Beaconsfield is a suburb on the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the Greater Montreal region locally referred to as the West Island. It is a residential community located on the north shore of Lac Saint-Louis, bordered on the west by Baie-D'Urfé, north by Kirkland and east by Pointe-Claire. Incorporated in 1910, named in honour of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and close confidant of Queen Victoria, the city's historical roots go back as far as 1698. Beaconsfield, in its current form, was developed as a cottage community by affluent Montreal residents. Over the decades, the city has transformed from summer homes, to year-round residents, and has flourished. The population of Beaconsfield, as of the Canada 2021 Census, is 19,277. While the population is predominantly anglophone, 77% of residents speak both official languages of Canada. Most residents live in single-family homes, though there are residents of townhouses and apartment buildings.

History

In 1678, the Sulpician Order, who owned the Island of Montreal at the time, granted the first concession in this area to Jean Guenet, one of the main merchants of Ville-Marie and tax collector for the island's Seigneurs. Guenet named his concession, located at Pointe Beaurepaire or Thompson Point but now known as Pointe à Quenet, "Beau Repaire". Following the Great Peace of Montreal Treaty in 1701, permanent settlement began that led to farming communities along Lake Saint-Louis. In 1713, the Parish of St-Joachim de la Pointe Claire was created, which included the present territory of the cities of Beaconsfield, Kirkland and Pointe-Claire. In 1855, the Grand Trunk Railway was built through the area, and the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s. These brought summer residents from Montreal and the pioneer farming settlement began to transform to a summer cottage resort. The name Beaconsfield is first attributed to John Henry Menzies who in 1870 bought a country estate then known as "Le Bocage" (originally built by Paul Urgèle Gabriel Valois in 1810). He renamed it in 1877 after Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, who was his friend. In time, this name was also used for its train station (which opened in 1879), golf club (opened in 1902), and the Post Office (opened in 1904). The City (Ville) of Beaconsfield was formed on June 30, 1910, when it split off from the Parish of Saint-Joachim de la Pointe-Claire. In the census of 1911, it had 375 persons, 60 families living in 60 houses. It grew slowly to 990 inhabitants by 1951. During the 1950s and 1960s, Beaconsfield rapidly developed as a residential suburb. By 1966, the last original farm concession began to be developed for residences. On March 19, 1966, Beaconsfield changed statutes from Ville to Cité ("city"), but on September 18, 1982, this was reverted. As part of the 2002–2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal Beaconsfield and neighbouring Baie-D'Urfé became the borough of Beaconsfield–Baie-D'Urfé and were merged into the city of Montreal. After a change of government, and the 2004 referendum, both Baie-D'Urfé and Beaconsfield voted to de-merge from Montreal. On January 1, 2006, they were reconstituted as independent municipalities. They still remain part of the urban agglomeration of Montreal.

Demographics

According to the Office québécois de la langue française, Beaconsfield has been officially recognized as a bilingual municipality since 2005-11-02. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Beaconsfield had a population of 19,277 living in 6,753 of its 6,915 total private dwellings, a change of −0.2% from its 2016 population of 19,324. With a land area of 11.03 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Economy

Local businesses:

Local government

Beaconsfield's local government consists of a mayor and six city councillors, each elected to represent one of the city's wards. The current mayor of Beaconsfield is Georges Bourelle, who has held the office since 2013. Following the city's 2021 Municipal Election, the council consists of Bourelle and the following six councillors:

List of former mayors

List of former mayors:

Sports and recreation

Beaconsfield has a number of parks and athletic facilities

Parks and open spaces

Local landmarks

Houses of Worship

Transportation

Beaconsfield is served by the Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM) train system, with two stations, Beaconsfield and Beaurepaire, on the Vaudreuil-Hudson line which ends in downtown Montreal. The city is also served by Société de transport de Montréal (STM) bus lines 200, 201, 211, 217, 221, 354, 361, 382, 401, 405, 411, and 425. Beaconsfield is also served directly by one major highway, Highway 20 (Autoroute 20) with two exits in Beaconsfield, exit 45 at Avenue Woodland, and exit 48 at Boulevard St-Charles. Access to Beaconsfield is also possible from the Highway 40 (Autoroute 40), exit Boulevard St-Charles - south (Sud).

Education

Education in Beaconsfield, as common in the Montreal area, is operated by school boards divided linguistically. There is separate boards for instruction in English (Anglophone) and French (Francophone).

Francophone

The Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys operates Francophone public schools, but were previously operated by the Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys until June 15, 2020. The change was a result of a law passed by the Quebec government that changed the school board system from denominational to linguistic. Francophone primary schools: Francophone special purpose school:

Anglophone

The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) operates Anglophone public schools in Beaconsfield. Anglophone vocational Education: Anglophone adult Education: Anglophone secondary schools: Anglophone primary schools:

Homicides

Spanning the decade between 1995 and 2006 multiple homicides and murder-suicides took place inside homes that were all within 0.5 km of each other.

Notable residents

Animal protection

Beaconsfield Animal Services is enforced by Municipal Patrol. Cages are located at 303 A Beaconsfield Boulevard, a storage building behind Herb Linder Annex. Stray dogs are held at 303 A Beaconsfield Boulevard for up to three days, and are brought to SPCA West, a no kill shelter, if not claimed. Beaconsfield was listed as a PETA Certified Compassionate City in 2016 for its animal protection bylaws, and is listed on The FurBearers website as one of the Canadian municipalities that has a trapping-related bylaw.

References and notes