Mirabel, Quebec


Mirabel is a suburb of Montreal, located on the North Shore in southern Quebec.
Mirabel is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality and census division of Quebec, coextensive with the city of Mirabel. Its geographical code is 74. Prior to 2002, Mirabel was not only a city but also comprised the Mirabel Regional County Municipality.
The city is home to Montréal–Mirabel International Airport.

History

Mirabel was formed through the expropriation of private lands and the merger of 8 municipalities in 1971. The former municipalities were : Saint-Augustin ; Saint-Benoît ; Saint-Hermas ; Saint-Janvier-de-Blainville ; Sainte-Scholastique ; Saint-Canut ; Sainte-Monique, and Saint-Janvier-de-la-Croix. Initially called Ville de Sainte-Scholastique but renamed Mirabel in 1973, the city was planned to become a vast transportation and industrial hub for Eastern Canada, with Montréal–Mirabel International Airport at its centre.
Montréal–Mirabel International Airport, which opened in 1975, never became a major aviation hub and the industrial parks never materialized, and in 2004, the airport closed to all scheduled commercial passenger traffic. It continues to operate as a cargo airport and handles a few charter passenger flights.
In 2000, about of Mirabel's territory was annexed by Lachute.

Geography

Communities

Climate

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Mirabel had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.
In 2021, Mirabel was 91.8% white/European, 6.5% visible minorities and 1.7% Indigenous. The largest visible minority groups were Black, Arab, and Latin American.
63.9% of residents were Christian, down from 87% in 2011. 56.7% were Catholic, 5.2% were Christian n.o.s, 0.4% were Protestant and 1.6% belonged to other Christian denominations and Christian-related traditions. Of non-Catholic denominations, the largest is Christian Orthodox at 0.7%. 33.6% of residents were non-religious or secular, up from 12.2% in 2011. 2.5% belonged to other religions, up from 0.8% in 2011. The largest non-Christian religions were Islam and Buddhism.
90.8% of residents spoke French as their mother tongue. The next most common first languages were English, Spanish, Arabic, and Portuguese. 1.3% of residents listed both French and English as mother tongues, while 0.5% listed both French and a non-official language.
Mother TonguePopulationPercentage
French55,45090.8%
English1,5202.5%
English and French7801.3%
French and a non-official language2950.5%
English and a non-official language950.2%
English, French and a non-official language1100.2%
Spanish6151%
Arabic5750.9%
Portuguese2800.5%
Italian1550.3%
Romanian1250.2%
Dari1050.2%
Haitian Creole750.1%

Economy

produces the Airbus A220 at the Montréal–Mirabel International Airport.
Bell Textron has its major commercial helicopter manufacturing and final assembly plant near the airport.
HydroSerre Mirabel has its headquarters in the town.
Until early 2021, Bombardier Aviation produced several models in its Bombardier CRJ700 series regional jet airliners at a plant near the airport.

Sports

In 2023, the city inaugurated a brand new aquatic complex called the Centre aquatique de Mirabel. With a capacity of up to 700 swimmers, the new facility, valued at $37.78 million, offers residents a 25-metre competitive pool with 10 lanes, a recreational pool, a paddling pool, water games and a slide.

Government

At the federal level, the city of Mirabel is part of the federal riding of Mirabel. Its Member of Parliament is Jean-Denis Garon of the Bloc Québécois. The city is also part of the Senate division of Mille-Isles. Its Senator is Claude Carignan of the Conservative Party. At the provincial level, most of Mirabel's territory is part of the provincial riding of Mirabel. Its Member of the National Assembly is Sylvie D'Amours of the Coalition Avenir Québec. However, the part of the municipality located east of Autoroute 15 is part of the riding of Les Plaines. It is represented by Lucie Lecours, also of the Coalition Avenir Québec.

Education

Centre de services scolaire des Mille-Îles

The Centre de services scolaire des Mille-Îles, which operates Francophone public schools, serves the following parts of Mirabel: Saint-Augustin, Saint-Benoît, Sainte-Scholastique and a portion of Domaine-Vert.
  • École primaire de la Clé-des-Champs
  • École primaire des Blés-Dorés
  • École primaire Girouard
  • École primaire Prés fleuris
  • École primaire Sainte-Scholastique
Other elementary schools serving sections of CCSMI Mirabel: Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption in Blainville and Terre-Soleil in Sainte-Thérèse. Secondary schools serving sections of CSSMI Mirabel: d'Oka in Oka, des Patriotes in Saint-Eustache, Henri-Dunant in Blainville, Jean-Jacques-Rousseau in Boisbriand, and Polyvalente Sainte-Thérèse in Sainte-Thérèse.
The area was formerly in the Commission scolaire de la Seigneurie-des-Mille-Îles.

Centre de services scolaire de la Rivière-du-Nord

The Centre de services scolaire de la Rivière-du-Nord operates Francophone public schools in other parts of Mirabel. They include:
  • Secondary schools:
  • *École secondaire de Mirabel
  • *Other secondary schools serving CSSRDN sections include Polyvalente Lavigne in Lachute and Cap-Jeunesse, Émilien-Frenette, Polyvalente Saint-Jérôme, and Saint-Stanlislas in Saint-Jérôme
  • Primary schools:
  • *du Parchemin
  • *à l'Unisson
  • *aux Quatre-Vents
  • *de la Croisée-des-Champs
  • *Mer-et-Monde
  • *Saint-Anne
  • *Saint-Hermas
  • *Other primary schools serving CSSRDN Mirabel include Dubois, de l'Horizon-Soleil, Prévost, Saint-Jean-Baptiste, and Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus in Saint-Jérôme and Jean-Moreau in Sainte-Sophie.
It was formerly in the Commission scolaire de la Rivière-du-Nord.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board

The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board operates anglophone public schools in the area around Mirabel.
Secondary schools serving portions of Mirabel include:
Primary schools serving portions of Mirabel include: