Châteauguay

For other uses, see Chateauguay.
Châteauguay
City

Coat of arms

Logo
Motto: Unita Fortior
(Latin: "Stronger when United")

Location within Roussillon RCM
Châteauguay

Location in southern Quebec

Coordinates: 45°23′N 73°45′W / 45.38°N 73.75°W / 45.38; -73.75Coordinates: 45°23′N 73°45′W / 45.38°N 73.75°W / 45.38; -73.75[1]
Country  Canada
Province  Quebec
Region Montérégie
RCM Roussillon
Constituted November 3, 1975
Government[2][3]
  Mayor Nathalie Simon
  Federal riding Châteauguay—Lacolle
  Prov. riding Châteauguay
Area[2][4]
  City 46.50 km2 (17.95 sq mi)
  Land 35.89 km2 (13.86 sq mi)
  Urban[5] 91.44 km2 (35.31 sq mi)
Population (2013)[4]
  City 46,264
  Density 1,278.9/km2 (3,312/sq mi)
  Urban[5] 70,812
  Urban density 774.4/km2 (2,006/sq mi)
  Pop 2006-2011 Increase 7.3%
  Dwellings 18,429
Time zone EST (UTC−5)
  Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s) J6J, J6K
Area code(s) 450 and 579
Highways
A-30

Route 132
Route 138
Website www.ville.chateauguay.qc.ca

Châteauguay (French pronunciation: [ʃɑtoɡɛ], local pronunciation: [ʃɑtoɡe]) is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, located both on the Chateauguay River and Lac St-Louis, which is a section of the St. Lawrence River. The population of the city of Châteauguay at the 2011 Census was 45,904, and the population centre was 70,812.[4][5]

History

Church of Saint-Joachim, a National Historic Site of Canada

The land was first given to Charles Lemoyne by the governor of New France at the time, the Comte de Frontenac with the intention of setting up a seigneurie in the area. Afterwards the seigneurie was assumed by Zacharie Robutel de la Noue in 1706. In 1763 France relinquished its claims in Canada and Châteauguay was now under British mandate. The seigneurie was bought by Marguerite d'Youville, a founder of the Quebec religious society the Grey Nuns in 1765 and 10 years later construction began on the Church of Saint-Joachim.

Châteauguay played an important part in the colonial history of North America. With the United States having declared war on Britain in 1812, Châteauguay was seen as little more than a good vantage point to post troops to defend Montreal against an invasion. This prong of the American advance on Montreal ended with the Battle of the Châteauguay, where on October 25, 1813, Lieutenant Colonel Charles de Salaberry succeeded in halting the American force of 4,000 advancing on Montreal with only some 400 troops, mostly French-Canadian and 170 Kahnawake Mohawk warriors. The second American incursion towards Montreal was defeated shortly after at Crysler's Farm on November 11.

During the Lower Canada Rebellion, Châteauguay was taken by the British army, who carried out the arrests of dozens of French-Canadians, including the leader of the rebels, François-Maurice Lepailleur, who was later exiled to Australia. Two natives of Châteauguay, Joseph Duquet and another sympathiser were later hanged at the prison at Au-pied-du-courant.

The actual village of Châteauguay was created in 1855, after the abolition of the seigneurie system in Quebec by the British colonial regime. Later on the city annexed two neighboring districts, Châteauguay-Heights (1968) and Châteauguay-Centre (1975). In 1982, with the passage of the Loi sur l'aménagement et l'urbanisme, Québec, the city became part of the Roussillon Regional County Municipality.

Demographics

Population

Historical Census Data - Châteauguay, Quebec[8]
YearPop.±%
1991 39,833    
1996 41,423+4.0%
2001 41,003−1.0%
2006 42,786+4.3%
2011 45,904+7.3%

Language

Chateauguay has traditionally and still does have among one of the highest proportions of English speakers in the Montérégie region. As according to the 2011 census, The prominent languages primarily spoken at home by their relative share of the population are French(60%), English(30%) and Spanish(2%) [9]

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Châteauguay, Quebec[8]
Census Total
French
English
French & English
Other
Year Responses Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop %
2011
45,130
27,385 Increase 0.4% 60.68% 12,250 Increase 14.4% 27.14% 765 Increase 93.7% 1.70% 4,730 Increase 32.1% 10.48%
2006
41,970
27,285 Increase 1.5% 65.01% 10,710 Decrease 1.9% 25.52% 395 Decrease 21.8% 0.94% 3,580 Increase 55.7% 8.53%
2001
40,600
26,875 Increase 2.2% 66.19% 10,920 Decrease 9.3% 26.90% 505 Increase 11.0% 1.24% 2,300 Increase 8.5% 5.67%
1996
40,905
26,285 n/a 64.26% 12,045 n/a 29.45% 455 n/a 1.11% 2,120 n/a 5.18%

Ethnicity

Twelve different ethnic groups represent at least 1% of the population in Chateauguay. The most prominent of them according to the 2006 census and their relative share are Canadian (56%), French (29%), Irish (12%), English (10%), and Scottish (9%)

Government

Town hall of Châteauguay

The current mayor of Châteauguay is Nathalie Simon. She was initially elected on November 1, 2009 and reelected on November 3, 2013.[10]

Infrastructure

Public security

The Chateauguay Police have more than 130 police officers. Their duties include investigations, crime prevention and routine city patrols. The force also participates in many community efforts. The majority of these outreach programs are aimed at Chateauguay youth and focus on the prevention of drug and alcohol use which is widespread among the youth (up to 78% of the teens have used a drug on the course of last month according to a survey). The force, originally having only jurisdiction within the city limits expanded its jurisdiction over the nearby cities of Lery, Mercier, Beauharnois and Saint-Isidore between 2002 and 2007 through agreements between the municipalities.

Public transit

Public transportation is assured by CITSO (Conseil Intermunicipal de Transport du Sud-Ouest). They run two Chateauguay-Angrignon loop bus routes circulating in opposite directions. A city minibus transfers commuters from the western part of the suburb to the downtown, where the other off-peak routes pass. During rush hours, more bus routes connect the various neighbourhoods with the Angrignon bus terminal and metro station. A special express bus route connects western Chateauguay and the Chateauguay Park-and-ride with downtown Montreal, only during rush hours. A reserved lane on Highway 138 eastbound makes the connection significantly faster when the Mercier Bridge is congested. The Chateauguay public transit system also offers a Taxi-Bus service which allows those people who live outside of the normal bus routes to, by way of transfer, use a taxi funded by CITSO to drop them off at specific points in the city usually within walking distance of their residence.

Utilities

Since 1984, Châteauguay has been home to one of the largest HVDC-back-to-back stations in the world with an operating voltage of 140 kV and a maximum transmission rate of 1000 MW.

Education

The majority of the education institutions within Chateauguay are public, with the exception of College Heritage. A small list of Chateauguay schools includes:

NOVA Career Centre for adult students recently established itself in a building adjacent to Howard S. Billings. It was previously located in the school building.

During the 1980s, three English elementary schools became French due to a demographic shift:

Media

The city's local newspaper is Le Soleil (The Sun). Châteauguay Express was shut down in 2014.

Famous people

Twin town

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Châteauguay.
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