Laval

Laval is a Canadian city in southwestern Quebec, north of Montreal. It forms its own administrative region of Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the thirteenth largest city in Canada with a population of 422,993 in 2016.

Laval is geographically separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from the Island of Montreal to the south by the Rivière des Prairies. Laval occupies all of Île Jésus as well as the Îles Laval.

Laval's diverse economy is centered around the technology, pharmaceutical, industrial and retail sectors. It has many pharmaceutical laboratories but also stone quarries and a persistent agricultural sector. Long seen as a bedroom community, Laval has diversified its economy, especially in the retail sector, developing numerous shopping malls, warehouses, and various retail stores. Laval has four different industrial parks.

The first is Industrial Park Centre, in the heart of Laval at the corner of St. Martin West and Industriel Blvd. One of the largest municipal industrial parks in Quebec, the Industrial Park Centre boasts the highest concentration of manufacturing companies in Laval: 1,024 at last count, and 22,378 employees. The park still has 1,300,643 m2 (14,000,005 sq ft) of space available.

The second, the Autoroute 25 Industrial Park is at the crossroads of the metropolitan road network. Inaugurated in 2001, this new industrial municipal space has been a tremendous success, boasting an 80% occupancy rate. Laval is studying the possibility of expanding this park in the next few years.

The third, known as Industrial Park East, is in the neighborhood of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. This park has reached full capacity with a 100% occupancy rate. Industrial Park East is currently part of a municipal program to revitalize municipal services and public utilities. Laval is working with a private developer on an expansion project for the park that should be announced in the near future.

The fourth industrial park, the Laval Science, and High Technology Park are located along Rivière des Prairies and Autoroute 15. It is an internationally renowned science campus that houses the Biotech City and the Information Technology Development Centre (ITDC). The Laval Science and High Technology Park is a beacon of the metropolitan economy, in an environment befitting the best technopolises in the world. Nearly 500,000 square metres (5,400,000 sq ft) of space are available for development. The Biotech City spans the entire territory of the Laval Science and High Technology Park and is a unique concept in Canada in that its residents comprise both universities and companies.