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Area · Vimont, City of Laval

Vimont

The geographic heart of île Jésus, a train station born out of tragedy and streets of bungalows that are aging well. Here's my top 10, neighbour version, not brochure version.

Let's talk about this area

Vimont is the middle of Laval, literally. While Sainte-Rose, Sainte-Dorothée and Duvernay fight over the riverbanks, Vimont sits at the centre of île Jésus and does something else with its life: it serves everyone. The city's hospital is here. The main roads cross here. And the buses coming down from everywhere almost all pass through here at some point.

It's a neighbourhood of families who stay for a long time, with quiet streets left over from the boom of the 1950s and 1960s, and condo buildings that have slipped in between the bungalows over the past few years. Nothing flashy at first glance, and that's exactly what makes it interesting if you want to settle down without burning your life away in traffic.

I put together this top 10 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. Use it.

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

The area's top 10

What makes the heart of Vimont beat.

Ten reasons why buyers end up looking at the centre of Laval, and why the people already settled there don't leave.

01 Map of Laval showing the location of the Vimont neighbourhood at the centre of île Jésus
Geography

The only neighbourhood in Laval with no waterfront

People call Vimont the heart of Laval because it sits pretty much at the centre of île Jésus. It's also the only neighbourhood in the city that doesn't touch a body of water: not the rivière des Prairies to the south, not the rivière des Mille Îles to the north. Its neighbours are Auteuil to the north, Chomedey to the south and southwest, Sainte-Rose to the northwest and Duvernay to the east.

Ask me about it: ask me what not having a waterfront actually changes. There's a positive side to it that nobody talks about, and I'll show it to you, map in hand.
02 Map of île Jésus in 1834 showing the côte Saint-Elzéar, the ancestor of Vimont
Origins

Before Vimont, it was Saint-Elzéar

On old maps of île Jésus, well before the first bridge, you can already read "côte Saint-Elzéar" right at the centre of the island. The municipality carried that name until 1960, the year it took the name Vimont. The farmland of that era turned into residential streets, but you can still make out the layout of the old rangs in the way certain boulevards cut through the neighbourhood.

Ask me about it: ask me why lots around here often have a particular elongated shape. It's a direct legacy of the old rang system, and it affects what you can build on them.
03 The Saint-Elzéar church, in the Vimont neighbourhood in Laval
Heritage

The Saint-Elzéar church and the Jesuit Barthélemy Vimont

The Saint-Elzéar church, with its grey stone and white steeple, is still the most recognizable landmark in the area and a reminder of the village's old name. As for the current name, it honours Barthélemy Vimont, a Jesuit born in Lisieux in 1594, superior of the Canadian missions and celebrant of the first mass in Ville-Marie in 1642. Not many suburban neighbourhoods carry a name that old.

Ask me about it: ask me which streets surround the church. The old core of the neighbourhood has a completely different feel from the more recent developments.
04 The platform at the Vimont train station, on the Saint-Jérôme commuter line
Transit

The Vimont station, born out of a tragedy

On September 30, 2006, the de la Concorde overpass collapsed onto Highway 19 and cost five people their lives. To absorb the highway closure, a temporary train stop opened in Vimont on October 18 that same year. The service turned out to be so useful that it was kept for good. The station is located at 150 boulevard Bellerose Ouest, on exo's Saint-Jérôme line, between the Sainte-Rose and De la Concorde stations.

Ask me about it: ask me how far the real walking radius around the station actually goes. It's a point I use often, and it's worth more than people think.
05 Société de transport de Laval buses at the Cartier metro terminus
Access

Ten bus lines to the metro

Because it's at the centre, Vimont is crossed by an unusual number of Société de transport de Laval lines: the 17, 27, 31, 39, 43, 45, 48, 70, 73 and 74. Most end up at the Cartier metro terminus, on the orange line, while others head up toward Montmorency. The REM serves the west end of Laval near Sainte-Dorothée, not this area: here, the rail link is the Saint-Jérôme line.

Ask me about it: ask me to work out the real commute between a specific address and your workplace. We do that together before you even go see the place.
06 Highway 19 in Laval, looking north from the de la Concorde overpass
Highways

The 440 to the south, the 19 to the east

The Jean-Noël-Lavoie highway, the 440, runs along the bottom of the neighbourhood and links it from one end of the island to the other, all the way to Highway 15 toward the Laurentians and downtown. The Papineau highway, the 19, essentially forms the eastern boundary of Vimont and heads down to Montreal via the Papineau-Leblanc bridge. A project announced in 2021 calls for extending it eight kilometres north to Highway 640 in Bois-des-Filion, with four new interchanges. Work began in the fall of 2021 at the Saint-Saëns interchange in Laval.

Ask me about it: ask me which streets benefit from the highways without putting up with the noise. The difference between the two sometimes comes down to two or three streets.
07 Boulevard René-Laennec, the north-south road connecting Vimont to Auteuil
Main roads

Boulevard des Laurentides and René-Laennec

Two north-south roads structure the neighbourhood. Boulevard des Laurentides holds most of the shops and restaurants, with that classic suburban commercial strip feel where you'll find the corner garage as easily as the neighbourhood restaurant. Boulevard René-Laennec provides the link toward Auteuil. Going the other way, the 440, boulevard Saint-Elzéar, boulevard Dagenais and boulevard Bellerose carve up the territory.

Ask me about it: ask me where the real good spots are for eating out and walking to do your errands. They're concentrated in a few specific spots along the boulevard.
08 The Cité-de-la-Santé hospital, on boulevard René-Laennec in Laval
Services

The whole city's hospital is in the neighbourhood

The Cité-de-la-Santé hospital, at 1755 boulevard René-Laennec, is the only general hospital in Laval. Emergency, oncology, family medicine: this is where the whole city ends up, and it's a few minutes' drive from most addresses in Vimont. For older buyers or a family with young children, that's the kind of detail that weighs heavily when it comes time to choose.

Ask me about it: ask me how the hospital's proximity affects demand on the surrounding streets. Healthcare staff often look to live close by.
09
Neighbourhood life

Bungalows, local parks and two pools

Vimont's housing stock is mostly single-storey, those 1950s and 1960s bungalows built on generous lots, often renovated once or twice since. The last fifteen years have added condo buildings, as they have everywhere on the island. Around them, about fifteen small neighbourhood parks, two outdoor pools, the Prévost and the Paradis, the Lucerne arena and a community centre are enough to keep a family busy without ever leaving the area.

Ask me about it: ask me what a bungalow around here allows in terms of an addition or a finished basement. That's often where the added value is hiding.
10 Terry-Fox elementary school, which serves the English-speaking students of Vimont
Schools

Four elementary schools, and high school right next door

On the French side, four elementary schools serve the neighbourhood: Les Explorateurs, Le Sentier, Paul-Comtois and Père-Vimont, under the Centre de services scolaire de Laval. There's no high school in Vimont itself: teens head over to Auteuil, to Odyssée-des-Jeunes for the first two years, then to Horizon Jeunesse. English-speaking families send their kids to St. Paul in Duvernay or to Terry-Fox in Auteuil, then to Laval Junior and Laval Senior Academy in Chomedey.

Ask me about it: ask me to check the exact school catchment for an address before you make an offer. The boundaries don't always follow the logic you'd expect, and one street can change everything.
Let's talk

Thinking about buying or selling in Vimont? Let's start with a conversation.

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.

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