Living · Family duel · Boucherville or Sainte-Julie and Varennes · October 13, 2026
Two neighbouring areas seen with children: schools, parks, commutes, and the compromise that decides between Boucherville and Sainte-Julie and Varennes.
Boucherville or Sainte-Julie and Varennes for a family, side by side. Boucherville: French network: Centre de services scolaire des Patriotes; English: Riverside. Boucherville is lived by car: no train or metro, and the tunnel-bridge or highway 20 at rush hour. Sainte-Julie and Varennes: Both towns fall under the Centre de services scolaire des Patriotes and the Riverside School Board, with high schools on site. No train or metro: both cities are lived by car, via highways 20 and 30. For families who want mature trees, neighbourhood schools and a national park next door, and who can act fast: with 6 % fewer homes listed than a year earlier, the right house goes in days. For families who want a planned suburb with Mont Saint-Bruno next door (Sainte-Julie) or an old riverside town with industrial jobs (Varennes), and accept the car.
Boucherville or Sainte-Julie and Varennes 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.
| Boucherville | Sainte-Julie and Varennes | |
|---|---|---|
| Schools | French network: Centre de services scolaire des Patriotes; English: Riverside. | Both towns fall under the Centre de services scolaire des Patriotes and the Riverside School Board, with high schools on site. |
| Parks | The Îles-de-Boucherville National Park, reached via the Highway 25 bridge, offers cycling, kayaking and trails minutes from the houses; the old village and its riverfront promenade, neighbourhood parks and bike paths complete the picture. | Mont-Saint-Bruno national park (trails, lakes, skiing) is at Sainte-Julie's door; in Varennes, the riverside promenade, Parc de la Commune and the Varennes islands. |
| Commutes | Highway 20 and the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel lead to Montreal; Route 132 follows the river toward Longueuil. | No station or metro: exo Sainte-Julie and Varennes buses reach the Longueuil terminus (Longueuil–Université-de-Sherbrooke metro) via Highway 20 with reserved lanes, and the REM in Brossard via the 30. |
| The market in 2026 | n/a | The QPAREB's Sainte-Julie/Varennes sector shows a single-family home at $630,000 (flat year over year, +49 % in five years) sold in 22 days, with 157 active listings, and a condo at $391,000 (+6 %, +61 % in five years, the South Shore's strongest rise) in 28 days with 81 listings. |
| For which family | For families who want mature trees, neighbourhood schools and a national park next door, and who can act fast: with 6 % fewer homes listed than a year earlier, the right house goes in days. | For families who want a planned suburb with Mont Saint-Bruno next door (Sainte-Julie) or an old riverside town with industrial jobs (Varennes), and accept the car. |
Boucherville: For families who want mature trees, neighbourhood schools and a national park next door, and who can act fast: with 6 % fewer homes listed than a year earlier, the right house goes in days. Sainte-Julie and Varennes: For families who want a planned suburb with Mont Saint-Bruno next door (Sainte-Julie) or an old riverside town with industrial jobs (Varennes), and accept the car.
The compromise that most often decides between the two, seen with children. On one side, boucherville is lived by car: no train or metro, and the tunnel-bridge or highway 20 at rush hour. On the other, no train or metro: both cities are lived by car, via highways 20 and 30. The family that accepts one of the two more easily has found its neighbourhood. The full family portrait of each is in Living in Boucherville with a family and Living in Sainte-Julie and Varennes with a family; the general duel, all profiles together, is in Boucherville or Sainte-Julie and Varennes: the pros and cons.
For families who want mature trees, neighbourhood schools and a national park next door, and who can act fast: with 6 % fewer homes listed than a year earlier, the right house goes in days. For families who want a planned suburb with Mont Saint-Bruno next door (Sainte-Julie) or an old riverside town with industrial jobs (Varennes), and accept the car. The area whose compromise bothers you least is the right one.
French network: Centre de services scolaire des Patriotes; English: Riverside. Both towns fall under the Centre de services scolaire des Patriotes and the Riverside School Board, with high schools on site. No page replaces checking the school catchment of the exact address.
Highway 20 and the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel lead to Montreal; Route 132 follows the river toward Longueuil. No station or metro: exo Sainte-Julie and Varennes buses reach the Longueuil terminus (Longueuil–Université-de-Sherbrooke metro) via Highway 20 with reserved lanes, and the REM in Brossard via the 30. Do both commutes once, on a Tuesday morning, before deciding.
Written by the Loaa & Manseur team from our Living in Boucherville and Living in Sainte-Julie and Varennes 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.
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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.
Équipe no 1 de RE/MAX Platine en 2024 et en 2025, 6e au Québec, 15e au Canada et dans le top 50 mondial au classement officiel RE/MAX. Réponse en moins de 24 heures, sept jours sur sept.