A township () 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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, is a cadastral division of the land. The township system was implemented by the British government to facilitate the granting of public lands for

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), downward movement of a structure's foundation *Settlement (finance), where securities are delivered against payment of money *Settlement (litigatio ...

by populations of European background, particularly

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

from the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Townships were initially also a unit of local government, but that is no longer the case. Townships are now used solely for land description and do not have a governmental function. In the Quebec system, townships for the most part are approximately 10 miles by 10 miles square, except for those located on the banks of a navigable waterway which are 9 miles abreast and 12 miles deep.

Creation of the township system

Under the

seigneurial system Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, ...

of land holdings in force in

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

, a local lord, or "seigneur" had overall control of a large area of land. Individuals who held plots of land within the seigneury had to pay seigneurial duties to the local seigneur. Post-

conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

, the British colonial government instituted the township system of land-holding. It was based on

English land law English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal sy ...

, using the tenure of " free and common socage", which did not require seigneurial levies.Ministère des Ressources naturelles, Faune et Parcs, ''Répertoire des cantons du Québec 2004'', Annexe II: Bref historique du système du canton au Québec, pp. 51–52.
/ref> Following the arrival of

fleeing the

, the British Parliament enacted the '' Constitutional Act, 1791'', which introduced this form of land tenure in both Lower Canada and Upper Canada. After the passage of the Act, the British government instructed the Governor to grant land in townships, which was subsequently set out by a proclamation of Lieutenant Governor Clarke in 1792. The township of Dunham was the first township established in Quebec, on February 2, 1796, in the region which came to be known as the "Eastern Townships of Lower Canada" (''cantons de l'Est du Bas-Canada''), as opposed to the "Western Townships of Upper Canada". The

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...

also form a historic region. Collectively, they constituted the bloc of the first townships created in what is now Quebec, before the final replacement of the seigneurial regime in 1854. The Eastern Townships include the whole of the

Estrie Estrie () is an List of Quebec regions, administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 pe ...

administrative region, and parts of the administrative regions of

Centre-du-Québec Centre-du-Québec (, ''Central Quebec'') is a region of Quebec, Canada. The main centres are Drummondville, Victoriaville, and Bécancour. It has a land area of and a 2016 census population of 242,399 inhabitants. Description The Centre-du- ...

Chaudière-Appalaches Chaudière-Appalaches (, ) is an administrative region in Quebec, Canada. It comprises most of what is historically known as the " Beauce" (; compare with the electoral district of Beauce). It is named for the Chaudière River and the Appalachia ...

and

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. ...

Abolition of seigneurial tenure

In 1854, the Parliament of the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

abolished the system of seigneurial tenure, converting all former seigneurial tenures to ''franc-aleu roturier''. The subsequent amending act provided for the creation of new townships in new regions, in addition to the existing eastern townships. Later, several other areas were divided into townships before being settled, such as

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 147,082 people as of the 2021 cens ...

, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, and

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (Region 09) (, ; ) is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region of Quebec, on the Quebec-Labrador peninsula, Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, Canada. The region runs along the St. Lawrence River and then the Gulf of St. Lawrence, ...

The system today

Today, the townships no longer represent administrative divisions recognized by the

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Quebec) The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (, , abbr. MAMH) is a government ministry in the Canadian province of Quebec. It is responsible for overseeing the provincial government's relations with all Quebec municipalities, regional governments, ...

. Only municipal townships, formed from one or more townships, such as township municipalities and united township municipalities, are recognized. However, several towns and municipalities bear the name, or part of the name, of the township in which they are located, such as

Amos Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (film), a 1985 American made-for-television drama film * Amos (guitar), a 1958 Gibson Fl ...

, Granby,

Joliette Joliette () is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of G ...

Les Escoumins Les Escoumins () is a municipality in La Haute-Côte-Nord Regional County Municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shore of the maritime estuary of the St. Lawrence River. Its name has traditionally ...

North Hatley North Hatley is a village of 675 people (2021 Census), located at the north end of Lake Massawippi. It is part of the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality in the Eastern Townships region of Quebec, Canada, also known as Estrie or Cantons de ...

, Roberval,

Thetford Mines Thetford Mines (; Canada 2021 Census population 26,072) is a city in south-central Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of Les Appalaches Regional County Municipality. The city is located in the Appalachian Mountains, 187 km east-northeast of Mo ...

. Others bear the name of their respective parish, composed with the name of the township where it is located:

Saint-Germain-de-Grantham Saint-Germain-de-Grantham is a municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 4,922. Saint-Germain-de-Grantham was the birthplace of Marie Rose Ferron. Demographics Population Populatio ...

Saint-Edmond-de-Grantham Saint-Edmond-de-Grantham is a municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 804. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Edmond-de-Grantham h ...

Saint-Denis-de-Brompton Saint-Denis-de-Brompton is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, part of the Regional County Municipality of Le Val-Saint-François, within the larger administrative region of Estrie. It is located approximately 145 kilometres east ...

, Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton, Saint-Jacques-de-Leeds,

Saint-Pierre-de-Broughton Saint-Pierre-de-Broughton is a municipality located in the Municipalité régionale de comté des Appalaches in Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Chaudière-Appalaches Chaudière-Appalaches (, ) is an administrative region in Quebec, Canada. I ...

. The Quebec cadastre is still divided into townships today. According to the system of distribution of the lots, they organize, together with the provisions relating to agricultural land and protected areas, the development and location of new urbanization plans, in rural and semi-rural regions. Within the urban centres, the maintenance of the current townships serves to organize the municipal development of highways and therefore, to promote respect for acquired rights relating to the ownership of lots. On the other hand, the township system in Quebec constitutes a main premise in the attribution of the relative responsibility.

Main characteristics of the Quebec township

For the most part, townships are approximately 10 miles by 10 miles square (16 km by 16 km), except for those located on the banks of a navigable waterway which are 9 miles abreast and 12 miles deep (14 km by 19 km).

Eastern Townships (Cantons de l'Est)

* Technical characteristics of the Eastern township ** 11 mi by 11 mi (17 km by 17 km) ** 11 rows of 28 lots ** 308 lots ** 25,900

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s * Technical characteristics of the batch ** 588.4 m by 1,478.6 m ** 84.9

s ** 5% of the land is reserved for the crown for the construction of roads * Division : From the

Yamaska River The Yamaska River (, ) is a Drainage basin, river in southern Quebec, Canada. Sourcing water within the Eastern Townships, it ends its journey in Lake Saint Pierre, Lake Saint-Pierre where it is a tributary to the Saint Lawrence River; altoget ...

to the

Chaudière River The Chaudière River (; French for "Cauldron" or "Boiler"; Western Abenaki, Abenaki: Kik8ntekw) is a river with its source near the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Town of Lac-Mégantic, in southeast Quebec, Canada. From its source Lake Mégantic in the ...

and from the Québec-United States border to half of the Bois-Francs territory, namely: : *

(southern half), including cities such as

Drummondville Drummondville () is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville ...

; : *

(southwest), including cities such as

; : *

(entire); : *

(east-south-east), including cities such as Granby.

Abitibian township

* Technical characteristics of the Abitibien township ** 10 mi by 10 mi (16 km by 16 km) ** 10 rows of 62 lots ** 620 lots ** 25,900

s * Technical characteristics of the batch ** 261.52 m by 1,625.43 m ** 42.5

s * Division **

** Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean **

References

External links

* {{cite web, url=http://www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/publications/foncier/arpentage/cantons.pdf, title=''Directory of the cantons of Quebec 2004; Annex II, Brief history of the canton system in Quebec'', author=Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Fauna, year=2004, access-date=June 19, 2009, archive-date=July 6, 2011, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706201549/http://www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/publications/foncier/arpentage/cantons.pdf, url-status=dead Local government in Quebec