Centre-du-Québec (, ''Central Quebec'') is a region of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. The main centres are

Drummondville Drummondville is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville is ...

Victoriaville Victoriaville is a town in central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of Arthabask ...

, and Bécancour. It has a land area of and a 2016 Census population of 242,399 inhabitants.

Description

The Centre-du-Québec region was established as an independent administrative region of Quebec on July 30, 1997 (in effect August 20 upon publication in the

Gazette officielle du Québec The ''Gazette officielle du Québec'' is an official publication of the Quebec government. It is used to promulgate new laws and regulations, which thereby become official. It was founded on January 16, 1869. An earlier ''Gazette de Québec'' w ...

); prior to this date, it formed the southern portion of the Mauricie–Bois-Francs region (the northern part of which is now known simply as

Mauricie Mauricie () is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km² (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...

). Centre-du-Québec is not located in the geographic centre of Quebec, though it is approximately located in the centre of the southern portion of the province. Some consider the name Bois-Francs to be synonymous with the Centre-du-Québec region; others see it as being synonymous with Arthabaska Regional County Municipality, with its main city

earning the title ''Capitale des Bois-Francs'' (capital of the Bois-Francs). The Centre-du-Québec is a primarily

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

region known as the

breadbasket The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other grain. Rice bowl is a similar term used to refer to Southeast Asia; and C ...

of Quebec; major products include

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

and

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

products, as well as food crops such as

cereal A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s, and

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s such as

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

s and

cranberries Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry ...

Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

is also a major industry; the name "Bois-Francs" refers to the French term for

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

, referring to the high density of

hardwood forests Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These f ...

in the area. Other major industries of the area include

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, woodworking joints, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with Rock (geology), stone, clay and animal parts, ...

and

cabinetmaking A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (so ...

. The Centre-du-Québec region derives great benefit from its central location; major centres such as

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

are within an hour and a half's drive, while secondary centres such as

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...

and

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

are close at hand.

Administrative divisions

Regional county municipalities

Nation Waban-Aki

The Centre-du-Québec region is home to several thousand members of the Wabanaki Nation. They are scattered throughout the region, with two major population centres: *

Odanak, Quebec Odanak is an Abenaki First Nations reserve in the Central Quebec region, Quebec, Canada. The mostly First Nations population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 481. The territory is located near the mouth of the Saint-François River at its conflue ...

* Wôlinak, Quebec

Major communities

* Bécancour * Daveluyville *

* Nicolet * Plessisville (city) * Plessisville (parish) * Princeville

Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska is a parish municipality located in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, Canada. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population ...

Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover is a Quebec municipality located in the Drummond Regional County Municipality just east of Drummondville in the Centre-du-Quebec region. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 4,389. The town is located alongsi ...

* Saint-Germain-de-Grantham * Saint-Léonard-d'Aston *

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

* Wickham

Highways

Main highways in the region include: * Autoroute 20 * Autoroute 30 * Autoroute 55 * Route 116 * Route 122 * Route 132 * Route 161

References

External links

Centre-du-Québec official website

Centre-du-Québec government portalCentre-du-Québec tourist site

Toile Jeunesse
a regional youth-oriented portal *
CRÉ
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