Salaberry-de-Valleyfield

History

The actual city was founded in 1874, the first mayor was Moise Plante. The first settlers arrived in 1798. At that moment, the settlement was named Pointe-du-Lac (Lake Point). The colony was then renamed Saranac, then Sainte-Cécile. Salaberry-de-Valleyfield was officially named in 1874 after Colonel Charles de Salaberry who served with the British army during the War of 1812. "Valleyfield" came from the Valleyfield Mills, a paper mill south of Edinburgh in Scotland.

The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Valleyfield, founded in 1892.

Salaberry-de-Valleyfield is also the seat of the judicial district of Beauharnois since 1901.

Merger

In 2002, the city of 26,170 amalgamated with the following communities (2001 Canada census figures):

• Saint-Timothée (8,299)
• Grande-Île (4,559)

Geography

Situated on Grande-Île, an island in the Saint Lawrence River, it is bordered at its western end by Lake Saint Francis, with the Saint Lawrence to the north and the Beauharnois Canal to its south. The Port of Valleyfield is on the canal.

Climate

Salaberry-de-Valleyfield has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with warm summers and long, cold, and snowy winters.{{Weather box|width=auto |Jan record high C = 14.0 |Feb record high C = 16.0 |Mar record high C = 23.0 |Apr record high C = 30.0 |May record high C = 35.0 |Jun record high C = 34.4 |Jul record high C = 35.6 |Aug record high C = 36.5 |Sep record high C = 35.0 |Oct record high C = 28.9 |Nov record high C = 22.5 |Dec record high C = 17.0 |year record high C = 36.5 |Jan record low C = -38.3 |Feb record low C = −33.5 |Mar record low C = −29.0 |Apr record low C = -15.6 |May record low C = -4.4 |Jun record low C = 2.2 |Jul record low C = 6.5 |Aug record low C = 1.7 |Sep record low C = -2.0 |Oct record low C = -8.9 |Nov record low C = -21.0 |Dec record low C = -32.0 |year record low C = -38.3

Demographics

| 1881 |3906 | 1891 |5515 | 1901 |11055 | 1911 |9449 | 1921 |9215 | 1931 |11411 | 1941 |17052 | 1951 |22414 | 1956 |23584 | 1961 |27297 | 1966 |29111 | 1971 |30173 | 1976 |29716 | 1981 |29574 | 1986 |27942 | 1991 |27598 | 1996 |26600 | 2001 |26170 | 2006 |39672 | 2011 |40077 | 2016 |40745 | 2021 |42787

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 108.56 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Attractions

The Musée de Société des Deux-Rives (MUSO), which covers the economic and cultural history of the region, is located in the city.

The city houses one of the 10 minor basilicas in Quebec. Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Cecilia, built in 1934–1935, is one of the largest churches in the country.

The city has been the site of the Valleyfield Regattas since 1938. The event takes place every year at the beginning of July over a three-day period in the heart of the city on Bay Saint-François. It is an international hydroplane competition, in which power boats achieve speeds of up to 225 km/h. Attracting over 130,000 visitors per year, it also includes other cultural activities.

Government

The city council is composed of the mayor and eight city councillors. The municipal elections are held every four years. Each councillor stands for his/her district.

List of former mayors:

• Moise Laplante (1875–1878, 1880–1885, 1886–1890)
• Alexander Anderson (1878–1880)
• Zéphirin Boyer (1885–1886, 1890–1892)
• John Hugh O'Sullivan (1892–1895)
• Georges Madeiros Loy (1895–1899)
• Narcisse Langevin (1899–1901)
• Onésime Longtain (1901–1903)
• Joseph Georges Henri Thibault (1903–1906)
• James Alexander Robb (1906–1910)
• Charles Ovide Ephrem Ostigui (1910–1912)
• Noel Adélard Ostilly (1912–1916)
• Stanislas Abraham Laroche (1916–1922)
• Daniel Eusèbe Dion (1922–1924)
• Joseph Donat Leboeuf (1924–1930)
• Bernard Gustave Ludger Codebecq (1930–1932)
• Olivier Philorum Billette (1932–1938)
• Joseph Armand Larin (1938–1942)
• Louis Major (1942–1944)
• Joseph Abel Eugène Cauchon (1944–1948, 1960–1969)
• Joseph Olivier Edmond Caza (1948–1954)
• Joseph Mathias Louis Covignon (1954–1960)
• Joseph-Henri Raphaël Barrette (1969–1975)
• Marie Blanche Alberta Marcelle Besner-Trépanier (1975–1983)
• Martinus Maria Petrus Mooijekind (1983–1987)
• Joseph Eugène Gaetan Rousse (1987–1995)
• Denis Lapointe (1995–2017)
• Miguel Lemieux (2017–present)

Education

• 9 daycare facilities
• 3 pre-kindergarten centres
• 12 elementary schools (some with daycare services), of which one is English-language.
• 1 high school
• 1 adult education centre
• 1 vocational training centre
• 1 CEGEP: Collège de Valleyfield
• 1 French-language university centre

Gault Institute

The Gault Institute was created by Andrew Frederick Gault. He created this school during the time that the Gault Cotton Mills were up and running. To heat the school at one time he used underground pipes connecting from the school to the Cotton Mills since at the time there was no electricity.

Notable people

• Lise Bacon: Quebec politician
• Line Beauchamp: Quebec politician
• Jean-Luc Brassard: Olympic gold medalist in skiing
• Pierre Cossette: television and Broadway producer
• Mélodie Daoust: Olympics gold medalist in ice hockey
• Suzanne Fortier: principal at McGill University
• Armand Frappier: physician and microbiologist
• Karla Homolka: serial killer
• Vladimir Katriuk (1921–2015): alleged Nazi war criminal
• Dominic Larocque: para ice hockey athlete
• J. Albert Leduc: ice hockey player and businessman
• Paul-Émile Léger: cardinal of the Catholic Church
• Serge Marcil: politician and Minister of Employment in 1994
• Anne Minh-Thu Quach: MP for Beauharnois—Salaberry
• Jean Ouimet: former leader of the Green Party of Quebec

References

References

1. "Répertoire des municipalités: Salaberry-de-Valleyfield". Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation.
2. {{CanRiding
3. "Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Ville (V) Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". Government of Canada - Statistics Canada.
4. "Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Quebec [Population centre], Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". Government of Canada - Statistics Canada.
5. [http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Tab=1&Geo1=CMA&Code1=465&Geo2=PR&Code2=24&Data=Count&SearchText=Salaberry-de-Valleyfield&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1 2011 Statistics Canada Census Profile: Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (Census agglomeration), Quebec]. The census agglomeration consists of only Salaberry-de-Valleyfield itself. This was unchanged from the 2006 census.
6. [http://www2.publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/dynamicSearch/telecharge.php?type=2&file=/D_11/D11_A.HTM ''Territorial Division Act'']. ''Revised Statutes of Quebec'' D-11.
7. "Archived copy".
8. Statistics Canada: [[Canada 1996 Census. 1996]], [[Canada 2001 Census. 2001]], [[Canada 2006 Census. 2006]], [[Canada 2011 Census. 2011]] census
9. [http://regatesvalleyfield.com/en/ Home - Régates de Valleyfield]
10. Tremblay, Éric. (November 6, 2017). "Miguel Lemieux succède à Denis Lapointe (French Only)". Journal Saint-François.
11. "Répertoire des entités géopolitiques: Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (ville) 1.1.1875 - ...". Institut généalogique Drouin.
12. (September 5, 2019). "Karla Homolka Vit Maintenant a Salaberry de Valleyfield". Viva Media.
13. {{toponymie. 125037