During your visit to Montreal, you will probably notice a huge bright red lettering “Farine Five Roses” sign.  Montrealers have come to appreciate the logo and made it a reference since it marks historic factors, the industrial era and the spot where the transportation and transformation of grain started up. 

Flour companies have been running in the neighborhood way prior to the illuminated sign being affixed to the roof of the factory. The water rapids and the construction of the Canal Lachine have been determining factors to install mills.  The City Flour Mill started their activities in 1847.  Ogilvie bought the mill along with Royal Mills to become a major flour producer in the city. At the same time, the exportation infrastructure was continuously improving to the point that in the 1920s Montreal was the most important cereal port in the world.  Access to raw material was obviously idyllic. 

The first sign was in fact “Farine Ogilvie Flour”. When the company purchased the Woods Milling Company and renowned Five Roses brand, the sign was changed.  For a linguistic reason, in 1977, it was requested that the word “flour” be removed from the sign.  While the company was later sold by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), there has been pressure to keep the emblematic sign which in 2021 still lights the skyline of Montreal.  The factory is still used as a cereal transforming company that produces flour and other derived wheat products. The ADM mill is the major mill in Canada.

The « Farine Five Roses » sign is a location marker, a historical reminder of the grain industry and an industrialization reminder of part of Montreal’s legendary development growth.

The factory is located on Mill Street and at the end of this road, you will find Silo No.5, another landmark link to the grain industry. The section is also named Pointe-du-Moulin.

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