It was renamed Westmount, in 1895, reflecting the geographical location of the city on the southwest slope of Mount Royal and the presence of a large English-speaking population.

During the twentieth century, Westmount became a wealthy residential area within the island of Montreal; a small city dotted with many green spaces.

This made the city a symbolic target of Front de libération du Québec terrorist bombings in the 1960s, culminating in the 1970 October Crisis.

The city is roughly 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi), and occupies an area of land on the south face of Westmount Summit, the western peak of Mount Royal.

Notable buildings include Place Alexis Nihon and the Westmount Square complex, which was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and funded largely by Westmount resident Samuel Bronfman, the founder of the Seagram liquor empire.

Located between Sherbrooke Street and De Maisonneuve Boulevard to the north and south, and Melville and Lansdowne Avenue to the east and west, this 1,141,002 sq ft (106,002.6 m2) park is the second largest in Westmount.

The landscaping design was undertaken in 1912 by M.J. Manning, and comprises large playing fields at the east and south sides, and Westmount Arena and adjacent swimming pool at the southwest corner.

Westmount Public Library, built in 1897,[14] Victoria Hall, and a large greenhouse are located on the north side.

According to the Office québécois de la langue française, Westmount has been officially recognized as a bilingual municipality[16] since 2 November 2005.

The three largest occupation categories were management, business, and "education, law and social, community and government services"; each of these sectors employed about 20% of Westmount workers.

In 2010, Mayor Peter Trent unveiled a $38-million project to demolish the old arena and create two new rinks, a larger swimming pool, refurbished tennis courts, and an extra acre of green space.

The city is currently home to many notable Montrealers, including the federal MP and former astronaut Marc Garneau.

United States Vice President Kamala Harris lived for part of her youth in the area, and attended Westmount High School.

Gwethalyn Graham's World War II novel Earth and High Heaven told the story of a romance between a wealthy English girl from Westmount and a Jewish lawyer from Northern Ontario.

[29] David Montrose' 1950s hard-boiled detective novel, The Crime on Cote des Neiges,[30] was translated into French as Meurtre à Westmount.

"[32] Claire Rothman's novel Lear's Shadow[33] takes place amidst an outdoor summer production of the Shakespeare play in Westmount Park.