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- Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
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| Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec | |
| Ville de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu | |
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country |  Canada |
|---|---|
| Province |  Quebec |
| Region | Montérégie (16) |
| Regional County Municipality | Le Haut-Richelieu |
| Electoral district | Federal: Saint-Jean (electoral district) MP: Claude Bachand Provincial: Saint-Jean (provincial electoral district) MNA: Lucille Methe |
| Municipal Merger | 2001 |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Gilles Dolbec |
| Area | |
| - Metro | 225.78 km² (87.2 sq mi) |
| Population (2006) | |
| - City | 87,492 |
| - Density | 387.5/km² (1,003.6/sq mi) |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| Postal Code Span | J2W, J2X, J2Y, J3A, J3B |
| Area code(s) | 450 |
| Website: http://www.ville.saint-jean-sur-richelieu.qc.ca www.saint-jean-sur-richelieu.qc.ca | |
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada about 50 kilometres (31 mi) southeast of Montreal. It is situated on the west bank of the Richelieu River at the northernmost navigable point of Lake Champlain. As of 2006[update], the city's population was 87,492. (Canada 2006 Census)
Historically, the city has been an important transportation hub. The first railway line in North America connected it with La Prairie in 1836. It also hosts the annual "Festival International des Montgolfières", an international hot-air balloon festival which attracts thousands of tourists who come to see the hundreds of balloons in the sky.
The Chambly Canal extends 20 kilometres (12 mi) north along the west bank of the river and provides modern freight passage to Chambly and the St. Lawrence River. The canal has one lock near the downtown core of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. In the winter, the city builds a skating rink on the canal near the lock. In the summer, the embankment on the east side of the canal has a 20 kilometres (12 mi) cycling path.
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The French built Fort Saint-Jean (Quebec) in the seventeenth century. Known to early English settlers as St. Johns, it provided an important communication link during the French and Indian Wars. During the American Revolutionary War control of the town changed hands several times as British and American forces moved through the area.
Today St-Jean is a manufacturing centre for textiles, food and wood products. It hosts an Area Support Unit (ASU) of the Canadian Forces, which functions as a primary recruitment and officer training establishment. Until 1995 ASU St-Jean was also home to Le Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, a bilingual military academy. From 1995 to 2007, however, the only remaining military university in Canada was the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. The federal government will reopen the military college at St. Jean sur Richelieu in fall 2007 to provide a two-year program in French.
In 2001 the city and several adjoining communities were merged into the new regional county municipality with a population to 79,600. This merger was requested by the five municipalities involved and was not part of the municipal fusions decreed unilaterally by the Parti Québecois government the following year. The amalgamated municipalities (with 2001 population) were:
- Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (37,386)
- Saint-Luc (20,573)
- Iberville (9,424)
- Saint-Athanase (6,691)
- L'Acadie (5,526)
The per capita income was $13,311 CAD or $25,309 CAD per wage earner.
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Commuting patterns
The Ville de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu public transit system provides commuter and local bus services.
According to the 2006 Census, about 23,855 residents (27.3% of the total population) work fulltime in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, while 5,750 (6.6%) commute to work in Montreal on a daily basis. A further 1,810 residents (2.1%) work in Longueuil every day, 855 (1.0%) work in Brossard, 795 (0.9%) in Chambly, and 600 (0.7%) work in Boucherville.
By contrast only 745 people commute from Montreal to work in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu every day, while 715 people commute from Longueuil, 590 commute from Saint-Alexandre, 555 from Mont-Saint-Gregoire, and 450 each from Saint-Blaise-sur-Richelieu and Saint-Anne-de-Sabrevois. [1]
Notable Residents
- Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is the birthplace of all the Formula 1 drivers family Villeneuve: Gilles, Jacques Sr. and Jacques (1997 World Champion).
- Claude Raymond (baseball) was a major league pitcher.
Language
The 2006 census found that 94.6% of residents spoke French as their mother tongue.
The next most common language was English (2.5%), followed by Portuguese and Spanish (0.3% each).[2]
| Mother Tongue | Population | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| French | 81,450 | 94.63% |
| English | 2,110 | 2.45% |
| English and French | 510 | 0.59% |
| Portuguese | 270 | 0.31% |
| Spanish | 255 | 0.30% |
| Chinese | 200 | 0.23% |
| German | 170 | 0.20% |
| Italian | 165 | 0.19% |
| Arabic | 155 | 0.18% |
External links
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