La Tuque (; ) is a city located in north-central

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 Saint-Maurice River, between

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

and Chambord. The population was 11,227 at the Canada 2011 Census, most of which live within the

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

. At over 28,000 square kilometres, it is the largest city in Canada by area. The city is known as the Queen of Haute-Mauricie. The ''Classique internationale de canots de la Mauricie''

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

ing race begins at La Tuque.

Etymology

The name, which dates to the eighteenth century, originates from a nearby rock formation which resembles the well-known French-Canadian hat known as the

tuque A knit cap is a piece of knitted headwear designed to provide warmth in cold weather. It usually has a simple tapered shape, although more elaborate variants exist. Historically made of wool, it is now often made of synthetic fibers. Found ...

. The hat-shaped mountain which gave its name to the town of La Tuque is located between the Saint-Maurice River (left bank) and the

WestRock WestRock is an American corrugated packaging company. It was formed in July 2015 after the merger of MeadWestvaco and RockTenn. WestRock is the 2nd largest American packaging company. It is one of the world's largest paper and packaging companies ...

paper mill. The summit of this mountain is about 245 metres. It is located 200 metres from the river and about 400 metres upstream (northeast side) of the La Tuque hydroelectric power plant. In 1823–24, the explorer François Verreault described the location as: In Canada, a ''tuque'' ("tuque" in French) is a knitted cap, often with a tassel at the top, worn as a head covering in winter.

History

The territory of La Tuque was first inhabited by Atikamekw Indigenous people. In the early 1850s, settlers were drawn to the area to exploit the forest resources. The La Tuque Post Office opened in 1887, but the area remained isolated from the rest of the Mauricie until the early 1900s when the National Transcontinental Railway was built, prompting industrial development and the growth of a community on the east bank of the Saint-Maurice River where there was a large set of falls. On November 15, 1909, the Village Municipality of La Tuque was incorporated, with Achille Comeau as first mayor. A few months later on April 4, 1910, the Village Municipality of La Tuque Falls was formed, with Wenceslas Plante as first mayor. Less than one year later in March 1911, both villages merged to form the Town of La Tuque, with Wenceslas Plante as first mayor. In the 1940s, the hydro-electric generating station on the Saint-Maurice River was built, resulting in the partial destruction of the rock formation that gave the town its name. In 1972, the Municipality of Haute-Mauricie was formed out of portions from the unincorporated Carignan and Malhiot Townships, in the proximity of the Saint-Maurice Wildlife Reserve. However, its low population and constantly rising administrative costs led to the merger of Haute-Mauricie with La Tuque in August 1993. On March 26, 2003, Le Haut-Saint-Maurice Regional County Municipality was dissolved and all its municipalities and unorganized territories were amalgamated into the new City of La Tuque, thereby becoming the largest municipality with city status in land area in Quebec, and largest in Canada (38,000 km²). On January 1, 2006, the municipalities of La Bostonnais and Lac-Édouard separated and were reestablished. In May 2010, some 120 forest fires broke out around La Tuque, burning until June. Smoke from these fires reached portions of

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It s ...

and southern Quebec, including the cities of Ottawa and

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 ...

, as well as the northern US states.

Geography

While the urban area of La Tuque is relatively small, its entire territory is the largest city in Canada. It consists of almost all the entire former regional county municipality of Le Haut-Saint-Maurice, and includes the settlements of Carignan, Clova, La Croche, Fitzpatrick, Kiskissink, Oskélanéo,

Parent A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...

, Rapide-Blanc, Rivière-aux-Rats, and Sanmaur. Enclosed by but not administratively part of the city are the three First Nations Reserves of Coucoucache, Obedjiwan, and Wemotaci. Notable bodies of water in La Tuque are: * Gouin Reservoir * Lake Kiskissink * Lake Wayagamac * Grand Lake Bostonnais * Ventadour Lake (La Tuque) Notable rivers in La Tuque are: * Saint-Maurice River * Vermillon River (La Tuque) * Manouane River (La Tuque) * Croche River (La Tuque) *

Bostonnais River The river Bostonais or Bostonians is a river of Canada, located in Quebec, in the administrative region of Mauricie, in La Tuque (urban agglomeration). Geography This river of 96 km takes its sources in main lakes, located at almost highe ...

Little Bostonnais River The Little Bostonnais river flows westbound in the city of La Tuque, in Mauricie, in Quebec, in Canada. Geography From the mouth of Little Wayagamac Lake, Little Bostonnais River runs on 4.4 km (measured on water) before emptying into t ...

Trenche River The Trenche River (commonly named “La Trenche” in French) flows in a southwesterly direction through two forested areas. The first is the unorganized territory of Lac-Ashuapmushuan, in the MRC Le Domaine-du-Roy Regional County Municipality, a ...

Climate

La Tuque has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfb'') with warm summers and cold, snowy winters.

Demographics

Town

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, La Tuque 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.

Territorial equivalent

The population of the La Tuque territorial equivalent according to the Canada 2011 Census is 15,130.

Economy

The local economy centres on pulp and paper; the city has a pulp-milling centre as well as a major hydroelectric station. As the gateway to the upper Mauricie, La Tuque's economy also offers outdoor tourism opportunities and caters to hunting and fishing trips in its large

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

, which is partially regulated by the following ZEC's: * Zec de la Croche * Zec de la Bessonne *

Zec Borgia The ZEC Borgia is a "zone d'exploitation contrôlée" (controlled harvesting area) (ZEC) located in La Tuque (urban agglomeration), in administrative region of Mauricie, Quebec, Canada. This hunting and fishing is administered by the Association ...

* Zec Frémont * Zec du Gros-Brochet * Zec Jeannotte, Québec * Zec Kiskissink * Zec Menokeosawin * Zec Tawachiche * Zec Wessonneau

Transportation

The main highway is Quebec Route 155 that connects La Tuque with Shawinigan to the south and the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region to the north. Numerous forest roads provide access to remote hunting and fishing camps, and the village of

is accessible by a long gravel road from

Mont-Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and i ...

in the Laurentides region. The Canadian National Railway dissects La Tuque's territory. This railway, built in 1910 by the National Transcontinental Railway, connected

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

to the

Canadian Prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

and goes through vast wilderness areas of northern Quebec and Ontario. While it was intended to ship grain from the prairies to the

Port of Quebec The Port of Quebec (french: Port de Québec) is an inland port located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It is the oldest port in Canada, and the second largest in Quebec after the Port of Montreal. History In the 19th century, the Port of Quebec ...

and to open up virgin territories, it never carried much rail traffic. However, it is still serviced by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

at the La Tuque railway station and Parent railway station, with request stops at Fitzpatrick, Oskélanéo, and Clova. Other sidings along the line are Casey, Hibbard,

Cann Cann may refer to: *Cann (surname), a list of people with the name * Cann River, a river of Victoria, Australia * Cann, Dorset, a village in England *Edward du Cann, British businessman and politician * Claire and Antoinette Cann pianists, known a ...

, Sanmaur, Vandry, Windigo, and Rapide-Blanc-Station. The La Tuque Airport is located directly south of the town's centre on Route 155. La Tuque Water Aerodrome is located just north of the city centre.

Government

Urban agglomeration

La Tuque centre-ville et rivière Saint-Maurice

The Urban agglomeration of La Tuque is an

urban agglomeration An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

that consists of: *the city of La Tuque, *the municipality of La Bostonnais, *the municipality of Lac-Édouard. The agglomeration comprises the elements of the redefined city of La Tuque as it existed after amalgamation on March 26, 2003, including the two municipalities that chose to de-merge on January 1, 2006. The agglomeration of La Tuque succeeded to the regional county municipality of Haut-Saint-Maurice, which was created in 1982 from part of the Quebec ridings's (county's) of Champlain electoral district, of Quebec electoral district of Saint-Maurice and of Abitibi. Le Haut-Saint-Maurice was dissolved during the merger of all municipalities in 2003 to create the city of La Tuque. Following the referendum on recreating La Bostonnais and Lac-Édouard, the agglomeration of La Tuque was created to allow municipalities to manage in common some competencies.

Census division

La Tuque is a

territory equivalent to a regional county municipality An equivalent territory (french: territoire équivalent), formally known as territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (french: territoires équivalents à une MRC), is a territorial unit used by Statistics Canada and the Institut de la ...

(TE) and census division (CD) of

, with geographical code 90. The TE of La Tuque consists of: *the municipalities of the

of La Tuque, namely :*the city of La Tuque :*the municipality of La Bostonnais :*the municipality of Lac-Édouard *three

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." In ...

s, namely :* Coucoucache :* Wemotaci :* Obedjiwan

List of mayors

The Mayor is the municipality's highest elected official. La Tuque has had fifteen mayors, since its incorporation as a city. Liste des maires, Ville de La Tuque, 1909 à 2009

Notable residents

* (November 19, 1939 – May 28, 2009), animator, humourist and actor * , actor * Mathieu Fortin, writer *

Maude Guérin Maude Guérin (born June 11, 1965) is a Canadian film and television actress. She is most noted for her performance in the 2018 film '' Family First (Chien de garde)'', for which she won the Prix Iris for Best Actress at the 20th Quebec Cinema Awa ...

, actress * , environmentalist * Félix Leclerc (August 2, 1914 – August 8, 1988), singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist * Sylvie Roy, politician * , TV reporter *

James Renald Sky was a Canadian R&B-influenced pop rock group from Montreal, Quebec. The duo originally consisted of James Renald (1971 - 2018) and Antoine Sicotte (1972 - ), son of actor Gilbert Sicotte. Both were songwriters, producers and multi-instrumen ...

, musician *

Gaétan Barrette Gaétan Barrette (born July 5, 1956) is a Canadian politician in Quebec, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2014 election. He represented the electoral district of La Pinière as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party until ...

, politician

References

External links

*
City of La Tuque official website
*

*
service de publicitées...
*

*
Eau Quai Saint-Maurice (Kayaking on St. Maurice River)
*
Tourisme Mauricie
Regional tourist office *
Association des stations de ski du Québec
Ski area profile in English {{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec