Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec
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Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada about 50 km southeast of Montreal. It is situated on the west bank of the Richelieu River at the northernmost navigable point from Lake Champlain. As of 2001, the city's population was 79,600, of which 90% are Catholic. Its per capita income was $13,311 CAD or $25,309 CAD per wage earner.
The city historically was an important transportation hub. The first rail line in North America connected it with La Prairie in 1836. It is also the host of the "International des montgolfières", an international hot-air balloon festival, which attracts thousands of tourists that come to see the hundreds of balloons in the sky every year.
The Chambly Canal extends 20 km north along the west bank of the river and provides modern freight passage to Chambly and the St. Lawrence River. The canal has one lock near the downtown core of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu. In the winter, the city builds a skating rink on the canal near the lock. In the summer, the embankment on the east side of the canal has a 20-km cycling path.
Known to the early English settlers as St. Johns, the site was fortified in the 17th century. Later, the French built Fort St. Jean on the site. It provided an important communication link during the French and Indian Wars. During the American Revolutionary War control of the town changed hands several times as the British and American forces moved through the area.
Today's St-Jean is a manufacturing centre of textiles, food and wood products. It hosts an Area Support Unit of the Canadian Forces which acts as the primary recruitment and officer training establishment. Until 1995 ASU St-Jean housed Le Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, a bilingual military academy. The only remaining military university in Canada is the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.
In 2001, a new city organization was created as a regional county municipality including several adjoining communities, and the city's population was adjusted to 79,600. This merger was requested by the five municipalities involved, and was not part of the municipal fusions that were decreed unilaterally by the Québec government around the same time. The amalgamated municipalities are as follows (with 2001 populations):
- Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (37,386)
- Saint-Luc (20,573)
- Iberville (9,424)
- Saint-Athanase (6,691)
- L'Acadie (5,526)
