Saint-Constant is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in southwestern

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, Canada. It is located on the south shore of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

in the

Roussillon Regional County Municipality Roussillon is a regional county municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is in Saint-Constant, Quebec. The region's population was 171,443 as of the 2016 census. Subdivisions There are 11 subdivisions and one native r ...

of the

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. Th ...

region. The population as of the

Canada 2016 Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...

was 27,359.

History

Early settlement took place in 1725 as a result of the opening of the St. Pierre concession. The Côte Saint-Pierre mission (first name of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

) began in 1750 with the construction of a church and two years later, the parish registers opened. Rang Saint-Pierre was the central concession of the Sault-Saint-Louis

seigneurie In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; french: seigneur, lit=lord; la, senior, lit=elder), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple. '' Nulle terr ...

and extended into the seigneurie of LaSalle. In 1815 Rang Saint-Pierre was nicknamed "Black Cattle Road" because it was the way cattle were transported from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Centrally located in what was then Laprairie County, the village of Saint-Constant was the only location of voting from 1829 to 1841. Residents of the area witnessed or took part in the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now south ...

of 1837-1838. Local administrative structures emerged in Saint-Constant in 1845 with the introduction of the parish municipality and the school board. However, the vast territory of the parish of Saint-Constant was already subdivided for Saint-Rémi (1840), Saint-Édouard (1833), and Saint-Isidore (1833). This trend continued with the establishment of Saint-Michel (1854), Saint-Mathieu (1919) and Sainte-Thérèse-de-Delson (1932). One of the mayors, Solime Cardinal (1815–1897), was the maternal grandfather of Charles-Émile "Charley" Trudeau, a successful French Canadian entrepreneur who became the father of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 15th Prime Minister of Canada, and grandfather of

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...

, 23rd and current Prime Minister of Canada. Saint-Constant was transformed by the construction of the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

and

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The electrification of the village occurred around 1918 and

rural electrification Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Rural communities are suffering from colossal market failures as the national grids fall short of their demand for electricity. As of 2017, over 1 billion ...

was completed in 1939. The Rue Saint-Pierre was extended from Montées des Bouleaux/Rue Sainte-Catherine, in the direction of Route 132 in 1950. Starting in the 1950s, suburban development occurred in Saint-Constant, allowing it to obtain city status in 1973.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, Saint-Constant had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Transportation

Local

bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...

in Saint-Constant is provided by the

Réseau de transport métropolitain Exo, officially known as Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM; en, Metropolitan Transportation Network), is a public transport system in Greater Montreal, including the Island of Montreal, Laval ( Île Jésus), and communities along both t ...

's Roussillon sector. Saint-Constant is also served by the Saint-Constant and Sainte-Catherine stations on the

Candiac line Candiac (also designated exo4, formerly known as Delson-Candiac) is a commuter railway line in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by Exo, the organization that operates public transport services across this region. The Candiac ...

Attractions

Saint-Constant is home to the

Canadian Railway Museum The Canadian Railway Museum (french: (Le) ''Musée ferroviaire canadien''), operating under the brand name Exporail in both official languages, is a rail transport museum in Saint-Constant, Quebec, Canada, on Montreal's south shore. Locomotive ...

References

External links