Living · Family duel · Pointe-Claire or Saint-Laurent · October 13, 2026
Two neighbouring areas seen with children: schools, parks, commutes, and the compromise that decides between Pointe-Claire and Saint-Laurent.
Pointe-Claire or Saint-Laurent for a family, side by side. Pointe-Claire: The town falls under the Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys and the Lester B. The entry price is high ($820,000 median) and the high end gets negotiated for a long time. Saint-Laurent: The borough falls under the Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys and the English Montreal School Board; the Cégep de Saint-Laurent and Vanier College are both on the territory. Vast and contrasted: industrial sectors, wide boulevards, few neighbourhood shopping streets; you get around by car. For bilingual or anglophone families who want a complete town (hospital, stations, shopping centre, lakefront) and accept a high entry price; for newcomers from Ontario and airport and head-office employees. For those who work in the west or at the Technoparc and want the REM or the metro on foot; for families looking for a planned neighbourhood with parks and townhouses (Bois-Franc); for a condo buyer who wants choice and time.
Pointe-Claire or Saint-Laurent 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.
| Pointe-Claire | Saint-Laurent | |
|---|---|---|
| Schools | The town falls under the Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys and the Lester B. | The borough falls under the Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys and the English Montreal School Board; the Cégep de Saint-Laurent and Vanier College are both on the territory. |
| Parks | The Village and its point on the lake (the windmill, Saint-Joachim church, the riverside parks of chemin du Bord-du-Lac), Terra-Cotta park and its trails, the Pointe-Claire aquatic centre and library are the leisure landmarks; Fairview Pointe-Claire and boulevard Saint-Jean concentrate the shops, Bord-du-Lac the restaurants. | Parc Marcel-Laurin and its woodland, the Bois-Franc parks with their basins, Parc Beaudet and Parc Noël-Sud are the large spaces; the Saint-Laurent sports complex, the Raymond-Bourque arena and the Bibliothèque du Boisé, awarded for its architecture, are the flagship facilities. |
| Commutes | Three exo Vaudreuil-Hudson line stations (Pointe-Claire, Cedar Park, Valois) lead to Central Station; the Fairview terminus is the West Island's bus hub. | Two orange-line stations, Côte-Vertu (terminus) and Du Collège, serve the centre; the REM stops at Bois-Franc, Du Ruisseau and Montpellier (Deux-Montagnes branch), with downtown a few stations away. |
| The market in 2026 | The West Island South sector is an expensive, stable house market: an $820,000 median in Q2 2026, slightly down (-2 %) and only +13 % in five years, the island's west's weakest gain, with 325 active listings and 38 days on market. | Saint-Laurent is the island sector where the single-family home rose most year over year in Q2 2026: a $988,750 median, +22 % in a year (but only +12 % in five years), with 148 active listings and 43 days on market; the rise comes from the mix of sales, driven by Bois-Franc and the north, more than from a street-by-street surge. |
| For which family | For bilingual or anglophone families who want a complete town (hospital, stations, shopping centre, lakefront) and accept a high entry price; for newcomers from Ontario and airport and head-office employees. | For those who work in the west or at the Technoparc and want the REM or the metro on foot; for families looking for a planned neighbourhood with parks and townhouses (Bois-Franc); for a condo buyer who wants choice and time. |
Pointe-Claire: For bilingual or anglophone families who want a complete town (hospital, stations, shopping centre, lakefront) and accept a high entry price; for newcomers from Ontario and airport and head-office employees. Saint-Laurent: For those who work in the west or at the Technoparc and want the REM or the metro on foot; for families looking for a planned neighbourhood with parks and townhouses (Bois-Franc); for a condo buyer who wants choice and time.
The compromise that most often decides between the two, seen with children. On one side, the entry price is high ($820,000 median) and the high end gets negotiated for a long time. On the other, vast and contrasted: industrial sectors, wide boulevards, few neighbourhood shopping streets; you get around by car. The family that accepts one of the two more easily has found its neighbourhood. The full family portrait of each is in Living in Pointe-Claire with a family and Living in Saint-Laurent (Montreal) with a family; the general duel, all profiles together, is in Pointe-Claire or Saint-Laurent: the pros and cons.
For bilingual or anglophone families who want a complete town (hospital, stations, shopping centre, lakefront) and accept a high entry price; for newcomers from Ontario and airport and head-office employees. For those who work in the west or at the Technoparc and want the REM or the metro on foot; for families looking for a planned neighbourhood with parks and townhouses (Bois-Franc); for a condo buyer who wants choice and time. The area whose compromise bothers you least is the right one.
The town falls under the Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys and the Lester B. The borough falls under the Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys and the English Montreal School Board; the Cégep de Saint-Laurent and Vanier College are both on the territory. No page replaces checking the school catchment of the exact address.
Three exo Vaudreuil-Hudson line stations (Pointe-Claire, Cedar Park, Valois) lead to Central Station; the Fairview terminus is the West Island's bus hub. Two orange-line stations, Côte-Vertu (terminus) and Du Collège, serve the centre; the REM stops at Bois-Franc, Du Ruisseau and Montpellier (Deux-Montagnes branch), with downtown a few stations away. Do both commutes once, on a Tuesday morning, before deciding.
Written by the Loaa & Manseur team from our Living in Pointe-Claire and Living in Saint-Laurent (Montreal) 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.