Louis de Buade de Frontenac granted a vast territory that includes present-day Blainville to elite members of society, lords ("seigneurs") or seigneurs, to promote the development of New France in 1683. The Seigneurie des Mille Îles (Lordship of the Thousand Islands) encompassed over 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi) along the northern shores of the Mille Îles River.
In 1792, a disagreement between Seigneur Hertel and Seigneuresse Lamarque resulted in a division of the seigneurial territory along what was then-called the Great Line (present-day Boulevard du Curé-Labelle or Quebec Route 117).[4]
On 14 June 1968, the parish of Sainte-Thérèse-de-Blainville was divided, and Blainville formed its own town consisting of mostly heretofore undeveloped land. In 2017, the municipality governed 54.62 square kilometres (21.09 sq mi) subdivided into eleven districts, maintained an independent police force with a budget in excess of 14 million CAD and more than 110 staff,[5] a fire department with over 70 firefighters, who since 2016 also serve the neighbouring municipality of Rosemère,[6] a library with three branches, an arena with two rinks, and an aquatic recreation centre.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Blainville had a population of 59,819 living in 22,424 of its 22,859 total private dwellings, a change of 5.2% from its 2016 population of 56,863. With a land area of 54.97 km2 (21.22 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,088.2/km2 (2,818.5/sq mi) in 2021. Over 8% of residents are under 15, whereas 67% are between 15 and 64 and 15% are over 65.[8]
In 2021,[9] 86.5% of Blainville residents were white/European, 12.3% were visible minorities and 1.2% were Indigenous. The largest visible minority groups were Arab (3.6%), Black (3.3%), Latin American (1.7%), Southeast Asian (0.9%), and Chinese (0.9%).
66.9% of residents were Christian, down from 87.1% in 2011.[10] 57.3% were Catholic, 6.3% were Christian n.o.s, 0.8% were Protestant and 2.5% belonged to other Christian denominations and Christian-related traditions. Of non-Catholic denominations, the largest is Christian Orthodox at 1.9%. 28.0% of residents were non-religious or secular, up from 11.6% in 2011. 5.1% belonged to other religions, up from 1.3% in 2011. The largest non-Christian religions were Islam (4.2%) and Buddhism (0.4%).
The 2021 census found that 82.2% of residents spoke French as a mother tongue. Although 60.0% of residents reported knowledge of both English and French, English was the mother tongue of only 4.1% of respondents. The next most frequent native languages were Arabic (2.3%), Spanish (1.7%), and Portuguese (1.0%).
Blainville co-hosted the 2009 Quebec Winter Games along with Rosemère and Sainte-Thérèse. The application of the three cities was sponsored by Gaétan Boucher, a former Canadian Olympic speed skating champion and four time Olympic medalist. The event took place in March, and a semi-Olympic pool was built in Blainville.
Richard Perreault, the leader of Vrai Blainville, has served as mayor since his 59-41 win against Florent Gravel (Mouvemment Blainville) in 2013.[12] In 2017, he was re-elected with over 75% of the vote in a race that pitted him against Gravel again.[13]
^"Admission et inscriptionArchived 2015-01-31 at the Wayback Machine." Commission scolaire de la Seigneurie-des-Mille-Iles. Retrieved on December 7, 2014. "La Commission scolaire de la Seigneurie-des-Mille-Iles (CSSMI) offre ses services aux résidents des municipalités de : Blainville, Boisbriand, Bois-des-Filion, Deux-Montagnes, Lorraine, Mirabel (Saint-Augustin, Saint-Benoît, Sainte-Scholastique et secteur du Domaine-Vert), Oka, Pointe-Calumet, Rosemère, Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Sainte-Thérèse, Saint-Eustache, Saint-Joseph-du-Lac, Saint-Placide et Terrebonne Ouest."
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