Sainte-Foy (; ) is a former city in 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 alongside the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

. It was amalgamated into

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 ...

at the start of 2002. Most of the formerly independent municipality of Sainte-Foy is located in the

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 ...

() of Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge — initially as one of the two constituent districts of the former borough of Sainte-Foy–Sillery. On 1 November 2009, Sainte-Foy was subdivided into four separate districts: Cité-Universitaire, Plateau, Saint-Louis, Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy, when the borough of Sainte-Foy– Sillery– Cap-Rouge was formed. Sainte-Foy is a major suburban neighbourhood west of downtown Quebec City. It plays a large part in Quebec City's economic life, with the Jean Lesage International Airport,

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

, multiple shopping malls, and both bridges to the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River.

Demographics

According to the 2006 Canadian Census: * Population: * % change (2001–2006): +5.1 * Dwellings: * Number of families: * Area (km²): 83.87 km² * Density (persons per km²): 909.3

History

In 1669, missionary priest

Pierre-Joseph-Marie Chaumonot Pierre-Joseph-Marie Chaumonot (; aka Joseph Marie Chaumonot) (March 9, 1611 – February 21, 1693) was a French priest and Jesuit missionary who learned and documented the language of the Wyandot people, also known as the Huron. A series of an ...

erected a chapel for the Huron, dedicated to Notre-Dame de la Foy. The name means Our Lady of Faith. Sainte-Foy developed around the chapel, first as a small settlement of Christian Indians, added to by traders and merchants. The Battle of Sainte-Foy on April 28, 1760, sometimes called the Battle of Quebec, was a victory for the French in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

(known in the United States as the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

for the North American front). Their forces were commanded by

Chevalier de Lévis Chevalier may refer to: Honours Belgium * a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown (Belgium), Order of the Crown * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold (Belgium), Order of Leopold * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II * a title in the Be ...

and defeated the British army under James Murray. This battle proved to be much bloodier than the battle of the

Plains of Abraham The Plains of Abraham () is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759, ...

the previous September, with higher total casualties on both sides – 833 French casualties and 1,124 British. Despite this the French were unable to take Quebec and it was to be the last French victory in the Seven Years' War, which the British ultimately won. France ceded its territories in North America east of the Mississippi River to the British. Sainte-Foy's long-time flamboyant mayor, Andrée Boucher, was defeated when she ran for mayor of the amalgamated

. She became a radio host. In 2005, she ran again for mayor after Jean-Paul L'Allier retired. This time she won, without hiring an election team or paying for media advertisements, and with making very few public appearances or debates. She has since died since her last political position.

Amalgamation with Quebec City

On 1 January 2002 the city was

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

, along with many other suburbs, with

with neither a public referendum nor widespread public approval. A vote was finally held on June 20, 2004, giving cities an opportunity to leave the new municipal structure. Only

Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures () is a city in central Quebec, Canada, on the Saint Lawrence River, adjacent to Quebec City. The town was founded in 1691 by three families (Desroches, Racette, Couture). It was merged with Quebec City on January 1, ...

and

L'Ancienne-Lorette L'Ancienne-Lorette () is a city in central Quebec, Canada. It is a suburb of and an enclave within Quebec City. It was merged with Quebec City on January 1, 2002, as part of a 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec, but, after a 2004 r ...

left. Many believed that a "defusion" would lead only to an eventual and inevitable "refusion". Many people said they were discouraged from voting by the prospect of spending a lot of money undoing what had just been done. In most of the older suburbs not enough votes were cast for the vote to be valid.

Districts

* Cité universitaire – centred around

, it has a very large student population. The majority of Saint-Foy's commercial activity is found along Laurier Boulevard, such as Laurier Québec, Place Sainte-Foy and Place de la Cité shopping malls. A number of large hotels and office buildings line the boulevard and this area has become one of the city's major commercial centres. * Saint-Louis – leafy residential area south of Laurier Boulevard towards the river. Contains the Aquarium du Québec. * Plateau – sprawling suburban area north of Boulevard Laurier, featuring post-war single storey houses and an abundance of 1960s apartment blocks. Sainte-Foy2

* Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy – recent large residential development, centred on the Campanile shopping street. The neighbourhood consists mostly of large modern condo and apartment blocks. * L'Aéroport – industrial area centred on the Jean Lesage International Airport with many

big-box store A big-box store, a hyperstore, a supercenter, a superstore, or a megastore is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The ...

s. L'Aéroport district's land was initially part of the parish of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette —later the independent city of

. L'Aéroport's territory was merged into the formerly independent city of Sainte-Foy's jurisdiction in 1971. However, L'Aéroport became a district of the former borough of Laurentien, in 2002. When Laurentien was dissolved as an administrative entity as part of the 2009 reorganization of Quebec City's boroughs, L'Aéroport became a district of Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge.

Economy

Aeropro has its head office on the grounds of Jean Lesage Airport in Sainte-Foy. It conducts business charters and recreational and sightseeing flights Prior to its dissolution, regional airline Air Nova had its Quebec offices in Sainte-Foy. Major companies operating in the district include

PriceWaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

and the headquarters of SSQ Financial Group. Sainte-Foy is at the northern end of the

Quebec Bridge The Quebec Bridge () is a road, rail, and pedestrian bridge across the lower Saint Lawrence River between Sainte-Foy, Quebec City, Sainte-Foy (a former suburb that in 2002 became the arrondissement Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge in Quebec Cit ...

, which links to the south shore of the

at Lévis.

Education

Sainte-Foy is also the site of many educational institutions: *

* Cégep Sainte-Foy *

Cégep Garneau The Cégep Garneau is a cegep, public French-language College education in Quebec, college in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. History The college traces its origins to the merger of several institutions which became public ones in 1967, when the Q ...

Collège de Champigny The Collège de Champigny is a private secondary school. Founded by the Sacred Heart Brothers in 1969, it was established to provide education to everyone, according to the wishes of Father André Coindre, its founder. It is the only private scho ...

* Champlain College St. Lawrence * Rochebelle High School – * Collège des Compagnons – *

Université du Québec The Université du Québec () is a system of ten provincially-run public universities in Quebec, Canada. Its headquarters are in Quebec City. The university coordinates 1400 programs for over 100,000 students. The government of Quebec founded ...

École Nationale d'Administration Publique

Transport

Sainte-Foy station is a

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 ...

station on the

Quebec City–Windsor Corridor The Quebec City–Windsor Corridor () is the most densely populated and heavily industrialized region of Canada. As its name suggests, the -long region extends from Quebec City in the northeast to Windsor, Ontario in the southwest. With more tha ...

. It is roughly three kilometres from the Gare d'Autocar de Ste-Foy, and ten kilometres from Jean Lesage Airport. The Gare d'Autocar is a regional hub for Orleans Express, Intercar, the Réseau de transport de la Capitale, the

Société de transport de Lévis The Société de transport de Lévis () also known as STLevis ''(Lévis Transit Corporation)'' is a public transportation agency created in 1980, operating mainly in Lévis, Quebec, Lévis on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, being the c ...

, and several regional government-funded shuttles, for example Portneuf.

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

has a bus service from Sainte-Foy bus station to Montreal Dorval Airport for its customers only.A new bus service to Quebec City
."

. August 16, 2016. Retrieved on October 29, 2016.

Climate

Recreation

Sainte-Foy possesses has three ice hockey rinks, one sports centre, 33 soccer fields, 2 Interior Pools, 13 exterior pools, three cinemas, one theatre, Laurier Québec, Place de La Cite, and La Pyramide. Sainte-Foy also has excellent representation in all sports: the Governors in hockey, the Caravelles and Arsenal in soccer, and the Musketeers ESCC in basketball.

Notable residents

* Yves Bélanger, cinematographer and Canadian Screen Award recipient * Sylvie Bernier, Olympic diver and 1984 gold medalist * Lionel Fleury, president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and Quebec Amateur Hockey Association *

Simon Gagné Simon Gagné (; born February 29, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He spent the fi ...

, ice hockey player *

Jean Leloup Jean Leclerc (; born May 14, 1961) is a Québécois singer-songwriter and author from Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada. He is popularly known as Jean Leloup (which he likes to translate to John the Wolf), a stage name he kept using until 2006, when h ...

, singer and songwriter also known as "John the Wolf" * Steve Penney, ice hockey goaltender *

Patrick Roy Patrick Jacques Roy (; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, executive and former player who is the head coach for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Roy previously served as head coach for ...

, ice hockey goaltender * Marianna O'Gallagher, Irish-Quebecer historian

Notes

References

* Modification aux arrondissements (archive Chartrand, Rene (2000). Canadian Military Heritage. Casemate Publishing. ).

External links

{{Authority control Neighbourhoods in Quebec City Former municipalities in Quebec Bus stations in Quebec Bus transport in Quebec Populated places disestablished in 2002 2002 disestablishments in Quebec es:Sainte-Foy, Quebec