Salaberry-de-Valleyfield

Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (French pronunciation: [salabɛʁi də valefiɫd]) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Regional County Municipality of Beauharnois-Salaberry. The population as of 2021 was 42,410.

The historic downtown is a major touristic centre for the area.

Due to the presence of Lake St. Francis on the St. Lawrence River, St. Francis Bay in downtown, and of numerous rivers and canals all over the town, the city is nicknamed "The Venice of Quebec".

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.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield had a population of 42,787 living in 20,073 of its 20,962 total private dwellings, a change of 5% from its 2016 population of 40,745. With a land area of 108.56 km² (41.92 sq mi), it had a population density of 394.1/km² (1,020.8/sq mi) in 2021.

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:

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.

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.