L'Assomption () is an
off-island suburb of
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 ...
, in southwestern
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 on the
L'Assomption River
The Assomption River (in French ''Rivière l'Assomption'', named after the Assumption of Mary) is the most important waterway in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, Canada. It is over long, and has a drainage basin (watershed) of . Its source is th ...
. It is the seat of the
Regional County Municipality of L'Assomption. It is located on the outer fringes of the
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 ...
urban area.
Most of the economy depends on the agricultural industries of the surrounding plains. It is also the cultural centre of the region.
History
In 1647, the
L'Assomption Seignory was granted to Pierre Legardeur de Repentigny, named after the river already named such since the seventeenth century. Between 1640 and 1700, a settlement formed inside a large horseshoe-shaped meander of the L'Assomption River. Amerindians had already been visiting this site since ancient times and called it ''Outaragasipi'' meaning winding river, in reference to the river's course. They would drag their canoes across the peninsula as a short-cut for the meander, and therefore the settlement was first called Le Portage.
In 1717, the parish was formed, known thereafter as Saint-Pierre-du-Portage-de-l'Assomption and also as Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul-du-Portage. In 1766, the village saw an influx of
Acadian
The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...
settlers. Between 1774 and 1888, L'Assomption was the most prosperous and important town between Montreal and Trois-Rivieres.
In 1845, the L'Assomption Municipality was established, abolished in 1847, but reestablished as a parish municipality in 1855. In 1846, the village itself became a separate Village Municipality and obtained town status in 1888.
In 1992, the town and parish municipality were merged again, and on July 1, 2000, the neighbouring Parish Municipality of Saint-Gérard-Majella was amalgamated with Ville de L'Assomption.
In December 2010, the 1,300-worker
Electrolux
Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool.
Electrolux products sell under a variety ...
factory announced that it would close, relocating to
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
, L'Assomption had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Communities
*
Domaine-Beaudoin-Papin
*
Domaine-des-Fleurs
*L'Assomption
*Saint-Gérard-Majella
Education
The
Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board
The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board (SWLSB, french: Commission scolaire Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier, CSSWL) is a school board headquartered in Rosemère, Quebec in Greater Montreal.
It officially came into existence in July 1998 when English-language sc ...
operates anglophone public schools, including:
* Joliette Elementary School in
Saint-Charles-Borromée
Saint-Charles-Borromée, Quebec ( 2021 Population 15,285) is a city in southwest-central Quebec, Canada, on the l'Assomption River. In Joliette Regional County Municipality, Saint-Charles-Borromée has the Maison Antoine-Lacombe, a heritage hom ...
The
Commission scolaire des Affluents is the main school board in the region. It operates many francophone public schools, both at the elementary and high school levels, including:
* Paul-Arseneau High School in l'Assomption
* Armand-Corbeil High School in
Terrebonne
Terrebonne, meaning ''good earth'' in French, is a name of several places in North America:
;Canada
*Terrebonne, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal
** Terrebonne station, a commuter railway station in Terrebonne, Quebec
**Terrebonne City Council, the go ...
* Jean-Baptiste Meilleur High School in
Repentigny
* Point-du-Jour Elementary School in l'Assomption
The city is also home to the
Collège de L'Assomption, a private High School of historical renown,
as well as the
Cégep Régional de Lanaudière
The Cégep régional de Lanaudière is a Cégep, made up of three constituent colleges in Joliette, L'Assomption and Terrebonne, located in Quebec, Canada.
As of early 2014, there are over 2,500 students at the Joliette constituent college and ...
in l'Assomption.
See also
*
List of cities in Quebec
This is the list of municipalities that have the Quebec municipality type of city (''ville'', code=V), an administrative division defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy.
Note that although the terms "city" and ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:L'Assomption
Cities and towns in Quebec
Incorporated places in Lanaudière
Greater Montreal
1647 establishments in the French colonial empire