The former City and District Savings Bank branch building is a testament to the history of the banking institutions of French Canada, on the one hand, and to the vitality of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste district in the early 20th century, on the other. Completed in 1931, it was designed by architects Alfred-Hector Lapierre and Frederick Dumfries. The Montreal City and District Savings Bank had been founded by Msgr. Ignace-Bourget in 1846. Its branches, like this one, made it one of the most prestigious French-Canadian financial institutions of its day (it subsequently became Laurentian Bank).