Saint-Alexis () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located 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, ...

Lanaudière Lanaudière (, ) is one of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada, situated immediately to the northeast of Montreal. It has a total population ( 2016 Census) of 494,796 inhabitants, an increase of 4.9% over the 2011 census. Geogr ...

region, part of the

Montcalm Regional County Municipality Montcalm () is a regional county municipality in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, Canada. Its seat is Sainte-Julienne. The population according to the 2021 Canadian Census was 58,680 Subdivisions There are 10 subdivisions within the RCM: ;C ...

. It was formed by the amalgamation on December 19, 2012, of the former village municipality and the former parish municipality of the same name. Saint-Alexis is generally considered one of the four municipalities of Nouvelle-Acadie. The name "Saint-Alexis" commemorates Canon Alexis-Frédéric Truteau (1808-1872). The latter was ordained in 1830 and occupied the post of Chancellor of the Bishop of Montreal, Mgr

Ignace Bourget Ignace Bourget (; October 30, 1799 – June 8, 1885) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest who held the title of Bishop of Montreal from 1840 to 1876. Born in Lévis, Quebec, in 1799, Bourget entered the clergy at an early age, undertook several ...

, during the creation of the canonical erection of the parish, in 1851. Truteau became famous during the “

Guibord case ''Brown v Les Curé et Marguilliers de l'Œuvre et Fabrique de Notre Dame de Montréal'', better known as the ''Guibord case'', was a decision in 1874 by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in an early Canadian legal dispute over the rela ...

”, when he refused Christian burial to Joseph Guibord following a Roman decree obtained by the bishop condemning the

Canadian Institute The Royal Canadian Institute for Science (RCIScience), known also as the Royal Canadian Institute, is a Canadian nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting the public with Canadian science. History The organization was formed in Toronto as t ...

History

The parish of Saint-Alexis was created on July 1, 1855, after the dissolution of the county of Leinster (witch covered the territory approximately equivalent to the RCMs of Montcalm,

Les Moulins Les Moulins () is a regional county municipality in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, Canada. It is located immediately north of Laval, Quebec, Laval on the North Shore (Laval), north shore of the Rivière des Mille-Îles, and comprises the muni ...

and

L'Assomption L'Assomption () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the L'Assomption River. It is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of L'Assomption. It is located on the outer fringes of the Montreal urban area. ...

) in the highlands of the plain of Saint -Laurent, about twenty kilometres north of Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, in the Lanaudière region. The chosen name, Saint-Alexis, also attributed to the post office established in 1855, which took the name of "Saint-Alexis-de-Montcalm" in 1876, pays homage to Canon Alexis-Frédéric Truteau (1808-1872). The latter, ordained in 1830 by Monsignor

Jean-Jacques Lartigue Jean-Jacques Lartigue, S.S., (20 June 1777 – 19 April 1840) was a Canadians, Canadian Society of Saint-Sulpice, Sulpician, who served as the first Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal, Catholic Bishop of Montreal. Early life Lartigue wa ...

, served as Chancellor of Monsignor

from 1847 to 1872, and he set the boundaries of the parish in 1852. Nicknamed the good Father Truteau, he became famous in because of his role in the Guibord affair. He refused, in fact, the Christian burial of Joseph Guibord, dit Archambault (1809-1869) because of a Roman decree obtained by Monsignor Bourget against the

to which Guibord belonged. A decision by Judge Mondelet in 1870 forced Father Rousselot and the churchwardens of Notre-Dame-de-la-Montréal as well as Canon Truteau to reconsider their decision and allow the transfer of Guibord's remains to the Catholic cemetery of the

Côte-des-Neiges Côte-des-Neiges (, ) is a neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at the geographic centre of the Island of Montreal on the western slope of Mount Royal and is part of the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. His ...

Acadians The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French colonial empire, French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern Americ ...

settled on the territory around 1795, coming from L'Assomption, through a large number of small hills. In 1920 the village part of Saint-Alexis split from the parish to form its own municipal entity. On December 19, 2012, the parish municipality of Saint-Alexis and the village municipality of Saint-Alexis remerged to become the municipality of Saint-Alexis. Nowadays, magnificent maple groves make Saint-Alexis famous. The municipality forms, with the neighbouring municipalities of Saint-Jacques,

Sainte-Marie-Salomé Sainte-Marie-Salomé () is a municipality in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Montcalm Regional County Municipality. History In 1765, the first wave of colonization occurred as a result of the Great Upheaval when Acadians fr ...

and Saint-Liguori, the region of New Acadie, where many Acadians settled in the 18th century in the aftermath of the

expulsion of the Acadians The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal of inhabitants of the North American region historically known as Acadia between 1755 and 1764 by Great Britain. It included the modern Canadian Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Br ...

. The Acadian Festival of New Acadie is celebrated there every year.

Geography

The village is crossed by Route 158 between the municipalities of Saint-Jacques on the east and Saint-Esprit on the west. Saint-Alexis is 20.7 km from Saint-Lin-Laurentides and 27.3 km from

Mascouche Mascouche (; ) is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southern Quebec, Canada. The city is located on the Mascouche River within the Les Moulins Regional County Municipality and has a population of 51,183, ranking 20th among Quebec municipali ...

. The Saint-Alexis is located on the upper St. Lawrence plain. The area is known for the fertility of its soil, which is especially suited to market gardening and grain crops. The forested areas consist almost entirely of maple, making this the perfect place to shop for maple-based products. the two major roads are called Grande-Ligne and Petite-Ligne and houses a number of ancestral homes that were built facing south, a local characteristic. These houses reflect a heritage that is typical of Lanaudière.

Demographics

Population trend

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 554 (total dwellings: 581)

Mother tongue

* English as first language: 1.5% * French as first language: 96% * English and French as first language: 0.7% * Other as first language: 1.5%

Economy

Saint-Alexis is a predominantly

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

town, where large

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

and

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to s ...

ing farms are located, which represents approximately 92% of its territory. There are also farms producing

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

and

maple syrup Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Ma ...

production accompanied by its commercial

sugar shack "Sugar Shack" is a song written in 1962 by Keith McCormack. McCormack gave songwriting credit to his aunt, Beulah Faye Voss, after asking what are "those tight pants that girls wear" to which she replied "leotards". The song was recorded in 1963 ...

Education

Commission scolaire des Samares The Centre de services scolaire des Samares is a francophone school district headquartered in Saint-Félix-de-Valois, in the Canadian province of Quebec.

operates francophone public schools, including: * École Notre-Dame The

Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board (SWLSB, , CSSWL) is a school board headquartered in Rosemère, Quebec in Greater Montreal. It officially came into existence in July 1998 when English-language schools from eight former school boards were amalg ...

operates anglophone public schools, including: * Joliette Elementary School in

Saint-Charles-Borromée Saint-Charles-Borromée () ( 2021 Population 15,285) is a city in southwest-central Quebec, Canada, on the l'Assomption River. In Joliette Regional County Municipality, Saint-Charles-Borromée has the Maison Antoine-Lacombe, a heritage home tha ...

Joliette High School Joliette High School (JHS, ) is a public anglophone secondary school in Joliette, Quebec. Operated by the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board, it is the sole anglophone high school in Lanaudière. , it had about 265 students. Attendance boundary Ar ...

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 ...

Joliette High School Zone Sec 1-5
."

. Retrieved on September 5, 2017.

References

{{authority control Incorporated places in Lanaudière Municipalities in Quebec