Lachine, city in the Montréal Urban Community, southern Québec, Canada. It is located on the Île de Montréal (Montréal Island) and Lake St.-Louis, a widening of the St. Lawrence River. Lachine is an industrial suburb of Montréal. Major manufactures include electronic and communications equipment, motors, airplane engines, steel, processed food, pharmaceuticals, mining machinery, and clothing. The publishing industry is also important to the city's economy. Attractions include the Fur Trade in Lachine National Historic Site; the Lachine Outdoor Sculpture Museum; and the Lachine Museum, comprising a complex of buildings that includes one of the oldest houses (built 1669-1685) in Canada. Annual events include the International Folk Festival and the Classical Music Festival, both held in July, and Lachine Days, held in August.
The French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, set off from this area in 1669 in search of a route to China. The expedition failed, and partly in jest, his former estate here became known as La Chine (French for “China”), from which the city's name is derived. The fur trade was important to the settlement's early development. The Lachine Canal, connecting Lake St.-Louis with the St. Lawrence River, was built here between 1821 and 1825. It played an important role in the early industrialization of Canada. Lachine incorporated as a city in 1907. The canal closed in 1959 due to the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. It is now a recreational corridor. As a result of the closure, the city restructured and diversified its economy. In 2000 the cities of Lachine and Saint-Pierre merged under the name of Lachine.
