La Prairie | |
---|---|
Motto(s): Victor Hostium et Sui (Latin for "Master of our Enemies and Oneself") | |
Coordinates: 45°25′N73°30′W / 45.42°N 73.5°W [1] | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Quebec |
Region | Montérégie |
RCM | Roussillon |
Constituted | March 30, 1846 |
Government | |
• Mayor | Frédéric Galantai |
• Federal riding | La Prairie |
• Prov. riding | La Prairie |
Area | |
• Total | 54.80 km2 (21.16 sq mi) |
• Land | 43.28 km2 (16.71 sq mi) |
Population (2011) [4] | |
• Total | 23,357 |
• Density | 539.7/km2 (1,398/sq mi) |
• Pop 2006–2011 | 7.3% |
• Dwellings | 9,346 |
Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
Postal code(s) | |
Area code(s) | 450 and 579 |
Highways A-15 A-30 | R-104 R-132 R-134 R-217 |
Website | www |
La Prairie is an off-island suburb (south shore) of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Jacques River and the Saint Lawrence River in the Regional County Municipality of Roussillon. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 23,357.
French Jesuits were the first Europeans to occupy the area, which was named La Prairie de la Magdelaine but was also called François-Xavier-des-Prés. The land was given to the Jesuits by Jacques de La Ferté and the Company of One Hundred Associates in 1647. It is in La Prairie that the story Kateri Tekakwitha took place.
In 1668, the site was named Kentaké, the Iroquois name for "at the prairie". In the beginning of modern Quebec history, the territory of La Prairie would be visited on numerous occasions by Iroquois and English settlers from New York, among others at the time of the Anglo-Iroquois expedition of Pieter Schuyler in 1691, who commanded two battles on August 11, 1691.
The close of the Seven Years' War led to the 1763 treaty ending the French and Indian War. New France, sparsely-populated by indigenous peoples and descendants of French colonists, was ceded by France and divided into British colonies. The territory of La Prairie became part of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791) within the British Empire.
In 1845, the village of La Prairie was established. One year later, La Prairie-de-la-Magdelaine was established. La Prairie was the seat of Laprairie County (1855-1980s), [5] which included the parishes of La Prairie, Notre-Dame, Ste-Catherine, St-Constant, St-Isidore, St-Jacques-le-Mineur, St-Mathieu and St-Philippe. In 1909, La Prairie obtained official city status.
Historically, the city has been an important transportation hub, as it was the point of transfer between Montreal ferries and the land route to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, gateway to Lake Champlain and the Hudson River. The first railway line in British North America, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad, connected it with Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu on July 21, 1836; [6] the railway ran over 16 miles (26 km). The construction of a rail line between La Prairie and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu would greatly accelerate the commercial development of the village. River transport equally played an important role in La Prairie's history.
Like the rest of southwestern Quebec, La Prairie has hot summers and cold winters, for a generally temperate climate. Winters are cold and sometimes long (snow is usually present from mid-November to mid-April), with temperatures occasionally dipping below -30 °C, not counting the windchill. During snowstorms, snowfall frequently surpasses 40 centimeters. In the summer, temperatures sometimes exceed 30 °C.
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1991 | 15,237 | — |
1996 | 17,128 | +12.4% |
2001 | 18,896 | +10.3% |
2006 | 21,763 | +15.2% |
2011 | 23,357 | +7.3% |
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, La Prairie had a population of 26,406 living in 11,049 of its 11,309 total private dwellings, a change of 9.5% from its 2016 population of 24,110. With a land area of 43.47 km2 (16.78 sq mi), it had a population density of 607.5/km2 (1,573.3/sq mi) in 2021. [8]
2021 | 2011 | |
---|---|---|
Population | 26,406 (+9.5% from 2016) | 23,357 (+7.3% from 2006) |
Land area | 43.47 km2 (16.78 sq mi) | 43.28 km2 (16.71 sq mi) |
Population density | 607.4/km2 (1,573/sq mi) | 539.7/km2 (1,398/sq mi) |
Median age | 42.8 (M: 42.4, F: 43.6) | 39.2 (M: 38.5, F: 39.7) |
Private dwellings | 11,309 (total) 11,049 (occupied) | 9,346 (total) |
Median household income | $91,000 | $74,167 |
Canada Census Mother Tongue – La Prairie, Quebec [7] | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Census | Total | French | English | French & English | Other | |||||||||||||
Year | Responses | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | |||||
2016 | 23,985 | 19,860 | 0.4% | 82.8% | 990 | 7.03% | 4.13% | 280 | 14.29% | 1.16% | 2,610 | 34.19% | 10.88% | |||||
2011 | 22,895 | 19,780 | 4.1% | 86.39% | 925 | 25.0% | 4.04% | 245 | 113.0% | 1.07% | 1,945 | 17.5% | 8.50% | |||||
2006 | 21,520 | 19,010 | 13.5% | 88.34% | 740 | 2.1% | 3.44% | 115 | 25.8% | 0.53% | 1,655 | 89.1% | 7.69% | |||||
2001 | 18,500 | 16,745 | 12.6% | 90.51% | 725 | 26.1% | 3.92% | 155 | 13.9% | 0.84% | 875 | 18.6% | 4.73% | |||||
1996 | 16,700 | 14,870 | n/a | 89.04% | 575 | n/a | 3.44% | 180 | n/a | 1.08% | 1,075 | n/a | 6.44% |
The CIT Le Richelain provides commuter and local bus services.
In 2013, Grand Boisé conservation park is planned to be created and orchestrated by Nature-Action. The park would include Smithers' swamp, as well as, Hydro-Quebec's servitude area in which the western chorus frog, a vulnerable species in Quebec, is found in greatest numbers. There is a controversy involving the city housing development in that area which was supposed to be conserved integrally with high priority according to RCM of Roussillon 1990s' maps. Local environmental organisms, such as Vigile verte and Projet Rescousse, are denouncing the choice of that land for housing development. The debate is ongoing.
The town has three high schools: l'École de la Magdeleine, a public French school which offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme, Collège Jean de la Mennais, a private mixed French school and Saint-François-Xavier, a public French school.
The South Shore Protestant Regional School Board previously served the municipality. [13]
Longueuil is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly across from Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2016 Census totalled 239,700, making it Montreal's second largest suburb, the fifth most populous city in Quebec and twentieth largest in Canada.
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Canadian province of Quebec, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) southeast of Montreal. It is situated on both the west and east banks of the Richelieu River at the northernmost navigable point of Lake Champlain. As of December 2019, the population of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu was 98,036.
The Richelieu River is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly known by the French as the Iroquois River and the Chambly River, and was named for Cardinal Richelieu, the powerful minister under Louis XIII.
Saint-Hyacinthe is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie region, and is traversed by the Yamaska River. Quebec Autoroute 20 runs perpendicular to the river. Saint-Hyacinthe is the seat of the judicial district of the same name.
La Vallée-du-Richelieu(The Valley of the Richelieu) is a regional county municipality in the Montérégie region in southwestern Quebec, Canada. Its seat is McMasterville.
Brossard is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal area. According to the 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with the urban agglomeration of Longueuil and was a borough of the municipality of Longueuil from 2002 to 2006.
Saint-Constant is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of Montreal in the Roussillon Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie region. The population as of the Canada 2016 Census was 27,359.
Chambly is an off-island suburb of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located in the Montérégie region, inland from the South Shore of the Saint Lawrence River.
Sainte-Catherine is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the St. Lawrence River in the Regional County Municipality of Roussillon. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 16,762.
Mont-Saint-Hilaire is a suburb of Montreal on the South Shore of southeastern Quebec, Canada, on the Richelieu River in the Regional County Municipality of La Vallée-du-Richelieu. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 18,200. The city is named after the Mont Saint-Hilaire.
Montérégie is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion.
Candiac is a suburb of Montreal, in the Canadian province of Quebec; it is located on the South Shore of the Saint Lawrence River opposite Montreal near La Prairie. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 22,997.
Chambly—Borduas was a federal electoral district in the province of Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1935, and from 1968 to 2015. Created by the British North America Act of 1867, its name was changed in 1893 to "Chambly—Verchères". In 1933, it was amalgamated into the Chambly—Rouville and Richelieu—Verchères electoral districts. The district was re-created in 1966 from Chambly—Rouville, Châteauguay—Huntingdon—Laprairie, and Richelieu—Verchères. Its name was changed in 2003 to "Chambly—Borduas". In 2015, most of the district became part of Beloeil—Chambly, while small parts of it joined Montarville and Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères.
Saint-Jean is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968.
Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu is a municipality in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the Richelieu River in the Regional County Municipality of La Vallée-du-Richelieu. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 1,643.
Lacolle is a municipality in southern Quebec, Canada, located in the administrative area of the Montérégie, on the Canada–United States border. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 2,680. The Lacolle River runs eastward through the middle of the town and empties in Richelieu River. More people cross the border illegally from the United States there than at any other point. Almost nineteen thousand people were detained in 2017. The nearest town across the border is Champlain, New York.
Saint-Philippe is a city located in Roussillon Regional County Municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada. It was established on July 1, 1855. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 7,597.
Saint-Blaise-sur-Richelieu is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec. The population as of the Canada 2016 Census was 2,066. The town was founded in 1892.
Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec. It is located within the Rouville Regional County Municipality in the Montérégie region on the Richelieu River. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 4,618.
Saint-Prime is a municipality in Quebec, Canada, located within the regional county municipality of Le Domaine-du-Roy. The municipality had a population of 2,758 as of the Canada 2011 Census, and a land area of 147.16 km2.