Mercier is a suburban

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, in the

Roussillon Regional County Municipality Roussillon is a regional county municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is in Saint-Constant, Quebec. The region's population was 171,443 as of the 2016 census. Subdivisions There are 11 subdivisions and one native r ...

. It is located on the

Châteauguay River The Chateauguay River (or Chateaugay River in the United States, moh, Oshahrhè:’onKaronhí:io Delaronde and Jordan Engel, The Decolonial Atlas, Haudenosaunee Country in Mohawk, February 4, 201Link/ref>) is a tributary of the South Shore of th ...

, southwest of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 14,626.

History

Officially founded in 1855, Mercier was formerly called Sainte-Philomène. The name was changed in 1968 in order to pay homage to the former Premier of Quebec,

Honoré Mercier Honoré Mercier (October 15, 1840 – October 30, 1894) was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician in Quebec. He was the ninth premier of Quebec from January 27, 1887, to December 21, 1891, as leader of the Parti National or Quebec Liberal ...

, who served from 1887 to 1891. The name change is also due to the proximity to the

Honoré Mercier Bridge The Honoré Mercier Bridge in Quebec, Canada, connects the Montreal borough of LaSalle on the Island of Montreal with the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake, Quebec and the suburb of Châteauguay on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. It is th ...

and also aims to give the city a name that is more marketable and less unpleasant in English. Moreover, the worship dedicated to

Philomena Philomena ( el, Ἁγία Φιλομένα), also known as Saint Philomena or ''Philomena of Rome'' was a young virgin martyr whose remains were discovered on May 24–25, 1802, in the Catacomb of Priscilla. Three tiles enclosing the tomb bore ...

was increasingly uncertain and had survived thanks to the devotion with which it was surrounded in the 19th century. This last reason precipitated the decision to change the name of the city. The first municipal council was formed in Sainte-Philomène in 1845 and sat, in accordance with the law, for two years, the first mayor of which was Antoine Couillard (1845-1846).

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Mercier 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. Maison Sauvageau-Sweeny 01

Transportation

The CIT du Haut-Saint-Laurent provides commuter and local bus services.

References

External links

*
Mercier official website
Cities and towns in Quebec Incorporated places in Roussillon Regional County Municipality Greater Montreal Canada geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{Quebec-geo-stub

History

Demographics

Transportation

See also

References

External links