PréfontaineMontréal
It is one of 77 neighbourhoods of Montréal. It is a neighbourhood of 16,542 residents in Montréal.
Is Préfontaine a good place to live?
Strong in places, weak in others. Its weakest is cost of living (D−). Préfontaine’s overall C− puts it #450 of 499 in Quebec. That leaves it better than just over a fifth of Canadian towns. Jobs & income is weaker too (D). Health is where it shines (A).
Rents here are the metro area's average, shared by every town and neighbourhood in it. Safety less sure: this is the whole city's figure, because the city doesn't publish open neighbourhood crime rates. No School Grade: this province doesn't publish comparable results school by school. Health is graded on the health region's survey figures and life expectancy, with the distance to hospital giving the town its own spread.
How Préfontaine grades
Each subject compares Préfontaine with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
What makes Préfontaine stand out
The 3 things Préfontaine does most differently from other towns.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Préfontaine.
Rent takes more of local pay in Préfontaine than in Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: 28% of household income
Shared with the rest of the Montréal metro area: rent as a share of income and monthly rent for a two-bedroom
Shelter took 30% or more of income for nearly a quarter of households, above Quebec’s towns (13%) and Canadian towns (18%) alike. Owners put the median home at $400,000, about level with Canadian towns ($406,000) and above Quebec’s towns ($300,000).
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | Préfontaine | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent as a share of income | 28% | 18% | 20% |
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 24% | 13% | 18% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · Home values are owners’ own estimates at the May 2021 census, and incomes are for 2020.
Préfontaine scores better for health than nine in ten Canadian towns
Across the region, 54% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Quebec as a whole reaches 57%. Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure affect 14% of the region’s adults on average, below both Quebec’s towns (15%) and Canadian towns (17%). Life expectancy in the region is 83.4 years (85.5 for women, 81.2 for men, 2022/2024). Measured from where Préfontaine’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 0.8 km away, under the typical 3.7 km.
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | Préfontaine | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chronic conditions (average share) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Life expectancy at birth | 83.4 | 82.5 | 81.5 |
| Very good or excellent health | 54% | 56% | 52% |
| Smokers | 13% | 12% | 12% |
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities · Health survey and life expectancy: one figure for all of the Région de Montréal
Trips to work from Préfontaine take longer than from Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: 32 min on average
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | Préfontaine | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 32 min | 27 min | 26 min |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so commuting and work figures carry the lockdowns’ mark.
Hazards in Préfontaine: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 6.8% of tested homes
Source area for radon tests: the Montreal health region · Area-wide: earthquake risk, counted over the city of Montréal
Averaged over the years, quake damage costs $0.20 per $1,000 of buildings, above Quebec’s towns ($0.14) and Canadian towns ($0.030) alike. Wildfire is rare near Préfontaine: 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.002% a year. No one has filed a flood map for Préfontaine on the national inventory.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | Préfontaine | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.20 | $0.14 | $0.030 |
| Radon tests above the guideline | 6.8% | 8.2% | 6.6% |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory
The force covering Préfontaine records more serious violence than Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns, at 116
The index for the force that serves it came to 80, above both Quebec’s towns (56) and Canadian towns (67). Where it is policed, 15.4 violent incidents per 1,000 residents are recorded each year. Across its police area, there are 29.1 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. For Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000, the only official count covers all of the Montréal service area, Préfontaine included.
Year by year · Crime Severity Index for each year
| 2023–2025 | Préfontaine | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime Severity Index | 116 | 88 | 86 |
| Crime Severity Index | 80 | 56 | 67 |
| Violent crime | 15.4 | 12.4 | 12 |
| Property crime per 1,000 | 29.1 | 16.6 | 31.2 |
Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2023–2025 average
Afternoon heat in Préfontaine beats that of 78% of Canadian towns
A normal winter brings 217 cm of snow, about level with Quebec’s towns (217 cm) and above Canadian towns (141 cm). Gardeners get 167 frost-free days, from 29 April to 14 October. Most of the snow comes in January, about 52 cm. Rain and snow peak in October, at 103 mm.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | Préfontaine | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowfall a year | 217 cm | 217 cm | 141 cm |
| July afternoon high | 26.7°C | 26.5°C | 25.5°C |
| Days with frost a year | 146 | 161 | 159 |
| Precipitation a year | 1,041 mm | 1,041 mm | 883 mm |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Montréal Trudeau (Airport))
More people in Préfontaine speak English and French than in Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: 66%
Children under 15 make up 10%, below Quebec’s towns (17%) and Canadian towns (16%) alike. 10% of residents are 65 or over.
Ages · Share of residents in each age group, Census 2021
Schooling · Highest qualification, residents 15 and over
Women and men · all residents
46.3% of Préfontaine’s residents are women
7,655 women and 8,875 men at the 2021 census; across Canada, women are 50.9%.
| Préfontaine | Quebec | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 10% | 17% | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 79% | 62% | 64% |
| 65+ | 10% | 20% | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 12% | 19% | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 73% | 59% | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; Quebec and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
A normal November in Préfontaine runs from −2°C to 6°C
The month after, December, normally sees −1°C afternoons and −9°C nights. A normal November brings 84 mm of rain and snow. November usually brings some 16 cm of snow. ECCC’s forecast for Montréal is on the Weather page, hour by hour.
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | −3°C | −12°C | 243 mm |
| Spring | 11°C | 1°C | 253 mm |
| Summer | 26°C | 15°C | 268 mm |
| Autumn | 13°C | 5°C | 277 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (Montréal Trudeau (Airport)); the forecast is on the Weather page
At 6.5 visits per person served, Montréal public library is busier than four in five Quebec’s town libraries
The library figures on this page are Montréal’s: Montréal public library serves all 1,948,747 people of the city, Préfontaine among them.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
5.8 km from Préfontaine to Îles-de-Boucherville National Park (Québec)
9.9 km out lies the largest, Bassin de la Prairie (Grand Herbier) Water Fowl Gathering Area, at 903 ha. 20 protected areas lie within 10 km. The nearest national park is more than 100 km away. 4.5% of the land and water within 10 km is protected (the typical Canadian town: 2.3%).
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | Préfontaine | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 4.5% | 4.9% | 2.3% |
| Public protected areas within 10 km | 9 | 10 | 4 |
Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches
76 schools serve Préfontaine, 58 elementary schools, 17 secondary schools and 1 school for every grade
Schooling in English is on offer at 4 of 76; in Quebec, one in ten schools teach in it. The schools around it answer to 2 boards, about level with Quebec’s towns (2) and below Canadian towns (3).
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| École Notre-Dame-de-l'AssomptionIn PréfontaineElementary | Elementary | – | French public |
| Collège Ville-Marie IndependentNearest secondary school, 0 kmSecondary | Secondary | – | Independent |
| Collège Vincent Massey EnglishTeaches in EnglishSecondary | Secondary | – | English public |
Schools by system · Schools within 3 km
| Schools within 3 km | Préfontaine | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| School boards | 2 | 2 | 3 |
Provincial school lists and results, 2025-26 · Why no schools grade in Quebec? The ministry publishes its success rates by school service centre, not school by school.
Préfontaine keeps its older homes: 50% from before 1961
The registers list 1 historic place inside the town, and it carries the highest designation.
Historic places by designation · inside the town
Among them
- Château Dufresne 1915
| Heritage | Préfontaine | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1961 | 50% | 21% | 18% |
Canadian Register of Historic Places, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel, Wikidata; Census 2021 homes by period
Everything we know about Préfontaine
Musée Dufresne-Nincheri and 131 more in and around Préfontaine
Sights in Préfontaine and close by, ordered by how widely each is known.
MuseumMusée Dufresne-Nincheriin town
Big drawMuseumMontreal Museum of Fine Arts4.9 km outside town, to the south · 1M visitors a year
MuseumMontréal Insectarium800 m outside town, to the northwest · 350K visitors a year (2011)
GardenMontréal Botanical Garden1 km outside town, to the northwest
CathedralMarie-Reine-du-Monde Cathedral4.7 km outside town, to the south
MuseumMusée d'art contemporain de Montréal3.7 km outside town, to the south · 54K visitors a yearPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (6)
- Musée Dufresne-Nincheri: Rikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts: Thomas Ledl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Montréal Insectarium: Creator: James David Rogers, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Montréal Botanical Garden: GarrettRock at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Marie-Reine-du-Monde Cathedral: Wilfredor, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal: Jeangagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
About Préfontaine
Neighbourhood in Montréal
No official boundary marks Préfontaine off from the rest of Montréal: TownRatings draws it from the census’s dissemination areas and takes its name from the city’s map or OpenStreetMap.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 16,542 (people, 2021 estimate)
- Province or territory
- Quebec
- City
- Montréal
- Census subdivision
- 2466023
Préfontaine’s neighbours
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Statistics Canada
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Préfontaine | 16,542 | — | C− | D− | C | A |
| Hochelaga | 11,355 | 0.9 | C− | D− | C | A |
| Petite-Côte | 17,196 | 1.1 | C | D | C | A |
| Maisonneuve | 20,651 | 1.4 | C− | D− | C | A |
| Sainte-Marie | 33,699 | 2 | C− | D− | C | A |
| Vieux-Rosemont | 28,353 | 2 | C− | D− | C | A |
| Lorimier | 19,935 | 2.1 | C | D− | C | A |
People: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Distances: centre to centre.
Questions about Préfontaine
Do people in Préfontaine speak French?
French comes first: 30.2% speak it alone, while 66% manage both languages (Canadian towns: 8%).
How old are the people of Préfontaine?
The median resident is 34.4 years old, against 45.2 for the median of Canadian towns. 10% are under 15 and 10% are 65 or over.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155) and 2021 census boundaries · Uniform Crime Reporting Survey 2023–25 (35-10-0026, 35-10-0183 to 35-10-0190) · CMHC rents as published by Statistics Canada (34-10-0133) · grades by TownRatings. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).