink & nightlife

Good to know

1Leave Bernard for Maplewood Avenue and the sloping streets toward the mountain — that’s where the neighbourhood’s finest houses hide.

When to go

A late autumn afternoon, when the tall trees blaze and Parc Outremont catches its golden light.

Getting there

Outremont or Édouard-Montpetit metro (blue line), then walk toward Bernard and Laurier; the 80 bus on Park Avenue drops you at the neighbourhood’s eastern edge.

The story

How the neighbourhood came to be

The name says it all: “outre-mont,” beyond the mountain, sheltered from downtown. Long an independent city, Outremont was the stronghold of the French-Canadian elite — politicians, judges, writers — before being merged into Montreal in 2002. From the early 20th century, a large Hasidic Jewish community also took root here, making the area one of its main homes in North America. The Université de Montréal, with Ernest Cormier’s Art Deco tower, watches over the northern flank.

Did you know?

1Pierre Elliott Trudeau grew up in Outremont, like several premiers and prime ministers before and after him.
2An independent city for over a century, Outremont was only annexed to Montreal in 2002.
3The Théâtre Outremont, opened in 1929, is one of the few atmospheric movie palaces still standing in Quebec.

1 experience

UGO signatures

UGO Signature

Lèche-vitrine sur Laurier Ouest

Laurier West Avenue is shopping the European way: a few hundred metres where Outremont concentrates its Quebec designer boutiques, chocolatiers, fine stationers and luxury grocers. You wander without a shopping list, step in to smell the soaps, taste a praline, leaf through an art book, and almost always come out with something you hadn't come for. Between two windows, the café terraces invite you to watch the neighbourhood fauna: designer strollers, Université de Montréal professors and elegant figures in wool coats. This is shopping practised slowly, like a stroll. Insider tip: continue to Bernard Avenue, two streets north, to end the walk with an ice cream or a hot chocolate depending on the season.

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