Boulevard Saint-Laurent has been shaped by major population movements that created and continue to create a dynamic of successions and juxtapositions among ethnocultural communities, and by relations between these communities and the host society. This fosters a constant renewal where cultures and aesthetics are founded and mix with one another:

Thomas Mussen Building

© Parks Canada/ G. Fulton, 1996

One can trace the spatial and structural development of Boulevard Saint-Laurent, following a cultural itinerary from south to north, between the River and Jean Talon Street. The history of ethnocultural communities is linked to the history of existing communities, businesses and financial institutions that developed there, and to the history of the cultural and recreational activities that flourished on the Boulevard. The Boulevard went through cycles of geographic and economic growth, as well as demographic and social growth. There are three distinct cycles corresponding to successive waves of immigrant arrival, settlement or transit: from the River to Sherbrooke Street, from Sherbrooke to Mount Royal Avenue, and from Mount Royal to Jean Talon Street. The arrival of new ethnocultural communities does not mean that the older communities disappeared; rather, areas were shared by new and old ethnocultural communities, and especially with the host society.