It is housed in early 20th-century buildings on a 1,600 acres (650 ha) campus shared with McGill University's Macdonald College.

The college is named after John Abbott, prime minister, and former mayor of Montreal who owned a country estate in nearby Senneville.

[2] He is most remembered for his role in the Pacific Scandal, the political corruption case which brought down the government of Sir John A. Macdonald in 1873.

Housed in century-old renovated buildings in historic Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, the college has long been recognized as a prominent landmark in Montreal's West Island community.

Characterized by tiled roofs and red brick buildings, the college is situated on the shores of Lake Saint-Louis.

With its distinctive architecture, trees and rolling green lawns in a charming semi-rural setting, the college's campus has earned a reputation for being one of the most beautiful in the public system.

The building is named in honour of Gerhard Herzberg, a pioneering German Canadian physicist and physical chemist who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971.

[4] The Hochelaga building houses classrooms for a variety of courses, including history, economics, political science, humanities, philosophy, religion, psychology and sociology, as well as program-specific courses for business administration, commerce, correctional intervention, information and library technologies, and police technology programs.

The Penfield building houses classrooms for English, creative arts, French, foreign language and geography courses.

The building houses an auditorium, as well as the offices of the Student Union (SUJAC) and the John Abbott College Faculty Association (JACFA).

[7] The building is solely reserved for the school's biology, biopharmaceutical, chemistry, nursing, physics, and prehospital emergency care departments.

[8] The building's name commemorates Polytechnique victim and John Abbott College alumna Anne-Marie Edward.

John Abbott College Model United Nations Club (JACMUN) hosts an annual Model United Nations conference in the spring, which has been personally recognized by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a salient effort to promote political awareness and participation amongst youth.

[10] The men's soccer team John Abbott College Islanders won the semi-finals of the 2000 provincial championship in overtime.