Watch Montréal: My Love, My Story

Electric lighting and American culture give Saint Catherine Street a vibrant nightlife filled with exotic cabarets. Tourists gamble, prostitution is rife, police are on the take. But a whistleblower, Pacifique Plante, exposes the system and triggers a public inquiry. The star prosecutor, Jean Drapeau, becomes mayor of Montreal and reshapes the city into a modern metropolis.

Electric lighting and American culture give Saint Catherine Street a vibrant nightlife filled with exotic cabarets. Tourists gamble, prostitution is rife, police are on the take. But a whistleblower, Pacifique Plante, exposes the system and triggers a public inquiry. The star prosecutor, Jean Drapeau, becomes mayor of Montreal and reshapes the city into a modern metropolis.

Jewish, Chinese and Italian immigrants settle along Saint Lawrence Boulevard, also known as Montr

Jewish, Chinese and Italian immigrants settle along Saint Lawrence Boulevard, also known as Montr

At the dawn of the 20th Century, industrialists and real estate developers attract a vast working class to the east side of the island of Montreal by offering cheap housing and industrial jobs. Mostly French Canadian laborers make trains, airplanes, tanks and even submarines. The brothers Oscar and Marius Dufresne, enriched by the immense shoe-manufacturing business founded by their parents.

At the dawn of the 20th Century, industrialists and real estate developers attract a vast working class to the east side of the island of Montreal by offering cheap housing and industrial jobs. Mostly French Canadian laborers make trains, airplanes, tanks and even submarines. The brothers Oscar and Marius Dufresne, enriched by the immense shoe-manufacturing business founded by their parents.

In May 1642 the French officer Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, founds, with Jeanne Mance, one of the great port cities of North America. Following the collapse of New France, waves of immigrants arrive from the British Isles. John Molson brews beer and develops the steamboat. After a golden age as a cereal exporter, the great port and its city slide into a long decline.

In May 1642 the French officer Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, founds, with Jeanne Mance, one of the great port cities of North America. Following the collapse of New France, waves of immigrants arrive from the British Isles. John Molson brews beer and develops the steamboat. After a golden age as a cereal exporter, the great port and its city slide into a long decline.