Living · Family duel · Notre-Dame-de-Grâce or Montreal's Sud-Ouest · October 13, 2026
Two neighbouring areas seen with children: schools, parks, commutes, and the compromise that decides between Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Montreal's Sud-Ouest.
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce or Montreal's Sud-Ouest for a family, side by side. Notre-Dame-de-Grâce: The neighbourhood falls under the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal and the English Montreal School Board, with several English and private high schools nearby; Concordia's Loyola campus and Villa Maria College are in the neighbourhood. A house costs $1.25 million: NDG is no longer an entry neighbourhood, and the plex condo is the alternative. Montreal's Sud-Ouest: The borough falls under the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal and the English Montreal School Board; the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) is in Griffintown. Griffintown: density, construction, few trees and schools, and new condos that resell slowly against the supply. For families who want a brick house, a quiet street, the metro, English and French schools and a bilingual neighbourhood: NDG is the first address for newcomers from Ontario and MUHC professionals. For those who want downtown on foot with a new condo and services (Griffintown), or a plex and a restaurant street by the canal (Saint-Henri, Little Burgundy), or an affordable house near a metro station (Ville-Émard, Côte-Saint-Paul).
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce or Montreal's Sud-Ouest 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.
| Notre-Dame-de-Grâce | Montreal's Sud-Ouest | |
|---|---|---|
| Schools | The neighbourhood falls under the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal and the English Montreal School Board, with several English and private high schools nearby; Concordia's Loyola campus and Villa Maria College are in the neighbourhood. | The borough falls under the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal and the English Montreal School Board; the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) is in Griffintown. |
| Parks | Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Park is the neighbourhood's green heart, with its fields and skating rink; Loyola, Trenholme and Girouard parks add to it; Mount Royal and Westmount Park are neighbours. | The Lachine Canal, with its bike path and riverside parks, is the borough's leisure axis; Parc Angrignon, to the west, is one of the island's large parks; Atwater Market is one of Montreal's public markets. |
| Commutes | The orange line serves NDG at Villa-Maria and Vendôme; Vendôme is also an exo train station (Vaudreuil-Hudson and Candiac lines) connected to the MUHC. | The orange line serves the borough at Lionel-Groulx (transfer to the green line), Place-Saint-Henri and Charlevoix (Pointe-Saint-Charles), then the green line at Monk, Jolicoeur and Verdun westward. |
| The market in 2026 | NDG is one of the rare central neighbourhoods where the single-family home is a real market (94 active listings in Q2): $1,247,000 median, down 5 % year over year and 1 % over twelve months, at 49 days on market. | In the APCIQ's breakdown, the sector includes Verdun (excluding Nuns' Island). |
| For which family | For families who want a brick house, a quiet street, the metro, English and French schools and a bilingual neighbourhood: NDG is the first address for newcomers from Ontario and MUHC professionals. | For those who want downtown on foot with a new condo and services (Griffintown), or a plex and a restaurant street by the canal (Saint-Henri, Little Burgundy), or an affordable house near a metro station (Ville-Émard, Côte-Saint-Paul). |
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce: For families who want a brick house, a quiet street, the metro, English and French schools and a bilingual neighbourhood: NDG is the first address for newcomers from Ontario and MUHC professionals. Montreal's Sud-Ouest: For those who want downtown on foot with a new condo and services (Griffintown), or a plex and a restaurant street by the canal (Saint-Henri, Little Burgundy), or an affordable house near a metro station (Ville-Émard, Côte-Saint-Paul).
The compromise that most often decides between the two, seen with children. On one side, a house costs $1.25 million: NDG is no longer an entry neighbourhood, and the plex condo is the alternative. On the other, griffintown: density, construction, few trees and schools, and new condos that resell slowly against the supply. The family that accepts one of the two more easily has found its neighbourhood. The full family portrait of each is in Living in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG) with a family and Living in Montreal's Sud-Ouest with a family; the general duel, all profiles together, is in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce or Montreal's Sud-Ouest: the pros and cons.
For families who want a brick house, a quiet street, the metro, English and French schools and a bilingual neighbourhood: NDG is the first address for newcomers from Ontario and MUHC professionals. For those who want downtown on foot with a new condo and services (Griffintown), or a plex and a restaurant street by the canal (Saint-Henri, Little Burgundy), or an affordable house near a metro station (Ville-Émard, Côte-Saint-Paul). The area whose compromise bothers you least is the right one.
The neighbourhood falls under the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal and the English Montreal School Board, with several English and private high schools nearby; Concordia's Loyola campus and Villa Maria College are in the neighbourhood. The borough falls under the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal and the English Montreal School Board; the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) is in Griffintown. No page replaces checking the school catchment of the exact address.
The orange line serves NDG at Villa-Maria and Vendôme; Vendôme is also an exo train station (Vaudreuil-Hudson and Candiac lines) connected to the MUHC. The orange line serves the borough at Lionel-Groulx (transfer to the green line), Place-Saint-Henri and Charlevoix (Pointe-Saint-Charles), then the green line at Monk, Jolicoeur and Verdun westward. Do both commutes once, on a Tuesday morning, before deciding.
Written by the Loaa & Manseur team from our Living in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG) and Living in Montreal's Sud-Ouest 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.
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.
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.