Considering a new semi-detached home near Westmount means comparing two ways of life more than two houses. Westmount and Sainte-Julie each have their own history, scale and habits, and it's worth knowing them before you choose.

Should you be living in Sainte-Julie or Westmount? No answer fits everyone. Here's a factual comparison, based on Statistics Canada's 2021 Census and on both cities' websites: space, getting around, language, schools, nature and services.

Living in Sainte-Julie or Westmount: two independent cities

Westmount was incorporated in 1874 as the Village of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, before becoming the Town of Westmount in 1895. Merged into the City of Montreal in 2002, it was reconstituted on January 1, 2006, following the 2004 referendum; agglomeration services fall under the Montreal agglomeration council. The city says it wants to preserve its built environment and heritage, and to encourage young families to settle there.

Sainte-Julie is a town in Montérégie, on the South Shore. Even so, both municipalities belong to the same Montreal Metropolitan Community and the same metropolitan transit network, in zone A for Westmount and zone C for Sainte-Julie.

Space: 4 km² on one side, 48 on the other

This is the most visible gap. In the 2021 Census:

Westmount had 19,658 residents on 4.04 km², or 4,860.9 people per km²;
Sainte-Julie had 30,045 on 48.49 km², or 619.6 people per km²;
in Westmount, 42.2% of dwellings were houses, including 15.6% semi-detached, and 36.8% were in buildings of five storeys or more;
in Sainte-Julie, 73.9% of dwellings were houses, most of them detached (66.8%).

Owner households made up 53.9% of households in Westmount and 79.8% in Sainte-Julie, where a dwelling has 7.1 rooms on average, compared with 6.1. More space also means room for a real workspace; our article on the house with a home office near Westmount explains how to set one up.

Getting around: on foot here, by car there

In 2021, 34.5% of Westmount commuters walked, cycled or took transit to work. In Sainte-Julie, 90.2% drove. It's best to say it plainly: moving to Sainte-Julie usually means living with a car. Where you work matters too: among Westmount residents with a usual place of work, 24.2% worked in Westmount itself and 67.4% elsewhere on the island. If that's your situation, the daily commute will become a central part of your decision.

The town makes up for it in other ways. Local transit is free, a network of more than 40 km of bike and pedestrian paths runs through it, and there's a BIXI station at Parc Arthur-Gauthier. In the Vilamo neighbourhood, where BÉAcité is located, every home is less than 300 m from a bus stop, and a promenade is set aside for pedestrians, cyclists and electric transportation. For the details of getting from Westmount to Sainte-Julie, by car as well as by metro and bus, see our dedicated article.

Which languages do people speak day to day?

The two towns live in different languages, and that's worth knowing before you choose. According to the 2021 Census:

in Westmount, 68.1% of residents had English as their first official language spoken, and 75.6% knew both French and English;
in Sainte-Julie, 95.9% had French as their first official language spoken, and 94.2% spoke French most often at home;
also in Sainte-Julie, 52.0% of residents knew both French and English.

In practical terms, municipal life in Sainte-Julie happens in French: the town's website is in French, and no link to an English version appeared on it on October 28, 2026. One person in two there knows English as well. If English is your everyday language, these figures will help you know what to expect.

School, in French or in English

In Westmount, the city's page for new residents points to the French-language schools of Montreal's public network and the English-language schools of the English Montreal School Board. In Sainte-Julie, the Centre de services scolaire des Patriotes runs seven elementary schools and the École secondaire du Grand-Coteau.

For English-language schooling, the Riverside School Board serves Sainte-Julie. Its 2025-2026 school zones document places the town in the priority zones of four schools:

Cedar Street, an English Program elementary school in Beloeil, about 12 minutes from Geoffrion Street;
Courtland Park International, an elementary school offering a bilingual International Baccalaureate program, in Saint-Bruno, about 15 minutes away;
Mount Bruno, a French immersion elementary school in Saint-Bruno, about 18 minutes away;
Heritage Regional High School, a secondary school in Saint-Hubert, about 18 minutes away.

Eligibility for English public schooling follows Quebec's rules, and the school you're assigned depends on your address: check with the school board before you make your decision.

Nature and services, from one mountain to another

Westmount sits on the western slope of Mount Royal. It has 12 parks, 22 green spaces and a wooded nature reserve, Summit Woods, covering just over 57 acres, along with some 11,000 trees. Its public library, built in 1899, is described as the oldest public library in Quebec, and the city even has its own electric utility, Hydro Westmount.

Sainte-Julie, for its part, borders Mont-Saint-Bruno National Park, another Monteregian hill, and Ski Saint-Bruno is 8.8 km from Geoffrion Street. The Vilamo neighbourhood covers 33.5 hectares around the Club de golf La Vallée-du-Richelieu and includes 600,000 sq ft of green space. A commercial strip there brings a pharmacy, a Caisse Desjardins, a public market, restaurants and medical services within walking distance; the Promenades Saint-Bruno, Quartier DIX30 and IKEA are close by. According to beacite.com, BÉAcité residents get a free three-year membership at Espace Tonik Nature.

Conclusion

Living in Sainte-Julie or Westmount comes down to choosing between two scales. Westmount offers walkability, heritage, parks laid out mostly before 1940 and a largely English-speaking community; Sainte-Julie offers space, a planned neighbourhood around a golf course, services within walking distance in Vilamo, and daily life in French. BÉAcité's new semi-detached homes, with their all-inclusive maintenance program, are one way to try that second life. To get a feel for it in person, the sales office at 435 Geoffrion Street welcomes you on weekdays, and by appointment in the evening or on weekends.

Living in Sainte-Julie or Westmount: space, language, services