About the Old Port of Montréal

The Old Port of Montréal is a recreational tourism site that welcomes over 6 million visitors every year with a variety of recreational, nautical, and leisure activities. In operation for more than 25 years now, the site is home to the Montréal Science Centre and also features splendid terraces, an urban beach, and diverse programming filled with cultural, culinary, and musical events, including the internationally renowned Cirque du Soleil and Igloofest.

The Old Port is also a rich repository of history as a port and a maritime, technological, and industrial site. It holds significant heritage value for both Québec and Canada, located near Place Royale (where the City of Montréal was founded), “The Main” National Historic Site (Saint-Laurent Boulevard), and the Lachine Canal National Historic Site. One of the site’s iconic buildings, the Clock Tower, was erected between 1919 and 1922 to mark the entrance to the port and commemorate the sailors who were lost at sea during the First World War.