Located just across the St. Lawrence River from Montreal, Longueuil is a residential, commercial and industrial city in Quebec. It is divided into three boroughs, including Le Vieux-Longueuil, Saint-Hubert and Greenfield Park, and serves largely as a commuter base for residents who work in Montreal.
Rue Saint-Charles is the main commercial thoroughfare through Old Longueuil, lined with cafes, restaurants and shops, together with the oldest church in Longueuil, St. Mark’s, which dates to the 1840s. Also of note is the soaring Gothic-Revival architecture of the Co-Cathedral of Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue and its Byzantine-Revival dome. It was built between 1884 and 1887 on the remains of Fort Longueuil which once served as the residence of Charles le Moyne de Longueuil. Leafy green spaces dot Longueuil, including Parc Marie-Victorin, Parc Michel-Chartrand and Parc de la Citéin Saint-Hubert, together with the wildlife reserve of Boisédu Tremblay which provides an important habitat for flora and fauna unique to the Montérégie region. While a large proportion of Longueuil’s residents commute to Montreal for work, the city does have its own industries, with the headquarters of the Canadian Space Agency located here, together with the aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Canada.
The Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport is found on Longueuil’s eastern edge and serves as the main hub for Pascan Aviation which offers regional services throughout Canada. The city is well served by public buses and shared taxis which access all boroughs and Montreal, with the Longueuil Bus Terminus the main hub. The Longueuil–Université-de-Sherbrooke Metro station is located adjacent, while the Saint-Hubert Station operates commuter trains into Montreal and a seasonal ferry service links the Old Port of Montreal to Longueuil’s Réal-Bouvier Marina.
Longueuil was founded in 1657 by Charles le Moyne, a merchant from what is present-day Montreal, and named after a village in his homeland of Normandy. It became the Saint-Antoine-de-Longueuil parish in 1845 before being designated as a town in 1874 and eventually a city in 1920.