Anjou or Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier for a family: schools, parks, commutes and compromises (2026)

Living · Family duel · Anjou or Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier · October 13, 2026

Two neighbouring areas seen with children: schools, parks, commutes, and the compromise that decides between Anjou and Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier.

Anjou or Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier for a family, side by side. Anjou: The borough falls under the Centre de services scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île and the English Montreal School Board. No metro until the Blue Line arrives: Anjou is lived by car, and the bus is the only public transit. Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier: The borough falls under the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal and the English Montreal School Board; Cégep de Maisonneuve is in the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood is still changing: some streets are renovated, others not, and choosing the street matters as much as the house. For families who want a suburban house with a garage without leaving the island, next to the highways, the Galeries and the parks; for those who work in Laval, on the North Shore or in the industrial east. For those who want a house or a plex on the island under $700,000, the metro on foot and the Olympic Park as a backyard; for first-time buyers aiming east rather than the South Shore.

Anjou or Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier for a family: two neighbouring areas, the same questions on both sides. Schools, parks, commutes and the compromise each one asks of a family, taken from our neighbourhood guides and from what families tell us after the visits. The figures are those published by the APCIQ for the second quarter of 2026; nothing is embellished.

Anjou with children

Schools in Anjou

• The borough falls under the Centre de services scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île and the English Montreal School Board.
• Hôpital Santa Cabrini and Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont are the nearest hospitals; the Anjou CLSC is on site.

Parks and neighbourhood life in Anjou

• Parc Lucie-Bruneau and Parc Goncourt are the large green spaces; Parc Roger-Rousseau, with its arena and pool, is the sports centre; the Hydro-Québec corridor bike path crosses the borough.
• The Galeries d'Anjou, boulevard des Galeries-d'Anjou and boulevard Joseph-Renaud concentrate the shops; the industrial park is a local job pool.

Commutes from Anjou

• Anjou has no metro yet: buses on Joseph-Renaud, des Galeries-d'Anjou and Jarry reach Radisson, Langelier and Honoré-Beaugrand stations (green line).

What a family has to accept in Anjou

• No metro until the Blue Line arrives: Anjou is lived by car, and the bus is the only public transit.
• No neighbourhood shopping street: shops are in malls and along the boulevards.

Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier with children

Schools in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier

• The borough falls under the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal and the English Montreal School Board; Cégep de Maisonneuve is in the neighbourhood.
• Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont is next door to the north; Hôpital Santa Cabrini serves Mercier.

Parks and neighbourhood life in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier

• The Olympic Park (Stadium, Biodôme, Planetarium), the Botanical Garden and Parc Maisonneuve form the east's largest leisure complex; Parc Morgan, Parc Champêtre and Mercier's riverside parks complete it, with the Bellerive promenade along the river.
• Promenade Ontario, rue Sainte-Catherine East, Maisonneuve Market and rue Hochelaga concentrate the shops.

Commutes from Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier

• The green line serves the borough west to east at Pie-IX, Viau, Joliette, Préfontaine, Cadillac, Langelier, Radisson and Honoré-Beaugrand; the Radisson terminus links the South Shore through the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine bridge-tunnel.

What a family has to accept in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier

• The neighbourhood is still changing: some streets are renovated, others not, and choosing the street matters as much as the house.
• The port, rail lines and Notre-Dame Street bring noise and heavy traffic to the southern streets.

Head to head, for a family

Our verdict

Anjou: For families who want a suburban house with a garage without leaving the island, next to the highways, the Galeries and the parks; for those who work in Laval, on the North Shore or in the industrial east. Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier: For those who want a house or a plex on the island under $700,000, the metro on foot and the Olympic Park as a backyard; for first-time buyers aiming east rather than the South Shore.

The compromise that most often decides between the two, seen with children. On one side, no metro until the Blue Line arrives: Anjou is lived by car, and the bus is the only public transit. On the other, the neighbourhood is still changing: some streets are renovated, others not, and choosing the street matters as much as the house. The family that accepts one of the two more easily has found its neighbourhood. The full family portrait of each is in Living in Anjou with a family and Living in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier with a family; the general duel, all profiles together, is in Anjou or Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier: the pros and cons.

What to check street by street before choosing

• The school catchment of the exact address, elementary and high school, with the school service centre: it changes from one street to the next in both areas.
• The real commute on a Tuesday morning, with the detour by the daycare or the school, from each shortlisted street.
• The flood zone and insurability, if the street is near a river, a canal or the St. Lawrence.
• Noise at rush hour: highway, rail line, flight corridor, commercial artery, schoolyard.

Frequently asked questions

Written by the Loaa & Manseur team from our Living in Anjou and Living in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Mercier guides and from what families tell us after the visits; no figure is added to those published by the APCIQ, and ranking schools is not our trade. The other neighbourhood duels seen with children are in neighbourhood against neighbourhood for a family.

Our proof, not our promises

The Loaa & Manseur team, led by Lotfi Manseur and Loaa Al Daow, is the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 of large residential teams according to the official RE/MAX ranking, computed on actual transactions. Its Google profile counts more than 220 reviews with a 4.9 rating. Its offices are at 55 avenue de l'Équinoxe in Brossard, one bridge from the island, and every broker's licence can be checked in the OACIQ public register. Three things to verify yourself before calling us, and to demand of any other broker.

Also available in French: version française de ce guide.

Published September 7, 2026 by the Loaa & Manseur team, the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 according to the official RE/MAX ranking. Tell us about your project.