Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern

Montérégie 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. ...

in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, about southeast of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, located roughly halfway between Montreal and the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

with the state of

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. It is situated on both the west and east banks of the

Richelieu River 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 kno ...

at the northernmost navigable point of

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

. As of December 2019, the population of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu was 98,036.

History

Historically, the city has been an important transportation hub. The first railway line in British North America connected it with La Prairie in 1836. It also hosts the annual International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, a

hot air balloon festival Hot air balloon festivals are held annually in many places throughout the year, allowing hot air balloons operators to gather- as well as for the general public- to participate in various activities.They can include races; evening "night glows", ...

which attracts thousands of tourists who come to see the hundreds of balloons in the sky each August. The Chambly Canal extends north along the west bank of the river and provides modern freight passage to Chambly and the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

. The canal has one

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

near the downtown core of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. In the winter, the city builds a skating rink on the canal near the lock. In the summer, the embankment on the east side of the canal has a cycling path. Fort Saint-Jean circa 1748

The French built Fort Saint-Jean in the seventeenth century. Known to early English settlers as St. Johns, it provided an important communication link during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

control of the town changed hands several times as British and American forces moved through the area. In 2001 the city and several adjoining communities were merged into the new regional county municipality with a population to 79,600. This merger was requested by the five municipalities involved and was not part of the municipal fusions imposed by the Quebec government the following year. Operation Lotus St-Jean-sur-Richelieu 2011

Operation Lotus St-Jean-sur-Richelieu 2011

Geography

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is located on the banks of the Richelieu River. The city is the seat of Le Haut-Richelieu

regional county municipality The term regional county municipality or RCM (, , MRC) is used in Quebec, Canada to refer to one of 87 county-like political entities. In some older English translations they were called county regional municipality. Regional county municipalit ...

and of the

judicial district A judicial district or legal district denotes the territorial area for which a legal court (usually a district court) has jurisdiction. By continent Europe Austria In texts concerning Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Aus ...

of Iberville.

Neighbourhoods

The city is divided in five sectors which refer to the former municipalities. Each sector contains different neighbourhoods:

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu 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. The amalgamated municipalities (with 2001 population) were: * Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (37,386) * Saint-Luc (20,573) * Iberville (9,424) * Saint-Athanase (6,691) * L'Acadie (5,526) Despite the fact that nearby Montreal is very racially diverse, in 2021 Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu had a very large majority of white residents (~94.4%). 4.1% of residents were visible minorities and 1.5% identified as Indigenous. The largest visible minority groups were

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

(1.4%) and

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

(0.8%). French was the mother tongue of 92.5% of residents. Other common mother tongues were English (2.5%), Spanish (0.8%), and Arabic (0.5%). 1.4% claimed both French and English as first languages, while 0.4% listed both French and a non-official language. 68.9% of residents were

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, down from 88.0% in 2011. 62.3% were

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, 4.3% were Christian n.o.s and 0.8% were

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. 29.3% of the population was non-religious or secular, up from 11.7% in 2011. All other religions and spiritual traditions accounted for 1.8% of the population. The largest non-Christian religion was

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

at 1.4%.

Economy

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is home to the Carrefour Richelieu regional

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

which has 115 stores. Newer retail developments include Faubourg Saint-Jean, home to restaurants, services, stores, and a soon-to-open movie theatre. The historic downtown area, which borders the

and includes Richelieu and Champlain streets, is home to a variety of locally owned bars, restaurants, and shops. St-Jean is a manufacturing centre for textiles, wood products, sporting equipment, and metal transformation. It hosts an Area Support Unit (ASU) of the

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

, which functions as a primary recruit and officer training establishment.

Infrastructure

The Ville de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu public transit system provides commuter and local bus services. According to the 2016 Census, 22,840 residents, or 56.7% of the labour force work within the city. An additional 5,135 (12.7%) commute to

, while 2,305 (5.7%) work in

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie, Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the South Shore (Montreal), south shore o ...

, 1,440 (3.6%) work in

Brossard Brossard ( , , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal, Greater Montreal area. According to the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with ...

, and 965 (2.4%) work in Chambly. By contrast only 770 people commute from Montreal to work in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu every day, while 795 people commute from

, 780 commute from Chambly, 510 commute from Saint-Alexandre and 500 commute from Mont-Saint-Grégoire.

Transportation

The city is split in two by Autoroute de la Vallée-des-Forts ( Autoroute 35) which goes north–south by going first through Saint-Luc district, then turns east just south of Pierre-Caisse Boulevard in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu district to cross the Richelieu River and to finally continue its way south through St-Athanase and Iberville districts. The highway continues south for some 24 km before ending at Saint-Sébastien, but it is expected to be extended all the way to the Canada-United States border at Saint-Armand ( Highgate Springs, Vermont) in the future, and will then continue as Interstate 89 in Vermont. Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu has its own municipal airport, Saint-Jean Airport, and is also close to Montreal Pierre-Elliot Trudeau International Airport. The former International Railway of Maine runs through the town, now the connecting point for the

Central Maine and Quebec Railway The Central Maine and Québec Railway was a Class II railroad, Class II freight railroad operating in the United States, U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec with headquarters in Bangor, Maine. It was own ...

with the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

. The former Saint-Jean-d'Iberville railway station, which until 1966 served the ''

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

'' to Boston and New York City and the '' Washingtonian'' to Washington, D.C., is now a preserved building.

Education

The

South Shore Protestant Regional School Board The South Shore Protestant Regional School Board (SSPRSB) was a Protestant Christian school district in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It served the South Shore region and it was headquartered in St. Lambert. The district operated elementary ...

previously served the municipality.King, M.J. (Chairperson of the board).
South Shore Protestant Regional School Board
(St. Johns, PQ). ''

The News and Eastern Townships Advocate The ''News and Eastern Townships Advocate'' is a newspaper based in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal, located roughly halfwa ...

''. Volume 119, No. 5. Thursday December 16, 1965. p. 2. Retrieved from

Google News Google News is a news aggregator service developed by Google. It presents a continuous flow of links to articles organized from thousands of publishers and magazines. Google News is available as an app on Android, iOS, and the Web. Google ...

on November 23, 2014. In addition to more than a dozen public elementary and secondary schools, St-Jean is home to two private schools, one English-language school, and two higher education institutions: * Ecole du quatre vent elementary French school * École Vision Saint-Jean, a trilingual (French-English-Spanish) primary school * École Secondaire Marcellin Champagnat, a historically Catholic (now non-religious) high school * Saint-John's School, the city's only English-language school, which serves students from Kindergarten through high school. Per Quebec law, only children whose parents attended English-language school are allowed to attend English school themselves; French is mandatory for everyone else. *

Royal Military College Saint-Jean The Royal Military College Saint-Jean (), commonly referred to as RMC Saint-Jean and CMR, is a Canadian Military academy, military college and university. It is located on the historical site of Fort Saint-Jean (Quebec), Fort Saint-Jean, in Sai ...

() serves as a one-year preparatory program for the

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

. Original founded in 1952, it ceased being a degree granting military college in 1995 due to cuts to military funding. RMCSJ continued to provide non-degree

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

programs for French-speaking cadets of the Canadian Forces. The Canadian federal government reopened the military college at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in the fall of 2007 to provide the full first year of university, equivalent to the Kingston program, for students with English- or French-language backgrounds alongside the college program. * CEGEP Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, part of Quebec's

CEGEP A CEGEP ( or ; , ; also written CÉGEP and cegep) is a publicly funded college providing general, professional, academic or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, it ori ...

network, offering post-secondary, pre-university programs

Notable people

* Art Alexandre, professional

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

player, left wing for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

(

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

) * Edward Antill, American lieutenant colonel who participated in the 1775 Battle of Quebec. Marries a Quebecker, and died there. * Les Appendices, comedy group * Diane Boudreau, writer * Alexandre Boulerice, communication, adviser, community activist, journalist *

Gerry Boulet Joseph Gaétan Robert Gérald (Gerry) Boulet (March 1, 1946 – July 18, 1990) was a French Canadian rock singer.

, rock singer with the Offenbach band * Isabelle Brasseur, 1993 World Figure Skating Champion (Pairs), 1992/1994 Olympic bronze medalist *

Éric Bruneau Éric Bruneau (born April 21, 1983) is a Canadian actor. He is most noted for his regular supporting role as Liam Bouchard in the television series ''Coroner (TV series), Coroner'', and his starring role as Charles Rivard in the television series ...

, actor * David Cadieux, Canadian champion heavyweight boxer * Capitaine Révolte, music group formed in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in 1998 *

David Choinière David Choinière (born February 7, 1997) is a Canadian soccer player who plays for Canadian Premier League side Forge FC. Early life Choinière began playing soccer at age five with Celtix du Haut-Richelieu. In 2011, he joined the Montreal I ...

, footballer for the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

side

Forge FC Forge FC, also known as Forge Football Club, Forge FC Hamilton, or Hamilton Forge FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadia ...

* Stéphane Crête, actor * Jeff Deslauriers, professional hockey goaltender, former

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

(

) * Denis Gauthier, former professional hockey defenceman who played for the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

and

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

(NHL) * Bernard "Boom Boom" Geoffrion,

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

hockey player, former

(

), considered one of the innovators of the slapshot * Claude Giroux, wrestler * Hélène Harbec, Canadian journalist and poet * Israël Landry, teacher, musician, music merchant, editor-in-chief, consul * Rina Lasnier, GOQ, Canadian poet * Pierre Légaré, stand-up comic * Jean Lemieux, physician, novel and short-story writer * Antoine L'Estage, Canada's most successful rally driver, 10-time Canadian Rally Championship winner, North American Rally Cup winner and Rally X-Games participant * Didier Lucien, Quebec actor of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an origin * Félix-Gabriel Marchand, journalist, author, notary and 11th Premier of Quebec (1897–1900) * Joséphine Marchand-Dandurand, journalist, writer, and feminist activist * Claudine Mercier, comedian, singer, actress and impressionist * Jean-François Mercier,

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and television host * Kevin Owens,

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

with

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

* Jean-Marc Parent, comedian * Danny Plourde, poet, novelist and professor * Jean-Francois Quintin, hockey player, left wing for the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

(

) * Claude Raymond was a major league pitcher and later a sports commentator. * Aurélie Rivard, paralympic swimmer and multiple medalist * Alain Rochat, Swiss footballer * Joey Scarpellino, actor *Ska/punk/reggae band Subb * Valérie Tétreault, tennis player * Pierre Tougas, watercolor painter * Marie Turgeon, actress *The Villeneuve family,

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

drivers: ** Gilles Villeneuve,

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

, brother of Jacques-Joseph Villeneuve (born in Berthierville) and father of

Jacques Villeneuve Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve (; born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian former racing driver, who competed in IndyCar from 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1994 to 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1995, and Formula One from to . Villeneuve won t ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

Champion,

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

Champion, and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

World Champion,

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver * Mike Ward, comedian

References

External links

Official website - www.ville.saint-jean-sur-richelieu.qc.ca
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Incorporated places in Le Haut-Richelieu Regional County Municipality