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. Th ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...

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 thirte ...

, about southeast 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- ...

. It is situated on the west bank 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 kn ...

at the northernmost navigable point of

Lake Champlain , native_name_lang = , image = Champlainmap.svg , caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = New York/ Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada , coords = , type ...

. 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 hundreds 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 canal has one

lock Lock(s) 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 entertainment * ''Lock ...

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 (Quebec) Fort Saint-Jean is a fort in the Canadian province of Quebec located on the Richelieu River. The fort was first built in 1666 by soldiers of the Carignan-Salières Regiment of France who had travelled to New France to assist the young colon ...

in the seventeenth century. Known to early English settlers as St. Johns, it provided an important communication link during the

French and Indian Wars The French and Indian Wars were a series of conflicts that occurred in North America between 1688 and 1763, some of which indirectly were related to the European dynastic wars. The title ''French and Indian War'' in the singular is used in the U ...

. 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 a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

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 (''french: municipalité régionale de comté, 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 r ...

and of the judicial district of Iberville.

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 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 cultu ...

, 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, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu has a very large majority of white residents (93.3%). 2.4% of residents are visible minorities and 4.3% identify as aboriginal.

Neighbourhoods

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

Economy

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

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for 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 (that ...

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 Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

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

Commuting patterns

The Ville de

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu public transit Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu public transit (transport en commun) is operated on behalf of the city of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in the province of Quebec, Canada. The city lies on the Richelieu River about southeast of Montreal, and is the regional ca ...

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 administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly ac ...

, 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 area. According to the 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with the urban agglomeration of Longueuil ...

, 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-Richlieu 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. Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu has its own municipal airport,

Saint-Jean Airport Saint-Jean Airport is located in the southwestern section of the city of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada. The airport handles general aviation traffic and is also the main site of the annual International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jea ...

, and is also close to Montreal Pierre-Elliot Trudeau International Airport. The former

International Railway of Maine The International Railway of Maine was a historic railroad constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) between Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, and Mattawamkeag, Maine, closing a key gap in the railway's transcontinental main line to the port of Sai ...

runs through the town, now the connecting point for the Central Maine and Quebec Railway with the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , 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 Canad ...

. 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 s ...

'' 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 a ...

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, Quebec started on January 27, 1848. The headquarters for the paper were destroyed in 1942 during a fire, which resulted in the loss of the building and f ...

''. 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 re ...

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: * 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 , mottoeng = Truth, Duty, Valour , established = 1952 , type = Military college , chancellor = Anita Anand (''ex officio'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Command ...

(french: Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean) serves as a one-year preparatory program for the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Tor ...

. 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'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

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, CÉGEP and cegep, is a publicly funded college providing technical, academic, vocational or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, ...

network, offering post-secondary, pre-university programs

Notable people

* Art Alexandre, professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

player, left wing for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

( NHL) * Edward Antill, American

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

who participated in the 1775 Battle of Quebec and married a Quebecer, died here * 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 for the Offenbach band *

Isabelle Brasseur Isabelle Brasseur, (born July 28, 1970) is a Canadian former competitive pair skater. With her partner, Lloyd Eisler, she won two Olympic medals and the 1993 World Championships. Personal life Brasseur was born on July 28, 1970, in Kingsbury, Q ...

, 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 A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order ...

, 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 Imp ...

, footballer for the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary national soccer league compe ...

side Forge FC * Stéphane Crête, actor * Jeff Deslauriers, professional ice hockey goaltender, former

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center ...

( NHL) *

Denis Gauthier Denis Gauthier, Jr. (born October 1, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. A first round selection of the Calgary Flames at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, Gauthier played for the Flames, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers ...

, former professional ice 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 in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey te ...

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

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 team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

(NHL) * Bernard "Boom Boom" Geoffrion,

right wing Right-wing politics describes 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 pos ...

hockey player, former Montreal Canadien ( NHL), 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 Rina Lasnier, (6 August 1915 – 9 May 1997) was a French-speaking Quebecer, Québécois poet. Born in St-Grégoire d'Iberville-Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Quebec, Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Quebec, she attended Collège Marguerite Bourgeoys and the Un ...

, 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 The Canadian Rally Championship is an automobile rallying championship sanctioned by the Canadian Association of RallySport (CARS) held since 1957 in Canada. Canadian rallying history The Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) is Canada's only nation ...

winner, North American Rally Cup winner and Rally

X-Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island ...

participant * Didier Lucien, Quebec actor of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

an origin *

Félix-Gabriel Marchand Félix-Gabriel Marchand (January 9, 1832 – September 25, 1900) was a journalist, author, notary and politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the 11th premier of Quebec from May 24, 1897, to September 25, 1900. Born in what is Saint-Jean-sur-R ...

, journalist, author, notary and 11th Premier of Quebec (1897–1900) * Joséphine Marchand-Dandurand, journalist, writer, and feminist activist *

Claudine Mercier Claudine Mercier (born November 3, 1961) is a Québécoise comedian, singer, actress and impressionist. Mercier began her performing career in the early-80's singing with the a cappella vocal group Artishows for several years, and with Canadian ...

, comedian, singer, actress and impressionist *

Jean-François Mercier Jean-François Mercier (born 19 July 1967) is a comedian, screenwriter and television host from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Mercier's comedy features his scruffy appearance and mixes social criticism with vulgarity, curse words and expressions o ...

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

Jean-Marc Parent Jean-Marc is a French masculine given name. It may refer to: * Jean-Marc Adjovi-Bocco (born 1963), Beninese former football player * Jean-Marc Ayrault (born 1950), French politician * Jean-Marc Barr (born 1960), French-American film actor and dir ...

, 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. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertain ...

( NHL) * Claude Raymond was a major league pitcher and later a sports commentator. * Aurélie Rivard, para swimmer, including a multiple Paralympic medalist * Alain Rochat, Swiss footballer * Joey Scarpellino, actor *Ska/punk/reggae band

Subb Subb was a Canadian ska punk band formed in November 1992 in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. Since their beginning in the early 1990s, the band released four full-length albums, one EP and one split CD on the labels Stomp Records and Underworld ...

Valérie Tétreault Valérie Tétreault (born January 21, 1988) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 112 in February 2010, and peaked at No. 307 in the doubles rankings in April of the same year. Te ...

, tennis player * Pierre Tougas, watercolor painter * Marie Turgeon, actress *The Villeneuve family,

racing In sport, 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 go ...

drivers: ** Gilles Villeneuve,

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

, brother of Jacques-Joseph Villeneuve (born in

Berthierville Berthierville ()(also called Berthier-en-haut, and legally called Berthier before 1942) is a town located between Montreal and Trois-Rivières on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Berthierville is the seat of D'Autray ...

) and father of Jacques Villeneuve ** Jacques Villeneuve,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed ...

Champion,

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

Champion, and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

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. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

driver * Mike Ward, comedian * Kevin Owens, (real name Kevin Steen), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Superstar

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