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Guy R. Legault

Commander
2016
Great Montrealer
1978, cultural category

A graduate of Mont-Saint-Louis College in 1951 and the Université de Montréal’s school of architecture in 1956, Guy R. Legault is a member of the Ordre des architectes du Québec, a member emeritus of the Ordre des urbanistes du Québec and a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. At Ville de Montréal from 1956 to 1987, he headed up the departments of housing, urban planning and housing restoration, as well as the Montréal Housing Bureau and the Montréal Housing Society. In 1975, he chaired the task force on housing, which published its report, Habiter au Québec, in 1976. Over the course of 30 years, he observed the course of urban development and was an important player in the major urban planning and housing projects that gave Montréal the character that we know today.

Guy Legault has made an outstanding contribution to urban planning: he handled the urban planning for the configuration of expressways from 1962 to 1966. He also handled planning issues to determine the location of the metro lines and supported architects in choosing locations for and building the stations. He was also the founder of the Montréal Housing Bureau and its president from 1969 to 1978. He founded the Montréal Housing Society and served as its president from 1979 to 1987.

His efforts in housing are also worthy of note. He was behind the construction of more than 10,000 low-cost housing units for seniors and families from 1969 to 1987. He put in place the restoration program for 125,000 old housing units in Montréal, 25,000 of which were restored with subsidies. He was also behind the restoration and conversion of the former Mont-Saint-Louis College.

Guy Legault was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the Cultural category in 1978 and was named a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal in 2016.

Source: Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal

The picture and biographical information appearing on this page were current at the time this person was admitted to the Academy of Great Montrealers.