Let's Go Shopping: From Main Street to the Shopping Centre

Self-Guided Tour - Montréal

In the mid-19th century, Montréal was the principal city of United Canada. It had nearly 90,000 inhabitants. Numerous industries took advantage of this pool of workers to set up operations. The jobs attracted immigrants and part of the rural population. The population thus tripled and stood at over 250,000 inhabitants in 1901.

Factories proliferated in the 20th century. Space constraints and financial incentives induced them to move to the Island of Montréal's suburban municipalities. Populous residential districts appeared around industrial zones. The city expanded and ultimately encompassed its neighbours such as Hochelaga and Saint-Henri.

The purchasing power of working-class families increased after a period of difficult living conditions. Starting in the early 1920s, such families went shopping, an activity previously reserved for well-to-do families. It was not uncommon to visit department stores such as those on rue Sainte-Catherine. The consumer society emerged. New practices altered the urban landscape.

The 1950s marked the golden age of shopping streets such as rue Sainte-Catherine and rue Saint-Hubert until the advent in subsequent decades of suburban shopping centres, followed by the construction in the city centre of malls.