La Tuque, Quebec

La Tuque is a city located in north-central Quebec, Canada, on the Saint-Maurice River, between Trois-Rivières and Chambord. The population was 11,129 at the 2021 Canadian census, most of which live within the urban area. At over, it is the largest city in Canada by area.
The Classique internationale de canots de la Mauricie canoeing race begins at La Tuque.
The name, which dates to the eighteenth century, originates from a nearby rock formation which resembles a French-Canadian knitted cap known as the tuque.
In 1823–24, the explorer François Verreault described the location as:
The hat-shaped mountain which gave its name to the town of La Tuque is located between the Saint-Maurice River and the WestRock paper mill. The summit of this mountain is about. It is located from the river and about upstream of the La Tuque hydroelectric power plant.

History

The territory of La Tuque was first inhabited by Atikamekw Indigenous people. In the early 1850s, settlers were drawn to the area to exploit the forest resources. The La Tuque Post Office opened in 1887, but the area remained isolated from the rest of the Mauricie until the early 1900s when the National Transcontinental Railway was built, prompting industrial development and the growth of a community on the east bank of the Saint-Maurice River where there was a large set of falls.
On November 15, 1909, the Village Municipality of La Tuque was incorporated, with Achille Comeau as first mayor. A few months later on April 4, 1910, the Village Municipality of La Tuque Falls was formed, with Wenceslas Plante as first mayor. Less than one year later in March 1911, both villages merged to form the Town of La Tuque, with Wenceslas Plante as first mayor.
In the 1940s, the hydro-electric generating station on the Saint-Maurice River was built, resulting in the partial destruction of the rock formation that gave the town its name.
In 1972, the Municipality of Haute-Mauricie was formed out of portions from the unincorporated Carignan and Malhiot Townships, in the proximity of the Saint-Maurice Wildlife Reserve. However, its low population and constantly rising administrative costs led to the merger of Haute-Mauricie with La Tuque in August 1993.
On March 26, 2003, Le Haut-Saint-Maurice Regional County Municipality was dissolved and all its municipalities and unorganized territories were amalgamated into the new City of La Tuque, thereby becoming the largest municipality with city status in land area in Quebec, and largest in Canada. On January 1, 2006, the municipalities of La Bostonnais and Lac-Édouard separated and were reestablished.
In May 2010, some 120 forest fires broke out around La Tuque, burning until June. Smoke from these fires reached portions of Eastern Ontario and southern Quebec, including the cities of Ottawa and Montreal, as well as the northern US states.
In 2011, the 100th anniversary of La Tuque was celebrated with various cultural activities, including a large parade held on June 25 as well as the creation of a recipe book made by local residents.

Geography

While the urban area of La Tuque is relatively small, its entire territory is the largest city in Canada. It consists of almost all the entire former regional county municipality of Le Haut-Saint-Maurice, and includes the settlements of Carignan, Clova, La Croche, Fitzpatrick, Kiskissink, Oskélanéo, Parent, Rapide-Blanc, Rivière-aux-Rats, and Sanmaur.
Enclosed by but not administratively part of the city are the three First Nations reserves of Coucoucache, Obedjiwan, and Wemotaci.
Notable bodies of water in La Tuque are:

Notable rivers in La Tuque are:

La Tuque has a humid continental climate with warm summers and cold, snowy winters.

Demographics

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

Territorial equivalent

The population of the La Tuque territorial equivalent according to the Canada 2021 Census is 15,038.

Economy

The local economy centres on pulp and paper; the city has a pulp-milling centre as well as a major hydroelectric station.
As the gateway to the upper Mauricie, La Tuque's economy also offers outdoor tourism opportunities and caters to hunting and fishing trips in its large hinterland, which is partially regulated by the following zone d'exploitation contrôlées:

Urban agglomeration

The Urban agglomeration of La Tuque is an urban agglomeration that consists of:

the city of La Tuque,
the municipality of La Bostonnais,
the municipality of Lac-Édouard.

The agglomeration comprises the elements of the redefined city of La Tuque as it existed after amalgamation on March 26, 2003, including the two municipalities that chose to de-merge on January 1, 2006.
The agglomeration of La Tuque succeeded to the regional county municipality of Haut-Saint-Maurice, which was created in 1982 from part of the Quebec ridings's of Champlain electoral district, of Quebec electoral district of Saint-Maurice and of Abitibi. Le Haut-Saint-Maurice was dissolved during the merger of all municipalities in 2003 to create the city of La Tuque. Following the referendum on recreating La Bostonnais and Lac-Édouard, the agglomeration of La Tuque was created to allow municipalities to manage in common some competencies.

Census division

La Tuque is a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality and census division of Quebec, with geographical code 90. The TE of La Tuque consists of:

the municipalities of the urban agglomeration of La Tuque, namely
three Indian reserves, namely
List of mayors

The mayor is the municipality's highest elected official. La Tuque has had fifteen mayors, since its incorporation as a city.

#	Mayor	Taking office	Leaving
1	Wenceslas Plante	1911	1915
2	Alphondor Roy	1915	1920
3	Donat E. Hardy	1920	1921
4	Wellie Juneau	1921	1921
5	Réal Gravel	1921	1923
1	Wenceslas Plante	1923	1927
6	François-Xavier Lamontagne	1927	1935
7	Joseph-Omer Journeault	1935	1944
8	Omer Veillette	1944	1947
7	Joseph-Omer Journeault	1947	1951
9	Léo-Joffre Pilon	1951	1955
10	J.-Onésime Dallaire	1955	1961
11	Lucien Filion	1961	1985
12	Clément Filion	1985	1985
13	André Duchesneau	1985	1991
14	Gaston Fortin	1991	2003
15	Réjean Gaudreault	2003	2009
16	Normand Beaudoin	2009	2017
17	Pierre-David Tremblay	2017	2021
19	Luc Martel	2021	2025
20	Pierre Pacarar	2025

Infrastructure

The main highway is Quebec Route 155 that connects La Tuque with Shawinigan to the south and the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region to the north. Numerous forest roads provide access to remote hunting and fishing camps. The village of Parent is accessible from the east by a long gravel road from La Tuque and from the west by a long gravel road from Mont-Saint-Michel in the Laurentides.
Image:Via Rail La Tuque.jpg|thumb|La Tuque Railway Station
The Canadian National Railway dissects La Tuque's territory. This railway, built in 1910 by the National Transcontinental Railway, connected Quebec City to the Canadian Prairies and goes through vast wilderness areas of northern Quebec and Ontario. While it was intended to ship grain from the prairies to the Port of Quebec and to open up virgin territories, it never carried much rail traffic. However, it is still serviced by Via Rail at the La Tuque railway station and Parent railway station, with request stops at Fitzpatrick, Oskélanéo, and Clova. Other sidings along the line are Casey, Hibbard, Cann, Sanmaur, Vandry, Windigo, and Rapide-Blanc-Station.
The La Tuque Airport is located directly south of the town's centre on Ducharme boulevard. La Tuque Water Aerodrome is located just north of the city centre.

Notable people

Mathieu Fortin, writer
Maude Guérin, actress
Félix Leclerc, singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist
Sylvie Roy, politician
James Renald, musician
Gaétan Barrette, politician
Steven Guilbeault, politician