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Everyone to Parliament!

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The Present-Day Place D'Youville

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Place Royale

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Place d’Armes

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Notre-Dame Street

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Champ-de-Mars

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Saint-Jacques Street: Montréal’s “Wall Street”

Detail from a 19th-century painting of Place d’Armes in winter. The Bank of Montreal features a façade adorned with classical columns and a dome at the top. Chimneys on the rooftops send up smoke. Bundled-up families stroll around.

Cornelius Krieghoff, "Place d’Armes in Montréal" (detail), McCord Stewart Museum, M11910.

Montréal’s transformation into a capital changed the game. Its new political and economic status fuelled the growth of a host of institutions. Saint-Jacques Street quickly became the financial centre, home to the Bank of Montreal, the Banque du peuple, and the Montreal City and District Savings Bank.

Soon, insurance companies moved in as well, followed by law firms, architects’ offices, and other professionals. More and more buildings took on a new character, with retail space on the ground floor and offices in the upper stories.

Bank of Montreal

19th-century illustration of the Bank of Montreal. The bank is in the neoclassical style. Its entrance is adorned with large classical columns. A British flag flies atop the domed roof.

John Henry Walker, "Bank of Montreal", McCord Stewart Museum, M930.50.3.265.

The Bank of Montreal is Canada’s oldest bank—today known as BMO Financial Group. Founded in 1817 under the name Montreal Bank, it set up on Saint-Jacques Street two years later.

Its growth was remarkable: in 1847, it moved to Place d’Armes, into its new head office—the imposing building you see here.

Then-and-Now

The interactive feature lets you compare how a place’s architecture and urban landscape evolved over time. You do this by dragging a vertical bar in the centre of the image, moving your mouse from left to right—and back again—to reveal the changes between 1848 and 2025. 1848 image: With the bar positioned all the way to the left, you see the 3D reconstruction of 1848. It shows Place d’Armes with a black lamppost at its centre. In the background, at the centre, stands the Bank of Montreal, its façade made up of columns topped by a pediment and adorned with a dome. On either side are buildings of different styles and sizes.The interactive feature lets you compare how a place’s architecture and urban landscape evolved over time. You do this by dragging a vertical bar in the centre of the image, moving your mouse from left to right—and back again—to reveal the changes between 1848 and 2025. 2025 image: With the bar positioned all the way to the right, you see the contemporary photograph from 2025. It shows Place d’Armes with a monument topped by a sculpture at its centre. In the background stands the Bank of Montreal, its façade made up of columns topped by a pediment and adorned with a dome. On either side are skyscrapers of different styles and sizes.

1848 image: Guy Lessard, Pointe-à-Callière. / 2025 image: Guy Lessard, Pointe-à-Callière.

Take a look at the Bank of Montreal today.

Take a close look at the Bank of Montreal building: the original small dome was replaced in 1859 by an attic storey—still there today. Later, a new dome was added to crown the building, giving its appearance a whole new dimension.

Cold Hard Cash

Antique bank token (reverse), engraved with “one sou,” surrounded by a laurel wreath. Antique bank token (obverse or face), engraved with a bouquet of flowers and the words “Lower Canada.”

Atelier Ville-Marie, Pointe-à-Callière.

In its early days, the Bank of Montreal mainly served merchants, supporting their business here and elsewhere. But growth was swift: as early as 1817, it became the official bank of the government of Lower Canada.

Its first branches then opened in Québec City and Kingston, followed by Toronto in 1842. In the 1840s, it was an institution in the midst of rapid expansion. The coin you see here, found at the Parliament site, dates from 1835 or 1836.

When Antiquity Inspires Finance

A 19th-century painting of Place d’Armes in winter. The Bank of Montreal stands at the far end of the square. Horse-drawn sleighs travel along the street. Bundled-up families stroll nearby.

Cornelius Krieghoff, "Place d’Armes in Montréal", McCord Stewart Museum, M11910.

The construction of the new bank was entrusted to architect John Wells—the same man who designed the Sainte-Anne Market, later converted into the Parliament. Rumour has it he was asked to take inspiration from the Commercial Bank of Scotland… which he did, but with a design that was unmistakably his own!

The result? A building whose style drew inspiration from ancient Rome, with a dome and a six-column Corinthian portico. In this way, Wells aligned himself with the broader Western neoclassical movement, tinged with Palladian influences—a style very much in vogue across the British Empire.