Shannon is a city in Quebec, Canada, along the
Jacques-Cartier River northwest of
Quebec City.
It was formed in December 1946 when it separated from the territory of
Sainte-Catherine-de-Fossambault, following protests of this part of the population against the municipal taxes. The community was founded by
Irish immigrants and once contained a substantial English-speaking population, though today it is chiefly French-speaking. Its longtime principal economic activity was the exploitation of wood bound for the shipyards of
Quebec. The town is located near
CFB Valcartier, an important
Canadian military base.
History
The area was first settled in the 19th century, by mostly Irish immigrants. The place may have been named after a prominent settler family, as religious records indicated the death of a certain Richard Shannon in 1831 and Simon Shannon the next year. Further impetus to its development came around 1850 when the timber industry began and in 1860 when a sawmill was built. Around 1861, about two thirds of the population was Irish, and by 1900, half the population.
In 1905, the Shannon Post Office opened. In 1914, part of Shannon's territory was expropriated to enlarge the
Valcartier military base.
In 1947, the Municipality of Shannon was officially established when it separated from the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Catherine-de-Fossambault.
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 cultur ...
, Shannon 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.
Mother tongue:
* English as first language: 6.2%
* French as first language: 90.5%
* English and French as first language: 1.6%
* Other as first language: 1.4%
Cancer cluster
In 1997, it was discovered that the chemical
trichloroethylene seeped into the town's water supply from a nearby munitions factory.
It was claimed that this increased the rates of cancers in the area, with more than 3,000 people taking part in a group lawsuit against the federal government in 2003.
After years of campaigning, compensation was later awarded to some local residents, but the court did not endorse the link between the contamination and cancers. Instead, compensation was awarded for the contamination of water supplies.
See also
*
List of cities in Quebec
This is the list of municipalities that have the Quebec municipality type of city (''ville'', code=V), an administrative division defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy.
Note that although the terms "city" and ...
References
External links
{{authority control
Cities and towns in Quebec
Populated places established in 1946
Incorporated places in Capitale-Nationale
Cancer clusters
1946 establishments in Canada