Jonquière (; ; 2021 population: 60,250) is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

(

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

) of the city of Saguenay in the

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (, ) is a region in Quebec, Canada on the Labrador Peninsula. It contains the Saguenay Fjord, the estuary of the Saguenay River, stretching through much of the region. It is also known as Sagamie in French, from the fi ...

region of

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, ...

, Canada. It is located on the

Saguenay River __NOTOC__ The Saguenay River (, ) is a major river of Quebec, Canada. It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east; the city of Saguenay is located on the river. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River. ...

, near the borough of

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi ( , ) is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and ...

History

Jonquière was founded in 1847 by Marguerite Belley, who came from

La Malbaie La Malbaie () is a municipality in the Charlevoix-Est Regional County Municipality in the Province of Quebec, Canada, situated on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River at the mouth of the Malbaie River. It was formerly known as Murray Bay ...

to settle on the Rivière aux Sables. It was named after

Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de la Jonquière, Marquis de la Jonquière Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de la Jonquière, Marquis de la Jonquière (18 April 1685 – 17 March 1752) was a French admiral who was appointed as Governor General of New France, where he served from 1 March 1749 until his death in 1752. De la ...

, governor of New France from 1749 to 1752. Growth came from the construction of pulp and paper mills at the beginning of the 20th century. Between 1925 and 1928, the world's largest aluminum plant was built along with the city Arvida (then a separate town). In 1942, to supply power to the plant, Alcan built a hydroelectric station at Shipshaw that was the largest in the world at that time. Jonquière, Arvida and Kénogami were amalgamated into the single city of Jonquière in 1975. Jonquière was the host city for the Quebec Games in the winter of 1976 and for the Canoe/Kayak World Championships in slalom and whitewater racing in 1979. Much of Jonquière's development owed its strength to the Price family, who ran a pulp and paper factory in Kénogami. Today that factory is owned by Resolute Forest Products. Arvida is the home of an

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

plant owned by

Rio Tinto Alcan Rio Tinto Alcan is a Canada-based mining company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, it is a subsidiary of global mining conglomerate Rio Tinto. It was created on 15 November 2007 as the result of the merger between Rio Tinto's Canadian subsi ...

. When the city of Saguenay was constituted on February 18, 2002 by municipal amalgamation, the borough of Jonquière was created from the former city of Jonquière, the former municipality of Shipshaw, and the former municipality of Lac-Kénogami. The former city of Jonquière had a population of 54,842 in the

Canada 2001 Census The 2001 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 15, 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 30,007,094. This w ...

, the last census in which Jonquière was counted as a separate city.2001 Statistics Canada Community Profiles: Jonquière
/ref> The heavy metal band Voivod formed in Jonquière. The Rivière aux Sables runs through the centre of Jonquière. Significant damage to the city's buildings was caused by the 1996 Saguenay Flood.

Transportation

Rail

Jonquière is the northern terminus of the Montreal–Jonquière passenger train operated by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

. Three round-trip trains per week run between

Jonquière station Jonquière station is a Via Rail station in Saguenay, Quebec, Canada. It is located on rue Saint-Dominique in the former city of Jonquière. It is the final stop of Via Rail's Montreal–Jonquière train The Montreal–Jonquière train (former ...

and

Montreal Central Station Montreal Central Station (, ) is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Nearly 11 million rail passengers use the station every year, making it the second-busiest train station in Canada, af ...

, scheduled to take about nine hours each way. This route is shared by the

Montreal–Senneterre train The Montreal–Senneterre train (formerly called the ''Abitibi'') is a passenger train operated by Via Rail between Montreal and Senneterre, in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada. The journey from end to end takes approximately ...

as far as

Hervey station Hervey station or Hervey-Jonction station is a railway station in Hervey-Jonction, Quebec, Canada. This station was built in when the National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) transcontinental railway main line was built between (Moncton–) Qu ...

. From Montreal, passengers can connect to trains serving major destinations such as

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Halifax, and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Notable people

* Christiane Chabot, artist *

Bernard Jean Bernard Jean (September 21, 1948 – August 1, 2017) was a Canadian oboist, english horn player, conductor, and music educator. He has held principal oboist positions with several important Canadian orchestras, including the Quebec Symphony Orc ...

, oboist, conductor, and music educator *

Pierre Pilote Joseph Albert Pierre Paul Pilote (December 11, 1931 – September 9, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and perennial All-Star, most notably for the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), for which he served ...

, NHL hall of famer * Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, NHL player * Annie Villeneuve, singer-songwriter * Voivod, heavy metal band *

Guillaume Morissette Guillaume Morissette (born 1983) is a Canadian fiction writer and poet based in Montreal, Quebec. His work has frequently been associated with the Alt Lit movement, with ''Dazed & Confused'' magazine describing him as "Canada's Alt Lit poster boy. ...

, novelist

Mayors

*Jean Allard ( – January 20, 1868), (1872–1876) and (February 5, 1894 – August 26, 1895 Death) * Jules Gauthier Me Jules Gauthier (1942 - bef 1949) *Camille Gagné *Francis Dufour (1975–1985) (Arvida 1967 – 1975) *Gilles Marceau *Marcel Martel ( – November 7, 1999) * Daniel Giguère (November 7, 1999 – February 18, 2002)

References

External links

Borough Council of Jonquière

(Archive) *
Municipality of Jonquiere
(Archive)
"Giant of the North"
''Popular Mechanics'', December 1943, article on the crash program to create the Shipshaw hydroelectric project {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonquiere Populated places established in 1847 Populated places disestablished in 2002 Boroughs of Saguenay, Quebec Former municipalities in Quebec Former cities in Quebec 1847 establishments in Canada 2002 disestablishments in Quebec