Established in 1842 on land gifted by Thomas Phillips with the condition it remain a park forever, Phillips Square drew the city's earliest department stores to its edges: Morgan's on the north side, Henry Birks on the west. That retail gravity hasn't quite let go as Birks still occupies its 1894 building nearby, and the square remains a de facto hinge between the old downtown and the new.

A 2022 redesign by Provencher_Roy widened the sidewalks, added 30 trees, and recentered the space around the bronze Edward VII monument—a 1914 gift from the Birks family, sculpted by Louis-Philippe Hébert. On summer days, seven fountain streams animate the base of the statue. The square is also part of the Promenade Fleuve-Montagne, the pedestrian trail linking the St. Lawrence to the mountain.