The GRM collection is the single most important body of research material for the history of Montréal's built environment up to the 19th century. Commencing with the GRBPGM (Groupe de recherche sur les bâtiments en pierre grise de Montréal) files on the fortified town, the GRM has greatly enlarged that series as part of its systematic reconstitution and analysis of Montréal's physical development from the town's founding in 1642 until 1805.

The core of the documentation concerns the use and description of property and includes extracts or photocopies of notarized deeds, judicial records, and vital statistics, the originals of which are all held by the Archives nationales du Québec. Physically organized by cadastral number, this information is also collated in computer files on all people, lots, and buildings for the period up to 1705. For the 18th century, there exist nominal listings and catalogues of owners and tenants, as well as cross- sectional analyses of property holdings for the years 1725, 1765, and 1805.

Complementing this material are a number of smaller series that are in the form of copies or extracts: an extensive collection of colour and black and white reproductions of plans held by archives in Canada, France, and Great Britain; newspaper announcements (1765-1804); recipients of fur trade licences (1765-1790); declarations of losses by fire (1765, 1768); all notarized building contracts for the fortified town (1642-1805); tavern and shop licences (1765-1780); correspondence of colonial administrators to metropolitan authorities, C11A, (1670-1760); correspondence of the Sulpician seminary in Paris to Montréal (1670-1700); documentation on the construction and evolution of Montréal's fortifications (1685-1750); and iconography concerning institutional and domestic buildings.

Significant portions of this research material have been synthesized in computerized or video formats. The most important of these is CICERONE, a computer interface that combines textual and cartographic databases with a dynamic visualization tool for representing historical information in either two or three dimensions. To date, the period covered by CICERONE extends up to 1705. Focussing on the landholdings immediately surrounding the Place du Marché, the Place d'Armes, and the Place du Nouveau Marché, the interactive computer display "Exploring Three Squares" integrates historical documents, reconstituted lot plans, and real-time modelling to provide insights into the changing organization and use of space within the walled town over the course of the 18th century. And lastly two videos explain the development of Montréal's fortifications and changing land use within the walls.

Completing the collection are a number of methodological guides concerning the procedures for such matters as data entry, occupational classification, and standardization of names. Various internal reports evaluate specific sources such as the aveu et dénombrement of 1731, the ancien terrier, and the content of building contracts. 

Groupe de recherche sur les bâtiments en pierre grise de Montréal (GRBPGM), 1976-1986

Founded by Phyllis Lambert in 1976, the GRBPGM investigated different aspects of grey stone architecture in Montréal between 1730 and 1920. The earliest material in the collection concerns the period after 1805, and explores domestic and institutional buildings from a number of thematic and spatial perspectives. Separate studies include reports on the Monastère Bon Pasteur and the Collège Mont Saint-Louis prepared for the Ministère des affaires culturelles; property holdings in the upper Saint-Laurent suburb (1820-1900); an inventory of buildings constructed in Vieux-Montréal, Saint-Antoine ward, and the City of Maisonneuve between 1880 and 1915; assessment values and property use on Saint-Laurent Boulevard (1850-1915); a street analysis of the Doige directory of 1819; and the construction and dispersion of churches and other institutions over the urban territory during the 19th century. Selected extracts from notarized building contracts are organized by decade and cover the period 1800-1860.

After 1978, the GRBPGM concentrated most of its research on a detailed study of property holdings and land use in the town and suburbs for the period between 1730 and 1805. Most of the research files and analyses on the fortified town, corresponding roughly to present-day Vieux-Montréal, have been subsumed in the collection of the Groupe de recherche sur Montréal, while those concerning the suburbs remain with this series. Files for the latter include extracts from the seigneurial terrier registers and from notarized sales, leases, and building contracts, as well as preliminary analyses and maps of landholdings.