| Châteauguay | |||
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| — City — | |||
| Ville de Châteauguay | |||
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| Motto: Unita Fortior (Latin for "Stronger when United") |
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| Location within Roussillon Regional County Municipality. | |||
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Châteauguay
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| Coordinates (5, boulevard D'Youville [1]): | |||
| Country | Canada | ||
| Province | Quebec | ||
| Region | Montérégie | ||
| RCM | Roussillon | ||
| Incorporated | November 03, 1975 | ||
| Electoral Districts Federal |
Châteauguay—Saint-Constant |
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| Provincial | Châteauguay | ||
| Government[1][2][3] | |||
| • Mayor | Nathalie Simon | ||
| • Federal MP(s) | Sylvain Chicoine (NDP) | ||
| • Quebec MNA(s) | Pierre Moreau (PLQ) | ||
| Area[4] | |||
| • Total | 35.89 km2 (13.9 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006)[4] | |||
| • Total | 42,786 (ranked 104th) | ||
| • Density | 1,192.1/km2 (3,087.5/sq mi) | ||
| • Change (2001-06) | 4.3% | ||
| • Dwellings | 16,594 | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC−5) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) | ||
| Postal code(s) | J6J to J6K | ||
| Area code(s) | 450 | ||
| Access Routes[5] A-30 |
Route 132 Route 138 |
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| Website | www.ville.chateauguay.qc.ca | ||
Châteauguay is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, located both on the Chateauguay River and Lac St-Louis, which is a section of the St. Lawrence River. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 42,786.
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The land was first given to Charles Lemoyne by the governor of New France at the time, the Comte de Frontenac with the intention of setting up a seigneurie in the area. Afterwards the seigneurie was assumed by Zacharie Robutel de la Noue in 1706. In 1763 France relinqueshed its claims in Canada and Châteauguay was now under British mandate. The seigneurie was bought by Marguerite d'Youville, a founder of the Quebec religious society the Grey Nuns in 1765 and 10 years later construction began on the Church of Saint-Joachim.
Châteauguay played an important part in the colonial history of North America. With the United States having declared war on Britain in 1812, Châteauguay was seen as little more than a good vantage point to post troops to defend Montreal against an invasion. This prong of the American advance on Montreal ended with the Battle of the Châteauguay, where on October 25, 1813 Lieutenant Colonel Charles de Salaberry succeeded in halting the American force of 4,000 advancing on Montreal with only some 400 troops, mostly French-Canadian and 170 Kahnawake Mohawk warriors. The second American incursion towards Montreal was defeated shortly after at Crysler's Farm on November 11.
During the Lower Canada Rebellion, Châteauguay was taken by the British army, who carried out the arrests of dozens of French-Canadians, including the leader of the rebels, François-Maurice Lepailleur, who was later exiled to Australia. Two natives of Châteauguay, Joseph Duquet and another sympathiser were later hanged at the prison at Au-pied-du-courant.
The actual village of Châteauguay was created in 1855, after the abolition of the seigneurie system in Quebec by the British colonial regime. Later on the city annexed two neighboring districts, Châteauguay-Heights (1968) and Châteauguay-Centre (1975). In 1982, with the passage of the Loi sur l'aménagement et l'urbanisme, Québec, the city became part of the Roussillon Regional County Municipality.
In the 1970s the community was terrorized by a serial rapist and murderer who, while arrested, has never been identified.[6]
Population trend[7]
| Census | Population | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 42,786 | 4.3% |
| 2001 | 41,003 | 1.0% |
| 1996 | 41,423 | 4.0% |
| 1991 | 39,833 | N/A |
Mother tongue language (2006)[4]
| Language | Population | Pct (%) |
|---|---|---|
| French only | 27,285 | 65.01% |
| English only | 10,710 | 25.52% |
| Both English and French | 395 | 0.94% |
| Other languages | 3,580 | 8.53% |
The current mayor of Châteauguay is Nathalie Simon. She was elected on November 1, 2009.
The Chateauguay Police have more than one hundred and fifty police officers. Their duties include investigations, crime prevention and routine city patrols. The force also participates in many community efforts. The majority of these outreach programs are aimed at Chateauguay youth and focus on the prevention of drug and alcohol use which is widespread among the youth( up to 78% of the teens have used a drug on the course of last month according to a survey). The force, originally having only jurisdiction within the city limits expanded its jurisidction over the nearby cities of Lery, Mercier, Beauharnois and Saint-Isidore between 2002 and 2007 through agreements between the municipalities.
Public transportation is assured by CITSO (Conseil Intermunicipal de Transport du Sud-Ouest). They run two Chateauguay-Angrignon loop bus routes circulating in opposite directions. A city minibus transfers commuters from the western part of the suburb to the downtown, where the other off-peak routes pass. During rush hours, more bus routes connect the various neighbourhoods with the Angrignon bus terminal and metro station. A special express bus route connects western Chateauguay and the Chateauguay Park-and-ride with downtown Montreal, only during rush hours. A reserved lane on Highway 138 eastbound makes the connection significantly faster when the Mercier Bridge is congested. The Chateauguay public transit system also offers a Taxi-Bus service which allows those people who live outside of the normal bus routes to, by way of transfer, use a taxi funded by CITSO to drop them off at specific points in the city usually within walking distance of their residence. This service has proven itself quite useful and popular amongst those residents who utilize it.
Since 1984, Châteauguay has been home to one of the largest HVDC-back-to-back stations in the world with an operating voltage of 140 kV and a maximum transmission rate of 1000 MW.
The majority of the education institutions within Chateauguay are public with the exception of College Heritage which is semi-private (And is actually a high school and not a College.) A small list of Chateauguay schools are.
NOVA Career Centre for adult students recently established itself in a building adjacent to Howard S. Billings. Their previous location was in the High School.
During the 1980s, three English elementary schools became French due to a demographic shift.
The city's local newspapers are the Le Soleil (The Sun) and L'information.
| Lac-Saint-Louis | ||||
| Léry Sainte-Martine |
Kahnawake | |||
| Châteauguay | ||||
| Mercier Saint-Isidore |
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