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

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, on the

Saint-Maurice River The Saint-Maurice River (, ; ) is one of the main tributaries of the St. Lawrence River, after the Ottawa River, Ottawa and the Saguenay River, Saguenay Rivers and drains an area of 42,735 km2. It touches the Lac Saint-Jean, Lake Saint John waters ...

, between

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

and Chambord. The population was 11,129 at the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, 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%, whic ...

, most of which live within the

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

. At over , it is the largest city in Canada by area. The

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, 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 paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

ing race begins at La Tuque. The name, which dates to the eighteenth century, originates from a nearby rock formation which resembles a French-Canadian knitted cap known as the

tuque A knit cap, colloquially known as a beanie, 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 mad ...

. In 1823–24, the explorer François Verreault described the location as: The hat-shaped mountain which gave its name to the town of La Tuque is located between the

(left bank) and the WestRock paper mill. The summit of this mountain is about . It is located from the river and about upstream (northeast side) of the La Tuque hydroelectric power plant.

History

The territory of La Tuque was first inhabited by

Atikamekw The Atikamekw are an Indigenous people in Canada. Their historic territory, ('Our Land'), is in the upper Saint-Maurice River valley of Quebec (about north of Montreal). One of the main communities is Manawan, about northeast of Montreal. ...

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 Mauricie () is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making tourism in Mauricie popular. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km2 (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...

until the early 1900s when the

National Transcontinental Railway The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Moncton, New Brunswick, in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway. The Grand Trunk partnership The completion o ...

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 1,892,332 in 2021) () is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies a wedge-shaped area bounded by the Ottawa River and Quebec to the northeast and east, the St. Lawr ...

and southern Quebec, including the cities of

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 ...

and

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 ...

, as well as the northern US states. In 2011, the 100th anniversary of La Tuque was celebrated with various cultural activities, including a large parade held on June 25 as well as the creation of a recipe book made by local residents.

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 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 ...

of Le Haut-Saint-Maurice, and includes the settlements of Carignan, Clova, La Croche, Fitzpatrick, Kiskissink, Oskélanéo,

Parent A parent is either the progenitor of a child or, in humans, it can refer to a caregiver or legal guardian, generally called an adoptive parent or step-parent. Parents who are progenitors are First-degree relative, first-degree relatives and have ...

, 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 Wemotaci (designated as Weymontachie 23 until 1997) is a First Nations reserve on the north shore of the Saint-Maurice River at the mouth of the Manouane River in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. Together with the Obedjiwan and the Couco ...

. Notable bodies of water in La Tuque are: *

Gouin Reservoir The Gouin Reservoir (, ) is a reservoir (water), man-made lake, fully within the boundaries of the La Tuque, Quebec, City of La Tuque, Quebec, Canada. It is not one contiguous body of water, but the collective name for a series of connected lake ...

* Lake Edouard * Lake Kiskissink * Lake Wayagamac * Grand Lake Bostonnais * Ventadour Lake Notable rivers in La Tuque are: * Saint-Maurice * Vermillon * Manouane * Croche * Bostonnais * Little Bostonnais * Trenche

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 cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

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

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; ), 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 ...

, 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 2021 Census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, 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%, whic ...

is 15,038.

Economy

The local economy centres on

pulp and paper The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is introd ...

; the city has a pulp-milling centre as well as a major

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

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 wi ...

, which is partially regulated by the following : * Zec de la Croche * Zec de la Bessonne * Zec Borgia * Zec Frémont * Zec du Gros-Brochet *

Zec Jeannotte, Québec The ZEC Jeannotte is a zone d'exploitation contrôlée (Controlled harvesting area), located in Lac-Édouard, Quebec, Lac-Édouard, in the administrative region of Mauricie, in Quebec, in Canada. The "Association de chasse et pêche Batiscan" (En ...

* Zec Kiskissink * Zec Menokeosawin * Zec Tawachiche * Zec Wessonneau

Government

Urban agglomeration

The Urban agglomeration of La Tuque is an

urban agglomeration An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

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

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 (, ), formally known as territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (), is a territorial unit used by Statistics Canada and the Institut de la statistique du Québec. Quebec is divided into 87 regional county m ...

(TE) and

census division Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic uni ...

, 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 () or First Nations reserve () is defined 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." ...

s, namely :* Coucoucache :*

:* 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

Infrastructure

The main highway is Quebec Route 155 that connects La Tuque with

Shawinigan Shawinigan (; ) is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,620 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) ...

to the south and 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 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 France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is in ...

in the Laurentides region. The

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

dissects La Tuque's territory. This railway, built in 1910 by the

, connected

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 ...

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 () 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 was one of the most im ...

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 (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 ...

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 ...

, 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.

Notable people

* Mathieu Fortin, writer * Maude Guérin, actress * Félix Leclerc (1914–1988), singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist * Sylvie Roy, politician * James Renald, musician * Gaétan Barrette, politician *

Steven Guilbeault Steven Guilbeault (; born June 9, 1970) is a Canadian politician and activist who has served as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture since 2025. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party, Guilbeault has sat as a Member of Par ...

, politician

References

External links

*
City of La Tuque official website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec