La Pocatière


La Pocatière is a town in the Kamouraska Regional County Municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada.
WWW lapocatiere.ca

History

The name La Pocatière refers to François Pollet de La Combe-Pocatière.
In 2025, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and Saint-Onésime-d'Ixworth were merged with La Pocatière.

Geography

Located 130 km northeast of Quebec City, La Pocatière is the gateway to the Lower St. Lawrence region. Situated in the eastern Appalachian Mountains, the town of La Pocatière and its surroundings constitute the largest urban area between Montmagny and Rivière-du-Loup. The region offers an interesting geological feature: steep, isolated hills, known as monadnocks, which rise up from the plain. Montagne du Collège, located in the centre of the city, is one of these hills and offers a panoramic view of the region.
The Saint-Jean River flows through the municipality from southwest to northeast, where it empties into the estuary of St. Lawrence.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, La Pocatière 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.

Economy

Alstom has a plant which manufactures subway and railway cars:
The plant was built in 1961 to build Moto-Ski snowmobiles and the plant was converted to railcars in 1971.

Arts and culture

La Pocatière is home to the Musée François-Pilote, a museum of Quebec ethnology. The museum features exhibits on the history of agricultural education, a number of historical period rooms, stuffed bird and animal displays, and presentations on other aspects of local history.

Attractions

Near the city are small isolated hills known as monadnocks. The Montagne du College-de-Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière is 119 metres high.

Government

City council consists of a mayor and six councillors:
As of 2024 the council consisted of:
  • Mayor: Vincent Bérubé
  • Councillors:
  • * 1: Guillaume Dufour
  • * 2: Émilie Dionne
  • * 3: Marie-Claude Godin
  • * 4: Mario Guignard
  • * 5: Simon Fissette
  • * 6: Steve Leclerc

Education

There are three post-secondary institutions in La Pocatière:
The town has three public schools under the Commission scolaire de Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup:

Sister cities

La Pocatière is twinned with:

Notable people