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Area · Borough of L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève

L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève

A countryside island right in the city of Montreal, between a legendary golf course, protected marshes, and two village cores. My top 10, neighbour's view, not brochure view.

Let's talk about this area

L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève is Montreal's least populated borough: about 18,000 residents across 23.6 km², between Lac des Deux Montagnes and the Rivière des Prairies. Farmland, three golf clubs, villages born under the French Regime, an open, uncrowded setting unlike anywhere else in the city, about fifteen minutes by car from major services.

I put this top 10 together for a simple reason: when you buy or sell, you're not just shopping for a property, you're shopping for a neighbourhood life. Each point comes with an opening for a conversation, so use it.

Maxime Laforest, real estate broker · Équipe Loiselle, RE/MAX Dynamique

The area's top 10

What makes L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève tick.

Ten reasons buyers fall for the area, and why the ones who live there don't leave.

01 The practice range at Royal Montreal Golf Club during the 2024 Presidents Cup
The icon

Royal Montreal, a giant since 1873

Founded in 1873, Royal Montreal is the oldest golf club still active in North America, based on the island since 1959. It hosted the Presidents Cup in 2007 and again in 2024, drawing about 120,000 spectators. With Elm Ridge and Saint-Raphaël, the island is home to three golf clubs.

Ask me about it: ask me which areas border the courses, and what that address actually changes when it's time to resell. The answer often surprises people.
02 The wooden boardwalk over the marshes at Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard nature park
Nature

Five hundred metres of boardwalk over the marsh

Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard nature park spans more than 200 hectares on Lac des Deux Montagnes: a large 500-metre boardwalk over the marsh, beavers, turtles, ducks, 7 km of trails, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in winter. All of it is part of the Grand parc de l'Ouest, Canada's largest municipal park.

Ask me about it: ask me which parts of the island give you access to the nature park in just a few minutes. Living door to door with 200 hectares of nature is worth shopping for.
03 Old houses in the village core of Sainte-Geneviève, along Boulevard Gouin
Heritage

Sainte-Geneviève and its Baillairgé church

The story begins in 1678, when Frontenac granted the seigneury to Jacques Bizard. At the foot of the bridge, the village core of Sainte-Geneviève, a parish founded around 1740, lines up its heritage houses along Boulevard Gouin, around the 1843 church designed by Thomas Baillairgé, his only work on the island of Montreal.

Ask me about it: ask me what buying a house in a heritage core involves, a few checks done ahead of time avoid a lot of surprises.
04 The Jacques-Bizard Bridge over the Rivière des Prairies, in autumn colours
Transit

A brand new bridge, with a lookout at its centre

The new Jacques-Bizard Bridge, the island's only road link, has been in service since November 13, 2024: four lanes, a two-way bike path, widened sidewalks, and a lookout at its centre. For downtown, the 207 bus connects to the Fairview–Pointe-Claire REM station, whose branch has been in service since May 2026.

Ask me about it: ask me what the commute by car or bus plus REM actually looks like depending on where you are on the island, it's the first question a lot of buyers ask.
05 A rowboat near the boat launch at Parc du Portage, in Sainte-Geneviève
Life on the water

A cable ferry since 1861

Bordered by two navigable bodies of water, Lac des Deux Montagnes and the Rivière des Prairies, the island is also lived by boat: a boat launch, waterfront properties, and a ferry to Laval-sur-le-Lac running since 1861, cable-operated since 1903, from April to November.

Ask me about it: ask me what to check before buying on the water, a view comes at a price, but it's also worth verifying.
06 Saint-Raphaël-Archange Church, at the heart of the village of L'Île-Bizard
Village life

Cherrier Street, bakery included

On Cherrier Street, the village of L'Île-Bizard keeps its local shops, Pâtisserie Maison Mallet leading the way. Over in Sainte-Geneviève, Gérald-Godin CEGEP is home to Salle Pauline-Julien, a professional performance hall active since 2000. A rural borough with a French-language CEGEP on its territory is a rare thing.

Ask me about it: ask me where to start a first visit to the area, I'll take you through both villages in an hour, bakery included.
07 A typical residential street in the area, brick houses on Rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Sainte-Geneviève
The safe bet

A scarcity protected by status

Single-family homes dominate here: large waterfront properties, estates near the golf courses, and more affordable condos and plexes in the Sainte-Geneviève core. And since 2021, the west end of the island has been the first territory in Quebec to obtain protected status as a proposed humanized landscape: about 18 km² protected, so no massive development on the horizon.

Ask me about it: ask me what that protected status actually changes for an owner, it's the kind of detail that carries weight in a resale price.
08 Cégep Gérald-Godin in Sainte-Geneviève, a stone former novitiate flanked by its modern wing
Studies and culture

A cégep inside a former novitiate

On Gouin Boulevard in Sainte-Geneviève, Cégep Gérald-Godin occupies a former novitiate of the Fathers of the Holy Cross built in 1932, with a resolutely contemporary wing grafted onto it. The campus is also home to the Salle Pauline-Julien, inaugurated in September 2000, which keeps song, theatre, dance and repertory cinema alive in the West Island. A French-language cégep and a real performance hall in the neighbourhood, that counts day to day.

Ask me about it: ask me what having a cégep nearby changes for rental demand and resale in an area like Sainte-Geneviève.
09 The stone entrance sign of the Elm Ridge Country Club on Rue Cherrier in L'Île-Bizard
Sports and leisure

Elm Ridge, the other great golf club

The Royal Montreal isn't alone on the island: the Elm Ridge Country Club, founded in 1924 and settled in L'Île-Bizard since 1960, lines up two 18-hole championship courses on Rue Cherrier. Its fairways are even framed by stone walls inherited from the old seigneurial lands. Two major private clubs on a single island, you won't find that anywhere else in Montreal.

Ask me about it: ask me what having a golf club close by does to the profile of buyers looking at the island.
10 An old barn and cornfield along Rue Cherrier in L'Île-Bizard
Country in the city

Half the farmland of the agglomeration

The borough holds more than half of the permanent agricultural zone of the entire Montreal agglomeration: fields, barns and cultivated country roads about thirty minutes from downtown. And it's still very much alive: in July 2026, a 34-hectare lot was acquired by the Fiducie agricole UPA-Fondaction and the Nature Conservancy, including 14 arable hectares to be leased to market gardeners starting in 2027. Buying here means accepting, and often seeking out, that countryside next door.

Ask me about it: ask me what an agricultural zone across the street implies, for the view as much as for the value.
Let's talk

Thinking about buying or selling in L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève? Let's start talking.

A free evaluation of your property, a picture of the local market, or simply answers to your questions. No strings attached, and a straight answer.

Start my real estate project

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