In 1967, Montreal hosted one of the most ambitious world’s fairs ever staged. The 1967 International and Universal Exposition — known simply as Expo 67 — was Canada’s way of marking its 100th year as a nation. The event drew visitors from across the globe, and when it closed on October 27, more than 50 million paid admissions had been recorded. That number didn’t even count performers, press, official guests, or the thousands of employees who worked the grounds every day.
The idea came from Québec senator Mark Drouin, who proposed that Canada celebrate its centennial with a world exhibition in Montreal. In late 1962, the House of Commons passed legislation creating the Canadian Corporation for the 1967 World Exhibition. Funding was split between three levels of government: the federal government covered 50 percent, Québec contributed 37.5 percent, and Montreal made up the remaining 12.5 percent. The three governments also held a conference in Montebello, Québec, to agree on a central theme and the philosophy that would guide the entire event.
Finding the right site was one of the biggest early problems. Time was short and options were limited. The decision was made to expand Île Ste-Hélène, a park sitting in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, already connected to Montreal by the Jacques Cartier Bridge. Workers dredged silt and rock from the river bottom to build up the land. When that source ran dry, dump trucks hauled landfill to the site around the clock, seven days a week, for months. A second island, Île Notre-Dame, was created from scratch alongside Île Ste-Hélène. The site was formally handed over to the exhibition corporation on July 1, 1964.
The construction costs ran far over budget. The original estimate for building the site was $10 million. The final bill came to $40 million. The total cost to Canada, Québec, and Montreal for the entire Expo 67 project reached $283 million. Despite the overruns, the grounds were completed and divided into four distinct areas. Cité du Havre served as the main entrance, accessed from what was formerly Mackay Pier. The Concordia Bridge linked Cité du Havre to the first exhibition area on the western side of Île Ste-Hélène. Île Notre-Dame formed the third area. The fourth, La Ronde, hosted most of the amusement attractions on Île Ste-Hélène.
Long before the gates opened, a major promotional campaign was underway to spread the word about Expo 67 across the country and around the world.
When the fair opened on April 28, 1967, organizers had expected 26 million individual visits over the course of the event. That number was blown past entirely. The grounds included 120 government pavilions, with thousands of private exhibitors and sponsors filling 53 additional private pavilions. Nations large and small set up their own spaces to showcase culture, industry, and technology.
The pavilions themselves were a major draw. Countries competed to build the most striking and memorable structures on the grounds. Visitors moved between them using the site’s monorail system, which became one of the defining images of the fair.
Switzerland was one of the more prominent national exhibitors. The Swiss Pavilion featured live glassblowing demonstrations and a cheese stand that pulled in steady crowds throughout the fair’s run.
One of the most striking architectural projects tied to Expo 67 was Habitat 67, a residential complex built as part of the exhibition. Its stacked, modular design was unlike anything most visitors had seen before and stood as a bold statement about the future of urban housing.
Britain’s pavilion, designed by Scottish architect Basil Spence, was one of the most talked-about national showcases at the fair. The building’s design drew attention well before it even opened to the public.
Art was woven throughout the entire exhibition. Sculptures by internationally known artists, including works by Jean Tinguely and Alberto Giacometti, were displayed across the grounds and inside pavilions, giving Expo 67 a cultural depth that went well beyond technology and industry.
The opening ceremony on April 28, 1967 kicked off six months of events that transformed Montreal into the center of the world’s attention. Hostesses from countries around the globe greeted guests at their respective pavilions, and the grounds buzzed with activity from the first day to the last.
A detailed map from 1966 shows just how carefully the entire layout was planned, with each zone and pavilion assigned its specific place across the two islands and the Cité du Havre peninsula.
The Soviet Union also made a major statement at Expo 67. The USSR pavilion was one of the largest and most visited on the grounds, reflecting the Cold War rivalry that shaped how nations presented themselves to the world during this era.
