Getting Around Laval: A Visitor's Guide
Laval sits just north of Montreal and forms part of the greater Montreal area, so most visitors treat it as a place to move through by car or by a mix of metro, commuter rail and local buses. The city is roughly laid out in a grid, which makes navigation fairly predictable once you understand how the main highways divide it up.
Orientation: How Laval Is Laid Out
Two autoroutes cut Laval into quadrants, and knowing this makes addresses much easier to read. Autoroute 440 splits the city roughly into north and south sides, while Autoroute 15 splits it roughly into east and west sides.
- An address ending in "O" or "W" (ouest/west) is west of Autoroute 15; "E" means east of it.
- Address numbers increase as you head north.
- Heading east or west, numbers increase the farther you get from Autoroute 15.
Note that the "north-south" and "east-west" labels on major routes don't always line up perfectly with the compass, so it pays to check a map rather than rely on the street name alone.
By Car
Driving is the most flexible way to cover Laval's spread-out neighbourhoods. The major north-south highways are Autoroute 13, Autoroute 15 (the Laurentian Autoroute/Autoroute des Laurentides), Autoroute 19 and Autoroute 25. Large north-south streets include Boulevard Curé-Labelle, Boulevard Chomedey, Boulevard des Laurentides, Boulevard le Corbusier and Boulevard Industriel.
The main east-west thoroughfares are Boulevard de la Concorde/Boulevard Notre-Dame, Boulevard Lévesque/Boulevard Cartier/Boulevard Samson, Boulevard Ste-Rose/Avenue Perron, Boulevard de Terrasses/Boulevard des Milles-Îles, Boulevard Saint-Martin, Autoroute 440, and Boulevard Dagenais/Boulevard Bellerose.
If you're arriving from Montreal, you can also cross into Laval by bridge via boulevard Curé-Labelle or avenue Papineau. Be warned that the bridges into Laval can see very heavy traffic during the evening rush hour, so time your crossing accordingly.
Metro
Laval is connected to Montreal by the orange line of the metro, which serves the city at three stations: Cartier, de la Concorde and Montmorency. This is often the simplest way to reach Laval from downtown Montreal without dealing with traffic or parking. Parking is available at the stations, but on weekdays you should arrive early in the morning if you want a spot.
REM (Light Rail)
The REM has a rail line running from Montreal Central Station that passes through the western tip of Laval, with two stations: Île-Bigras and Sainte-Dorothée. This is a useful option if your destination is on Laval's western side.
Commuter Train
Train service from Montreal is provided by Exo, operating line 12, which passes through the centre of Laval. It's a good choice for reaching central parts of the city from Montreal.
Buses
The Société de transport de Laval provides extensive bus service across the island of Laval and connects the city with the Montreal metro system at Henri-Bourassa metro station. For a visitor without a car, this is the backbone of local transit: you can ride the metro to Henri-Bourassa and transfer onto Laval's bus network to reach destinations across the city.
For longer-distance travel, FlixBus also serves Laval, with service from Ottawa and Gatineau.
Taxis and Ride-Hailing
Taxi Chomedey provides cab services within Laval and connects the city to Montreal. Taxis are a practical fallback for late nights or for trips that don't line up neatly with bus or rail routes.
Walkability
Laval is a spread-out, car-oriented city, and the source material describes it as laid out in a grid divided by major autoroutes and wide boulevards. That structure means walking is best suited to getting around within a specific neighbourhood or commercial area rather than covering the city as a whole. For crossing between districts, plan on using a car, bus, metro or train instead.
Getting In from the Airport
Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport is the main gateway for the region. By road, Autoroute 13 is the closest option from the airport into Laval, taking you to the western part of the city, including the Chomedey area. Once you're in Laval, the metro's orange line stations (Cartier, de la Concorde and Montmorency) and the Exo line 12 give you car-free ways to move between Laval and Montreal if you'd rather not drive.
Other Ways into Laval
If you're coming from farther afield by car, several highways feed into the city:
- Autoroute 15 (Autoroute des Laurentides) — reaches Laval heading southeast from Saint-Jérôme and northwest from Montreal.
- Autoroute 25 — takes you from the east end of Montreal into eastern Laval via a toll bridge.
- Autoroute 440 — a freeway terminating in Laval that reaches the city heading southwest. Travellers from Quebec City can get there by following Autoroute 40, then Autoroute 640, then Autoroute 440.
- Route 117 — part of a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway. From Mont-Tremblant or elsewhere in the Laurentians northwest of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, take Route 117; at Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts you can transfer to Autoroute 15 for faster travel.
Practical Tips
- Learn the Autoroute 15 east/west address rule before you set out — it saves a lot of confusion.
- If you're driving into Laval from Montreal in the evening, expect heavy traffic on the bridges.
- Metro station parking fills up early on weekdays, so arrive in the morning if you plan to park and ride.
- For car-free travel, the metro's orange line and the Exo line 12 are your main links to Montreal, with Laval's bus network filling in the gaps locally.