Kirkland is primarily a residential community, with a commercial core, and an industrial park straddling the Trans-Canada Highway (Autoroute 40). In 1997, that portion of the Autoroute 40 was renamed to Félix-Leclerc Highway. The city is composed of mainly single-family residences, with some multi-unit facilities (apartments, town houses, and condos) available.
History
Jean-Baptiste-Jamme-Dit-Carrière House, built in 1760 along Boulevard Saint-Charles[5]
In the early 18th century settlement began of farming communities along Côte Saint-Charles (now Boulevard Saint-Charles). By 1731, Côte Saint-Charles had 19 farms, 12 houses, and 17 barns. It was part of the Parish of Saint-Joachim de la Pointe Claire, which included the present territory of the cities of Beaconsfield, Kirkland, and Pointe-Claire. The construction of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1855 brought further development.[6]
In 1845, the Municipality of Pointe-Claire was created, abolished two years later and restored in 1855 as the Parish Municipality of Saint-Joachim-de-la-Pointe-Claire (or just Pointe-Claire).[1] In 1910, Beaconsfield split off to form a separate town. In 1955, large portions of the parish municipality were annexed by the City of Pointe-Claire (originally the Village Municipality of Saint-Joachim-de-la-Pointe-Claire) and by the Parish of Sainte-Geneviève. Attempts in the late 1950s by the City of Beaconsfield to annex the municipality started the process to become a town.[6]
In March 1961, it changed status to become a ville (town/city) and took the name Kirkland. That same year, the construction began of the Trans-Canada Highway (Autoroute 40), completed in 1964.[6]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Kirkland had a population of 19,413 living in 6,666 of its 6,790 total private dwellings, a change of -3.7% from its 2016 population of 20,151. With a land area of 9.65 km2 (3.73 sq mi), it had a population density of 2,011.7/km2 (5,210.3/sq mi) in 2021.[9]
Canada census – Kirkland, Quebec community profile
The territory of the Town of Kirkland is divided into eight electoral districts. Each district is represented by a councillor elected by the voters of that district. The mayor is elected by all voters and represents the entire territory made up of eight-districts.[15]
It is a full-service community, with a public works department, recreation department, engineering department, accounting, communications, human resources and administrative services operating for the welfare of its citizens.
The present mayor is now Michel Gibson, who has been a member of the Kirkland City Council since the mid-1970s.
The Kirkland Public Library has an impressive collective of more than 80,000 volumes in French and English for adults, teens and children. The library also offers online database searching, children and adult programs, computer rooms, wireless Internet, inter-library loans, photocopying and reserved books.[17]
Parks, Green space and Sport facilities
Kirkland Sports Complex has an indoor gymnasium that offers badminton, basketball, floor hockey, volleyball and other indoor sport activities. As well as an arena for hockey, ringette, free or figure skating.[18]
Around the town there are multiple outdoor centres for soccer, baseball, tennis, football, basketball, beach volleyball and ice rinks as well as a 5 kilometre bike trail.[19] There is also a splash pad and community pool offered in this town. The splash pad and community pools make it possible for young and old alike to experience the joys of swimming. The splash pad is located the Harris park. The community pool is located at the Ecclestone park.
The Town of Kirkland has many halls and park chalets, which citizens, associations and organizations can rent out for different occasions or activities (banquets, meetings, parties, exhibits, shows, etc.):
Meades Park (on the same grounds as the sports complex)
Canvin Park
Kirkland Park
Robbie-Loftus Park
Park du Chablis
Park Syrah
Park Moreau
Park Fewtrell
Park Dance
Park Letarte
Special Events
Kirkland Day, which takes place mid-June, is a big outdoor annual festival celebrating the inauguration of the Town of Kirkland on March 24, 1961. The first Kirkland Day was held on June 20, 1970, at the dedication of Kirkland Park. Since then, Kirkland residents come out in great numbers every year to celebrate the town together.
Previously school districts were on religious grounds, but there was a law passed by the Quebec government that changed the school board system from denominational to linguistic.
Professional development centres:
Centre de formation professionnelle des métiers de la santé
Some areas are served by Sherbrooke Academy (junior and senior campuses) and Beacon Hill Elementary School in Beaconsfield, Clearpoint Elementary School in Pointe-Claire, and Kingsdale Academy in Pierrefonds-Roxboro[23]
The Federation of private schools, FEEP (La Féderation des establissements d'enseginement privés) operates bilingual (French/English) private schools in the area:[25]
Preschool, kindergarten, primary school and high school:
This article's list of residents may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are residents, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(April 2019)
