Chicoutimi ( , ) is the most populous

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

(

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

) of the city of Saguenay in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. It is situated at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Saguenay and

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi ( , ) is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and ...

rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and commercial centre of the

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (, ) is a region in Quebec, Canada on the Labrador Peninsula. It contains the Saguenay Fjord, the estuary of the Saguenay River, stretching through much of the region. It is also known as Sagamie in French, from the fi ...

region. In 2002 it merged into the new city of Saguenay and forms the heart of the 5th-largest urban area of the province of Quebec. At the 2021 census, its population was 69,004.

History

What was ultimately to become the centre of the borough of Chicoutimi was first settled by French colonists in 1676 as a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

in the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

. At that time, the Saguenay and the Chicoutimi rivers had been used as waterways by the Montagnais tribes for centuries. The name ''Chicoutimi'' derives from the . After the British seized Lower Canada, the Chicoutimi trading post continued to operate only until 1782, as the fur trade had moved further west of the Great Lakes. The city of Chicoutimi was officially incorporated in 1845 as a municipality by Peter McLeod, a

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

timber contractor who built a sawmill there in 1842. The town was designated in 1855 as the seat of Chicoutimi County and the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Chicoutimi The Diocese of Chicoutimi () is a Roman Catholic diocese in Quebec, centred on the borough of Chicoutimi in the city of Saguenay. It is part of the ecclesiastical province of Quebec. On 18 November 2017, Pope Francis appointed René Guay, a p ...

in 1878. The arrival of the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

in 1893 stimulated the growth of Chicoutimi's pulp and paper industries, particularly mechanical pulp production. The railway also built Chicoutimi station, which served the city until 1988. The Chicoutimi Pulp Co. was founded in 1896 backed by

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

investors. The Chicoutimi Pulp Mill became the biggest producer of mechanical pulp in Canada by 1910. Since the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the city has become an administrative and commercial centre. New centres of education and culture were established: in 1967, the

Conservatoire de musique de Saguenay A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

; and in 1969, the

Université du Québec à Chicoutimi The (, ''University of Quebec in Chicoutimi'', UQAC), is a branch of the network founded in 1969 and based in the Chicoutimi borough of Saguenay, Quebec, Saguenay, Quebec, Canada. UQAC has secondary study centres in La Malbaie, Saint-Félicien ...

. The city also played host to the Quebec Summer Games in 1972. In the municipal amalgamations of 1976, Chicoutimi annexed the neighbouring towns of Chicoutimi-Nord and Rivière-du-Moulin. In a much larger round of

Municipal reorganization in Quebec A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in 2002, the cities of Chicoutimi,

Jonquière Jonquière (; ; Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 60,250) is a List of boroughs in Quebec, borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay, Quebec, Saguenay in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Sag ...

La Baie La Baie (, ) is one of three boroughs in the city of Saguenay, Quebec, Canada. It was created during Quebec's municipal reorganization in 2002. From 1976 to 2001, it was known as the Town of La Baie, a municipality composed of the Grande-Bai ...

, Lac-Kénogami, Laterrière, Shipshaw and part of Tremblay merged to form the new city of Saguenay.ISQ – Redirection
/ref> Chicoutimi became a borough of Saguenay. During the summer of 1996, a record rainfall in the region caused major flooding in the downtown, as well as outlying areas. Dams were overrun, many bridges were destroyed throughout the region. The total cost of the disaster was recorded as 1.5 billion Canadian dollars. The flood also killed seven people. Chicoutimi's

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

is Camrose,

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Geography and cityscape

Chicoutimi is located in

region on the western end of the Saguenay Fjord; most of the borough, including the downtown section, is on the south shore of the

Saguenay River __NOTOC__ The Saguenay River (, ) is a major river of Quebec, Canada. It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east; the city of Saguenay is located on the river. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River. ...

. It is the geographical centre of the city of Saguenay; the

and La Baie boroughs adjoin on the west and east sides. Chicoutimi is about north of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

and northwest upriver from

Tadoussac Tadoussac () is a village municipality in La Haute-Côte-Nord RCM (Regional County Municipality), on the north shore of the maritime section of the estuary of St. Lawrence river, in Côte-Nord region, Quebec, Canada. Geography Tadoussac is ...

, at the confluence of the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

. The former cities of Chicoutimi borough are Chicoutimi, Laterrière, Canton-Tremblay, Chicoutimi-Nord and Rivière-du-Moulin. They have maintained their names as wards in the amalgamated city. The landscape of Chicoutimi consists of hills, valleys and plains, with the terrain becoming steeper near the Saguenay River. Its two major physical features are the Saguenay Graben, a rift valley of the Laurentian Highlands in which the city spreads, and the Saguenay Fjord, the glacier-carved steep shores of the Saguenay River. Mount Valin at is the tallest mountain of the region, and overlooks Chicoutimi north-east. The Chicoutimi, Du Moulin and Valin rivers all empty in the Saguenay river in Chicoutimi.

Culture

Sports

The city has been home to the

QMJHL The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

Chicoutimi Saguenéens The Chicoutimi Saguenéens are a Canadian junior ice hockey team which plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The team is based in Chicoutimi, Quebec, and owned by the City of Saguenay. The team plays its home games at th ...

since 1973. They play at the Centre Georges-Vézina. Cycles Devinci started here in 1987.

Professional hockey players from Chicoutimi

* Luc Dufour * Johnny Gagnon * Leo Gaudreault *

Sylvain Locas Sylvain Locas (born February 17, 1958, in Chicoutimi, Quebec) is a former professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre. Prior to turning professional Locas played four seasons (1974–78) in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, QMJHL wi ...

* John Smrke * Georges Vezina

Law and government

Residents of Chicoutimi are represented by three tiers of government. The first are the city councillors elected from

single-member district A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

s and the mayor elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

for the city of Saguenay. At the provincial tier, two elected members serve in the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

for the provincial ridings of

and Dubuc. The federal representation consists of a members of parliament serving in the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

for the federal riding of

Chicoutimi—Le Fjord Chicoutimi—Le Fjord (formerly known as Chicoutimi) is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1925. The riding consists of the northern part of the Chicoutimi borough ...

Education

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Chicoutimi is twinned with: *

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

, France

Notable people

* Marilyn Bergeron * Johnny Gagnon * Christian Genest, Professor of Statistics, McGill University *

John Kricfalusi Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, and former animator and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', which ...

* Kevin Lambert, writer * René Simard * Charles Sirois * Larry Tremblay * Thomas-Louis Tremblay * Georges Vézina * Arthur Villeneuve * Élisabeth Vonarburg, author * Jeanick Fournier, singer and winner of ''Canada's Got Talent'' (season 2)

References

External links

*
Borough Council of Chicoutimi
*
Municipality of Chicoutimi
(Archive) {{Authority control Populated places established in 1676 Populated places disestablished in 2002 Boroughs of Saguenay, Quebec Former cities in Quebec Hudson's Bay Company trading posts 1676 establishments in French colonial empire