Jean-Talon Market is a farmer's market in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. Located in the Little Italy

Little Italy, Montreal

Montreal's Little Italy is located on Saint Laurent Boulevard between Jean-Talon and St. Zotique Streets and is home to one of Montreal's original Italian Canadian communities...

 district, the market is bordered by Jean-Talon Street to the north, Mozart Ave. to the south, Casgrain Ave. to the west and Henri-Julien Ave. to the east. It contains two city-maintained streets both called Place du Marché du Nord. The market is located between the Jean-Talon

Jean-Talon (Montreal Metro)

Jean-Talon is a station of the Montreal Metro rapid transit system, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal . It is located in the Little Italy district on the border between the boroughs of Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie and Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.It...

 and De Castelnau

De Castelnau (Montreal Metro)

De Castelnau is a station on the Blue Line of the Montreal Metro rapid transit system, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal . It is located in the Villeray district of the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Overview:It is a normal side platform...

 metro stations.

History

The market was opened to the public in 1933 while Camillien Houde

Camillien Houde

Camillien Houde was a Quebec politician, a Member of Parliament, and a four-time mayor of Montreal.-Political career:...

 was the city mayor. Before that, the space the market now occupies was a lacrosse

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

 field for the "Shamrock Lacrosse Grounds" club.

The market's single building (the chalet) quickly become the focal point for development of the area around it. From the opening until 1961, the chalet was used as a terminal for buses heading to the neighbouring city of Laval

Laval, Quebec

Laval is a Canadian city and a region in southwestern Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the 14th largest city in Canada with a population of 368,709 in 2006...

. Between 1961 and 1970 a municipal library and a social services centre replaced the bus station. Since then, the space was occupied by administrative offices.

Major renovations were undertaken in 2004 to handle the crowds that populate the market during the summer months. An underground parking lot was constructed, and an above ground structure was built over the underground parking area, to host 20 specialty boutiques.

Activities

The market is open year-round, even during Montreal's severe winters, although during this time walls are placed around the entire market area. During the peak summer period, between June and October, its open-air arcades are occupied by about 300 vendors, mostly farmers from the countryside around Montreal.

The open air market is surrounded by other food businesses: meat, fish and cheese stores, bulk food emporia, dealers in spices and imported goods, bakeries, restaurants and a branch of the SAQ

Société des alcools du Québec

The Société des alcools du Québec , often abbreviated and referred to as SAQ, is a provincial Crown corporation in Quebec.-Organization:...

, among others.

Stores surrounding the open-air market include:
La Fromagerie Hamel
William J. Walter boucherie
Les Touilleurs kitchenware

Since July 15, 2006 vehicles are banned from circulating inside the market's streets during the summer weekends.

External links

• Marchés Publics de Montréal, the agency that runs Montreal-area farmer's markets