Saint-Lazare, Quebec
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Saint-Lazare () is an off-island suburb of
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 ...
, in southwestern
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 in the Regional County Municipality of Vaudreuil-Soulanges.


History

Originally part of the Seigneurie de Vaudreuil in the 18th century, the territory corresponding to Saint-Lazare was considered difficult to farm owing to sandy soil, and remained mostly uninhabited. In 1812, the first settlers were Americans from New England. Circa 1820, English from Cumberland settled the area, who were followed soon after by French Canadians. Saint-Lazare was founded as a parish municipality on December 29, 1875. The first church was built in 1877, destroyed by a fire in 1942 and subsequently rebuilt in 1947. A passenger train from
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
previously ran through the town but was discontinued in 1960. The station located on the corner of Sainte-Angélique and Duhamel was demolished. Originally a rural farming town, the city of Saint-Lazare experienced rapid growth in the 1990s, fueled predominantly by the arrival of young, middle-class families. New residents flocked to the area seeking a more relaxed lifestyle than that of the island of Montreal, as well as larger homes and property for less money than on the island of Montreal. In December 2001, Saint-Lazare changed its statutes and became a city. In 2015, the Saint-Lazare government began using
pictogram A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...
s instead of text on signs when the
Office québécois de la langue française The (, OQLF; ) is an agency of the Quebec provincial government charged with ensuring legislative requirements with respect to the right to use French are respected. Established on 24 March 1961 by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage, the ...
(OQLF) asked it to remove its English-language signs; the Saint-Lazare community believes in accommodating bilingualism and its Anglophone residents. In April 2023, there was a massive power outage that cause approximately 8000 households to lose electricity, according to Hydro-Quebec at that time. Only eight households had electricity at the height of the ice-storm crisis.


Communities

*Saint-Lazare-de-Vaudreuil *Saint-Lazare-Sud *Saint-Lazare-Nord *Saddlebrook *Sandcastle *Cedarbrook *Sunnybrook *Chanterel *Forest Hill *Maple Ridge


Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population 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 ...
, Saint-Lazare 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.


Soils

Saint-Lazare was built on thick deposits of sand. Poorly drained areas are most common in the eastern part of town and have been mapped as muck,
Peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
or Vaudreuil series (a "half-bog" or gleysol), while the well to rapidly drained classic podzols are assigned to Ste. Sophie or Upland series.


Attractions

Some of the popular attractions are: * Aéroport Cooper * Bar Chez Maurice * Bar Planète St-Lazare * Club équestre Les Forestiers * Sports Complex * Festivals * Festival équestre Gymkhana * Horse shows * La Pinière * Torchlight Parade (ATV) * Trails and paths * Canins canine sport center


Parks

Saint-Lazare is graced by significant public funding for its ambitious recreational projects. Bedard Park in the centre of the town is a relatively large park equipped with a small water park, a grass field, three baseball diamonds, and tennis courts. In the winter two hockey rinks and an ice skating oval are added. Another large, multi-use park is called Le Parc nature les Forestiers de Saint-Lazare (2800 Chemin Lotbinière, Saint-Lazare, QC J7T 3H9). It is a 4-season park, with an outdoor pool, trails for hiking, cross-country skiing, horse riding, and snowshoeing, and picnic areas. Other parks in Saint-Lazare are scattered among the small subdivisions throughout the municipality. A new privately-financed sports centre was opened to the public in 2006 which includes an indoor soccer turf, a hockey rink, and a gym.


Equestrian

Areas surrounding Saint-Lazare are dedicated to equestrian horse riding, including sanctioned trails that flow through wooded forests and nearby lakes in the region. Many trails are sand based, which is due in part to the popularity of this type of activity in the region. The town has one of the largest populations of horses, approximately 3,500 with many residential properties fully dedicated to breeding and horse training.


ATV

All-terrain vehicles are very popular in the region with an officially sanctioned trail, which runs between Saint-Lazare and the nearby town of
Rigaud, Quebec Rigaud () is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality in Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent region. It is located at the junction of the Ottawa River and the Rigaud River, about west of downtown ...
. The trail is maintained by regional members of local ATV clubs. The trails are open in all four seasons, and groomed in the winter using heavy machinery.


Transportation

The city is served by the 51 bus from the Exo La Presqu’Île, terminating at the Vaudreuil train station.


Education

Commission Scolaire des Trois-Lacs operates Francophone schools. * École à l'Orée-du-Bois * École Auclair * École des Étriers * Sections are zoned to École Saint-Thomas in
Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...
There is one French language public high school ( École secondaire Cité-des-Jeunes in
Vaudreuil-Dorion Vaudreuil-Dorion () is a suburb of Greater Montreal, in the Montérégie region of southwestern Quebec, Canada. The result of the merger of two towns, Vaudreuil and Dorion, it is located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. ...
) in the area. Lester B. Pearson School Board operates Anglophone schools.School Board Map
" Lester B. Pearson School Board. Retrieved on 28 September 2017.
* Birchwood Elementary School * Evergreen Elementary School * Forest Hill Elementary School * A portion is zoned to Mount Pleasant Elementary School in
Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...
* Westwood High School-Junior Campus (the senior campus is in
Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...
) A new senior elementary school, Forest Hill Senior, was opened in 2006. There are also two English language public secondary schools in the surrounding area (Westwood Senior - formerly Hudson High School - and Westwood Junior-formerly known as Vaudreuil Catholic High School). A new English-language elementary school (Birchwood Elementary) has opened for the 2011–2012 school year, even after many delays in construction. There is a semi-private French-speaking institution in Rigaud (Collège-Bourget).


See also

*
List of anglophone communities in Quebec This is a list of anglophone communities in the Canadian province of Quebec. Municipalities with a high percentage of English-speakers in Quebec are listed. The provincial average of Quebecers whose mother tongue is English is 7.6%, with a tot ...
*
List of cities in Quebec This is the list of municipalities that have the Classification of municipalities in Quebec, Quebec municipality type of city (Quebec), city (''ville'', code=V), an Administrative divisions of Quebec, administrative division defined by the Minist ...


References


External links

*
Surrounding area - Hudson, Quebec
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Bilingual cities and towns in Quebec Incorporated places in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality