Longueuil


Longueuil is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly across from Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census totalled 254,483, making it Montreal's second largest suburb, the fifth most populous city in Quebec and twentieth largest in Canada.
Charles Le Moyne founded Longueuil as a seigneurie in 1657. It would become a parish in 1845, a village in 1848, a town in 1874 and a city in 1920. Between 1961 and 2002, Longueuil's borders grew three times, as it was amalgamated with surrounding municipalities; there was a strong de-amalgamation in 2006.
Longueuil is a residential, commercial and industrial city. It incorporates some urban features, but is essentially a suburb. Longueuil can be classified as a commuter town as a large portion of its residents commute to work in Montreal. Most buildings are single-family homes constructed in the post-war period. The city consists of three boroughs: Le Vieux-Longueuil, Saint-Hubert and Greenfield Park.
Longueuil is the seat of the judicial district of Longueuil. Residents of the city are called Longueuillois.

History

The territory of New France was divided into seigneuries in order to ensure the colony's defence. Longueuil was founded in 1657 by Charles Le Moyne, a merchant from Ville-Marie, as a seigneurie. According to Abbé Faillon, Charles Le Moyne, lord of the area starting in 1657, named Longueuil after the village of Longueil which is today the seat of a canton in the district of Dieppe in his homeland of Normandy.
His son, Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil, built Fort Longueuil as his fortified residence. It was constructed of stone between 1685 and 1690 and had four towers.
Fort Longueuil was believed to be occupied by American troops during the American Revolutionary War. It was subsequently occupied by the British. It was demolished in 1810 due to its poor condition. The archaeological remains of Fort Longueuil were recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada on May 25, 1923. The site extends beneath the present-day Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Cathedral.
The seigneurial system ended in 1845 and Longueuil was turned into a parish municipality named Saint-Antoine-de-Longueuil. In 1848, a portion detached from the parish and officially established as the village of Longueuil. This same village became a town in 1874, and then a city in 1920. Musician Paul Pratt notably served as the city's mayor from 1935 to 1966.
Longueuil's city limits expanded for the first time in 1961 when it merged with Montréal-Sud, and again in 1969 when it merged with Ville Jacques-Cartier. In both cases, Longueuil was chosen as the name of the new city.
On January 1, 2002, as part of the 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec, the provincial government amalgamated the former Longueuil with Boucherville, Brossard, Greenfield Park, LeMoyne, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Saint-Hubert and Saint-Lambert. As with the 1960s, the name Longueuil was chosen for the new city. However, after a change of government and a 2004 referendum, Boucherville, Brossard, Saint-Lambert and Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville were re-constituted as independent cities on January 1, 2006. As such, the current city of Longueuil now includes only the former cities of Longueuil, Saint-Hubert, Greenfield Park and LeMoyne.

Geography

Longueuil occupies 115.59 square kilometres of land. The city is bordered by the cities of Saint-Lambert to the west, Brossard to the southwest, Boucherville to the northeast, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville to the east, and the Saint Lawrence River and Montreal to the northwest. The city of Longueuil is located approximately 7 kilometres east of Montreal on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River.
Longueuil is located in the Saint Lawrence River valley, and is a vast plain. Areas near the river were originally swamp land with mixed forest, and later prime agricultural land. Agricultural land still exists in the portions of the city furthest from the river.
The city of Longueuil also includes Île Charron, a small island in the Saint Lawrence River, and part of the Boucherville Islands.
Street addresses in Longueuil increase west and east from the Chemin de Chambly, with suffixes of "Ouest" and "Est" used on east–west streets that cross it, and south from the Saint Lawrence River.

Climate

Like Montreal, Longueuil is classified as humid continental or hemiboreal. Longueuil has long winters, lasting from November to March, short springs during April and May, average summers, lasting from June to August, and short autumns during September and October.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Longueuil 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.
Of the 147,805 workers in Longueuil, the median income was $36,400, which is above Quebec's provincial average of $36,000. Among the 69,945 full-time workers, the median income was $58,000 or slightly below the provincial average. Several of Montreal's most impoverished neighborhoods are located in Longueuil.

Language

As of the 2021 Canadian Census, French was the mother tongue language of 71.9% of Longueuil's residents while English was the first language of 5.8%. Other languages were spoken by 17.8% of the population, with the most spoken being Spanish, Arabic, Romanian, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Mandarin, Russian and Dari. These figures include multiple responses.
Top 20 languages Longueuil, 2021Population%
French181,07571.9
English14,5655.8
Spanish11,3004.5
Arabic7,2302.9
Romanian2,2350.9
Haitian Creole2,1950.9
Portuguese1,9500.8
Mandarin1,9100.8
Russian1,8000.7
Dari1,6600.7
Kabyle1,1150.4
Vietnamese1,0650.4
Yue1,0050.4
Italian9850.4
Iranian Persian6400.3
Creole4900.2
Greek4850.2
Wolof3950.2
Morisyen3750.1
Bulgarian2800.1

Ethnicity

People of European origins made up 73.4% of the population in 2021. The largest visible minority groups are Black, Latin American, Arab, Chinese, Indigenous, and West Asian.

Economy

Although a large portion of Longueuil's work force commutes to Montreal, the city nevertheless offers many jobs in a diverse range of industries. Above all, Longueuil benefits from having very low property value despite its close proximity to Montreal.
Longueuil is particularly strong in the aerospace industry. It is home to the headquarters of both Pratt & Whitney Canada and Héroux-Devtek. Pratt & Whitney Canada is Longueuil's top employer with 5,000 employees, while Héroux-Devtek has 550 employees. Also located in Longueuil is the headquarters of the Canadian Space Agency, adjacent to Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport. Pascan Aviation has its headquarters in Saint-Hubert, Longueuil. Other companies based in Longueuil include Agropur, Innergex Renewable Energy, and the Canadian subsidiary of Hasbro.
In 2002 Artemano Canada, a home furnishing company was founded, with warehouse & distribution centre located in Longueuil. In 2008, Canadian Business ranked Longueuil as the 30th best place to do business in Canada.

Arts and culture

The Longueuil International Percussion Festival, which features 500 musicians, takes place over six days in July in the neighbourhood of Old Longueuil, and draws 200,000 visitors per year.

Attractions

There are three nature parks in Longueuil, Parc Marie-Victorin and Parc Michel-Chartrand in Le Vieux-Longueuil and Parc de la Cité in Saint-Hubert. It is also home to a wildlife reserve, the Boisé du Tremblay, which is partially in Le Vieux-Longueuil and partially in Boucherville.
There are seven arenas: Cynthia Coull Arena in Greenfield Park; Aréna Émile-Butch-Bouchard, Aréna Jacques-Cartier, Aréna Olympia and Colisée Jean Béliveau in Le Vieux-Longueuil; and Centre sportif Gaétan-Boucher and Centre sportif Rosanne-Laflamme in Saint-Hubert.
Notable places of worship include the Roman Catholic Co-Cathedral of Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue, the Église Nouvelle vie evangelical church,, and the Montréal Québec Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sport

TeamSportLeagueVenue
Collège Édouard-Montpetit LynxWomen's ice hockeyHockey collégial féminin RSEQAréna Émile Butch Bouchard
CS LongueuilSoccerPremière ligue de soccer du QuébecCentre Multi-Sport
Le Collège Français de LongueuilIce hockeyQuebec Junior AAA Hockey LeagueColisée Jean Béliveau
Longueuil DucsBaseballLigue de Baseball Élite du QuébecParc Paul-Pratt
South Shore JR BruizersCanadian footballQuebec Junior Football LeagueParc Rosanne Laflamme

Government

Municipal

The mayor is Catherine Fournier. She is the fifth mayor of Longueuil since the 2002 merger. The previous mayor was Sylvie Parent, who was elected on Nov. 5, 2017 Businessman Jacques Olivier who once served as Minister of Labour served as mayor from 2002 until 2005. The second mayor of Longueuil was Claude Gladu, serving from 2006 to 2009. He also happened to be mayor of the former city of Longueuil from 1994 to 2002. Former member of the House of Commons of Canada, Caroline St-Hilaire was the third mayor from 2009 to 2017.
The city's three boroughs are Le Vieux-Longueuil, Greenfield Park and Saint-Hubert. In total there are 26 city councillors, including one borough president each. Greenfield Park has three councillors and its borough president is Mireille Carrière of Action Longueuil. Saint-Hubert has eight councillors and its borough president is Lorraine Guay-Boivin of Action Longueuil. Le Vieux-Longueuil has fifteen councillors and its borough president is Michel Desjardins of the Parti municipal de Longueuil.
Longueuil's city hall is located in the borough of Saint-Hubert, on the edge of the city.