Why did Boulevard Saint-Laurent become a linguistic divide in Montreal?

Boulevard Saint-Laurent became a linguistic divide in Montreal as a reflection of the city's historical workplace dynamics. Following the British conquest of New France, the city's economy was largely controlled by an Anglophone minority, while the growing French Canadian population provided the labor force for the city's manufacturing sector.12

This economic disparity created a spatial pattern within the city: Francophones primarily resided to the east of Boulevard Saint-Laurent, while English speakers settled to the west. This geographic separation served as a clear linguistic partition that mirrored the social and economic divisions of the time.1