How the Atwater Market fed Montreal through depression and renewal

A civic monument, a neighbourhood anchor, and a living archive of what Montreal eats since 1933.

J.P. Karwacki

July 18, 2025- Read time: 8 min

Places featured in this article

Atwater Market Lachine Canal Boucherie Adélard Bélanger et fils Boucherie de Tours Fromagerie Atwater Poissonnerie Atwater

Built during the leanest years of the Great Depression, Atwater Market was always meant to be more than a place to buy food.

When it opened its doors in 1933, it was pitched as a civic marvel: modern, hygienic, and forward-looking. A million-dollar investment by the City of Montreal, the Art Deco building was part social infrastructure, part economic stimulus.

The market took its name from Edwin Atwater, a 19th-century businessman and alderman, and replaced the old St. Antoine Market a few blocks east. Designed by father-son architects Ludger and Paul Lemieux, it featured a refrigerated interior, public weighing scales, and a third-floor hall big enough to hold 10,000 people. Over the decades, it hosted political rallies, wrestling matches, WWII food stockpiles, and a campaign against conscription that drew crowds of 20,000.

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