Mirabel is a city in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada. It is an off-island suburb north-west of Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

.

Mirabel is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census division (CD) of Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, coextensive with the city of Mirabel. Its geographical code is 74.

Mirabel's population was 34,626 in 2006

Canada 2006 Census

The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...

. It is currently the fastest growing city in Canada with a grow rate of 26.8 in the 2006 census. To compare, Calgary has a growing rate of 15%.

The city is home to Montréal-Mirabel International Airport

Montréal-Mirabel International Airport

Montréal-Mirabel International Airport, originally called Montréal International Airport and widely known simply as Mirabel is an airport located in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal and was opened October 4, 1975...

.

A recreation and tourist project, named Lac-Mirabel

Lac-Mirabel

Lac-Mirabel is a super-regional mall currently under construction in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada. Construction began on January 29, 2008 for of shops, a luxury hotel, and various sports installations. The mall will be anchored by Bass Pro Shops, an outdoor equipment superstore, and a Sears Canada...

, will be located in Mirabel. It will be an investment of $350 million and will create some 3200 jobs. The city will be served by commuter trains

Commuter rail in North America

Commuter rail services in the United States, Canada, and Mexico provide common carrier passenger transportation along railway tracks, with scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis primarily for short-distance travel between a central business district and adjacent suburbs and...

 of the Blainville-Saint-Jerome Line of the Agence métropolitaine de transport

Agence métropolitaine de transport

The Agence métropolitaine de transport is the umbrella organization that plans, integrates, and coordinates public transportation services across Canada's Greater Montreal Region, including the Island of Montreal, Laval , and communities along both the North Shore of the Rivière des Mille-Îles...

. Commuter trains to Montreal started to serve the Saint-Jérôme

Saint-Jérôme (AMT)

Saint-Jérôme is an intermodal bus and commuter train station in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, Canada.It serves bus routes operated by the CIT Laurentides, a suburban transit agency, and by two intercity bus companies. In addition to loading areas for buses, it includes a train platform which is used by the...

 station on Monday January 8, 2007, with four trains in each direction each business day. However, the Mirabel train station has not yet opened, due to delays in rezoning agricultural land for use as a train station.

History

Mirabel was formed through the expropriation of private lands and the merger of 8 municipalities in 1971. The former municipalities were (with their individual founding dates in brackets): Saint-Augustin (1855); Saint-Benoît (1855); Saint-Hermas (1855); Saint-Janvier-de-Blainville (1855); Sainte-Scholastique (1855); Saint-Canut (1857); Sainte-Monique (1872), and Saint-Janvier-de-la-Croix (1959). Initially called Ville de Sainte-Scholastique and renamed to 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.

The 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 passenger traffic.

In 2000, about 10 square kilometers of Mirabel's territory was annexed by Lachute.

Communities

• La Belle-Rivière
• La Chapelle
• Mirabel-en-Haut
• Petit St-Charles
• Saint-Augustin
• Saint-Benoît
  Saint-Benoît, Quebec
  The village of Saint-Benoît, Quebec was a municipality in Quebec until its amalgamation with neighboring towns in 1971 to form the town of Sainte-Scholastique, which was renamed Mirabel in 1973. The village was named after Saint Benedict of Nursia ....
  
  
• Saint-Canut
• Sainte-Monique
• Saint-Hermas
• Saint-Janvier
• Sainte-Scholastique
  Sainte-Scholastique, Quebec
  The village of Sainte-Scholastique, Quebec was the historic seat of Deux Montagnes County from 1834 until its amalgamation with neighboring towns in 1971. Two years later it was renamed as Mirabel, Quebec...
  
  

Demographics

Population:

• Population in 2006: 34,626
  • 2001 to 2006 population change: 26.8 %
• Population in 2001: 27,330
• Population in 1996: 22,689 (or 22,626 when adjusted for current boundary)
• Population in 1991: 17,971

Total private dwellings, excluding seasonal cottages: 12,714 (total: 13,161)

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 1.5 %
• French as first language: 96 %
• English and French as first language: 0.5 %
• Other as first language: 2 %

External links

• Ville de Mirabel Website (French only)