Local Information
SPAA 2013
The 25 ACM Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures
Montreal, Canada
July 23 - 25, 2013
NEW!!
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Information on restaurants and parking .
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A guided walking tour of Montreal has been organized before the banquet on Tuesday. The tour will start at 18:00 at the conference center and end at the banquet location. The banquet will start at 20:00.
- See you Monday evening at the
SPAA welcome reception at 18:30 at Concordia University.
See SPAA welcome reception for the address
and a map.
Montreal
Montreal, the second largest city in Canada, is located in the eastern part of Canada
on the Saint Lawrence river. It is a vibrant, cosmopolitan
city with many attractions and a diverse cultural life. It is home to four
universities, excellent restaurants and plentiful
shopping opportunities. It has a very interesting historic old town, and a very modern downtown.
Summer sees Montreal play host to many cultural festivals and events.
The city portal provides extensive tourist information: maps,
lists of festivals in the coming year, museums, and an overview of the
city's top attractions. This portal also gives information on the
public transport system, and some images of Montreal are also included.
The city is very safe. People like to walk in the streets at all hours of day
and Rue Crescent and Rue St. Denis, the city's popular nightlife strips,
are full of people late into the night.
The majority of people in Montreal are French-speaking, and there is a
significant English-speaking minority. Services in hotels, shops, and restaurants are
typically available in both French and English.
Climate
In July, the weather is usually warm with an average daily maximum of 26°C.
It can rain on some days, and temperatures can reach the mid-thirties.
Visas
Please check whether you need a visa to enter Canada.
In case you need a visa,
the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) will be able to provide you a
visa support letter , see details at
ACM support letter page, or below. Please follow the instructions carefully. Send your request to
supportletters@acm.org ; it must include:
- Name (as it appears on your passport) and home mailing address
- The name of the conference you wish to attend
- Include your conference registration confirmation number
- If you are the author of any papers accepted for the conference, please provide the title. If you are a speaker, please provide the title/topic of your speech.
- Include a fax number or email address of where we can send the letter
Transportation
Getting to Montreal
A large number of airlines operate out of
P.E. Trudeau International Airport (formerly known as Dorval Airport), located 23 km from downtown Montreal.
There are direct daily flights to many North American and European cities, and
good connections to most major cities anywhere.
Ground transportation
City bus line 747 or taxis,
both located just outside the arrival hall of the airport,
provide transportation between the airport and downtown Montreal.
747 Express Bus: There is frequent service on this line all day and night.
A bus ticket costs $9 and remains valid on the city's public transport system for
24 hours after first use. It can be obtained from a vending machine in the arrival hall.
Once on the bus, only a ticket or exact change in coins are accepted.
The first stop of the 747 bus from the airport is at the Lionel-Groulx metro
station, which is on both the green and orange metro lines.
The bus then follows Boulevard Rene Levesque, stopping close
to several major hotels , and terminating at
the main bus station on Rue Berri.
Taxi:
The taxi fare from the airport to anywhere in downtown Montreal is a fixed rate, presently $40.
This price is good for a group of people as long as they go to the same address.
See
ground transportation for more options and details.
Conference location
The conference will be held at the
Centre Mont-Royal conference center, located in downtown Montreal at
2200 Mansfield Street.
It is close to many hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers. The
conference center is also very close to the Peel or McGill metro stations on the
green metro line, and thus easily accessible by Montreal's excellent public transport
system.
A free wifi connection will be available at the conference center to
conference attendees. Here is a map showing the
locations of conference centre, hotels, reception, banquet, and workshops.
SPAA Welcome Reception
SPAA 2013 participants are invited to attend a welcome reception
on Monday, July 22, between 18:30 and 20:30 at Concordia University. It will
take place in room EV 11.725 in the EV Building, located at 1515 Sainte
Catherine Street West.
(See the map ).
This building is within walking distance of the conference hotels, and
is located at the Guy-Concordia metro station.
Refreshments will be served, and participants can pick up their conference registration packages.
Joint PODC/SPAA Banquet
The banquet for both PODC and SPAA will take place Tuesday evening at 20:00
in the Panorama Hall of the
Montreal Science Center, King Edward Pier
(see the map ).
The banquet will be preceded by a walking tour of Montreal,
conducted by profesional tour guides in several small groups.
The tour will start at Center Mont Royal Conference center at 18:00, going
through some interesting parts of downtown Montreal, the historical
Old Montreal, and ending at the banquet place.
Accommodation and Parking
Special prices
have been negotiated for conference attendees at two hotels close to the conference center.
There are several parking options close by.
Dining
Here is some information about Montreal restaurants.
Local Arrangements Contacts
opatrny@cs.concordia.ca
lata@cs.concordia.ca
Last modified on April 24, 2013 by J. Opatrny