Varennes is an
off-island suburb 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- ...
, in southwestern
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, 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 ...
, Canada, on the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
in the
Marguerite-D'Youville Regional County Municipality. The city is approximately from
Downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal (French language, French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the ...
. The population as of the
Canada 2011 Census was 20,994. In 2015, the population is listed at 24,000.
History

The history of Varennes starts with the arrival of the ''Régiment de Carignan-Salières'' in
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to King ...
. René Gaultier, ''sieur de Varennes'', was given three concessions by intendant
Jean Talon in 1672, le Tremblay, la Gabelle and Varennes. Jaques-René,
one of his sons, was the second
seigneur of Varennes. Five seignories later composed the Varennes parish. They were the seignories ''du Cap de Varennes, de l'île Sainte Thérese, de Grand Maison, du Cap de la trinité'' and ''du Cap Saint-Michel''. The town was captured by the British in 1760 during the
Montreal Campaign. It was part of the
Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
The Province of Quebec (french: Province de Québec) was a colony in British North America which comprised the former French colony of Canada. It was established by the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763, following the conquest of New France by ...
, then of
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec ...
, before it returned to being part of Quebec again in 1867 due to
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...
.
Varennes gained the status of city in 1972.
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, Varennes 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.
Prominent citizens
*
Gilles Courteau
*
Christophe-Alphonse Geoffrion
*
Félix Geoffrion
Félix Geoffrion, (October 3, 1832 – August 7, 1894) was a Canadian notary and politician.
Born in Varennes, Lower Canada, the son of Félix Geoffrion and Catherine Brodeur, he was trained and practised as a notary. He was elected t ...
*
Marc-Amable Girard
*
Sylvain Grenier
*
Marie-Mai
Marie-Mai (born Marie-Mai Bouchard on July 7, 1984, in Varennes, Quebec) is a Canadian singer from Quebec. She was initially known as one of the finalists of the first season of the Quebec reality show ''Star Académie''.
Background
Marie-Mai ...
*
Louis Massue
*
Philippe-François de Rastel de Rocheblave
Philippe-François de Rastel de Rocheblave also, known as, Philippe de Rocheblave and the Chevalier de Rocheblave (March 23, 1727 – April 3, 1802), was a soldier and businessman in the Illinois Country, of Upper Louisiana, and later, a pol ...
*
Théodore Robitaille
Théodore Robitaille, (29 January 1834 – 17 August 1897) was a Canadian physician, politician, and the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.
Born in Varennes, Lower Canada, the son of Louis-Adolphe Robitaille (pronounced "ro-bee-tie") ...
*
Louis-Adélard Sénécal
*
Marie-Marguerite d'Youville
See also
*
Marguerite-D'Youville Regional County Municipality
*
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
*
Saint-Charles River (Varennes)
The rivière Saint-Charles is a tributary of the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, flowing in the city of Varennes, in the Marguerite-D'Youville Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Montérégie, southwest of provi ...
*
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
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Quebec
Quebec populated places on the Saint Lawrence River
1672 establishments in the French colonial empire
Incorporated places in Marguerite-D'Youville Regional County Municipality
Canada geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia