Laval (Québec)

Laval is a Canadian city in southwestern Quebec, north of Montreal. It forms its own administrative region of Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the thirteenth largest city in Canada with a population of 422,993 in 2016.Laval is geographically separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from the Island of Montreal to the south by the Rivière des Prairies. Laval occupies all of Île Jésus as well as the Îles Laval.Laval constitutes region 13 of the 17 administrative regions of Quebec as well as a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census division (CD) with geographical code 65. It also constitutes the judicial district of Laval.HistoryThe first European Settlers were Jesuits in 1636 when they were granted a seigneury there. Agriculture first appeared in Laval in 1670. In 1675, François de Montmorency-Laval gained control of the seigneury. In 1702 a parish municipality was founded, and dedicated to Saint-François de Sales (not to be confused with the modern-day Saint-François-de-Sales in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean).