Centre-du-Québec
Encyclopedia
Centre-du-Québec is a region of Quebec
, Canada
. The main centres are Drummondville, Victoriaville and Bécancour
. It has a land area of 6,928.78 km² (2,675.22 sq mi) and a 2006 census
population of 224,200 inhabitants.
The Centre-du-Québec region was established as an independent administrative region of Quebec on July 30, 1997; prior to this date, it formed the southern portion of the Mauricie-Bois-Francs region (the northern part of which is now known simply as Mauricie
).
Contrary to its name, Centre-du-Québec is not located in the centre of Quebec, but in the south. Some consider the name Bois-Francs to be synonymous with the Centre-du-Québec region; others see it as being synonymous with Arthabaska RCM
, with its main city Victoriaville earning the title Capitale des Bois-Francs (capital of the Bois-Francs).
The Centre-du-Québec is a primarily agricultural
region known as the breadbasket
of Quebec; major products include livestock
and poultry
, dairy
products, as well as food crops such as cereal
s, vegetable
s, and fruit
s such as apple
s and cranberries
. Forestry
is also a major industry; the name "Bois-Francs" refers to the French term for hardwood
, referring to the high density of hardwood forests in the area. Other major industries of the area include transportation, recycling
, woodworking
and cabinetmaking.
The Centre-du-Québec region derives great benefit from its central location; major centres such as Montreal
and Quebec City
are within an hour and a half's drive, while secondary centres such as Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières
are close at hand.
. They are scattered throughout the region, with two major population centres:
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The main centres are Drummondville, Victoriaville and Bécancour
Bécancour, Quebec
Bécancour is a town in the Centre-du-Québec region of Québec, Canada; it is the seat of the Bécancour Regional County Municipality. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the confluence of the Bécancour River, opposite Trois-Rivières.Wôlinak, an Abenaki Indian reserve, is...
. It has a land area of 6,928.78 km² (2,675.22 sq mi) and a 2006 census
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....
population of 224,200 inhabitants.
Description
Mauricie
Mauricie is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,855.22 km² and a 2006 census population of 258,928 residents...
).
Contrary to its name, Centre-du-Québec is not located in the centre of Quebec, but in the south. Some consider the name Bois-Francs to be synonymous with the Centre-du-Québec region; others see it as being synonymous with Arthabaska RCM
Arthabaska Regional County Municipality, Quebec
Arthabaska Regional County Municipality is located in Central Quebec. The regional county municipality seat is Victoriaville. A report released in early 2006 by Maclean's magazine listed Arthabaska as the worst place in Canada for murder per capita but, by 2008, it had fallen to 21st...
, with its main city Victoriaville earning the title Capitale des Bois-Francs (capital of the Bois-Francs).
The Centre-du-Québec is a primarily agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
region known as the breadbasket
Breadbasket
The breadbasket or the granary of a country is a region which, because of richness of soil and/or advantageous climate, produces an agricultural surplus which is often considered vital for the country as a whole. Rice bowl is a similar term used in Southeast Asia...
of Quebec; major products include livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
and poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
, dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
products, as well as food crops such as cereal
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
s, vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s, and fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
s such as apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
s and cranberries
Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...
. Forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
is also a major industry; the name "Bois-Francs" refers to the French term for hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
, referring to the high density of hardwood forests in the area. Other major industries of the area include transportation, recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
, woodworking
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
and cabinetmaking.
The Centre-du-Québec region derives great benefit from its central location; major centres such as Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
are within an hour and a half's drive, while secondary centres such as Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...
are close at hand.
Regional County Municipalities
- Arthabaska Regional County Municipality, QuebecArthabaska Regional County Municipality, QuebecArthabaska Regional County Municipality is located in Central Quebec. The regional county municipality seat is Victoriaville. A report released in early 2006 by Maclean's magazine listed Arthabaska as the worst place in Canada for murder per capita but, by 2008, it had fallen to 21st...
- Bécancour Regional County Municipality, QuebecBécancour Regional County Municipality, QuebecBécancour is a regional county municipality in central Quebec, Canada. The regional county municipality seat is Bécancour.-Communities:*Cities & Towns**Bécancour*Municipalities**Deschaillons-sur-Saint-Laurent**Fortierville**Lemieux**Manseau...
- Drummond Regional County Municipality, QuebecDrummond Regional County Municipality, QuebecDrummond is a regional county municipality in central Quebec, Canada. The regional county municipality seat is Drummondville.-Communities:*Cities & Towns**Drummondville*Municipalities**Durham-Sud**L'Avenir**Lefebvre**Saint-Bonaventure...
- L'Érable Regional County Municipality, QuebecL'Érable Regional County Municipality, QuebecL'Érable is a Regional County Municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, Canada. Named for its maple trees, the region is rural in nature and is located 50km southwest of Quebec City...
- Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality, QuebecNicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality, QuebecNicolet-Yamaska is a Regional County Municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec in Canada.The county seat is Nicolet.-Communities:*Cities and Towns** Nicolet*Municipalities** Aston-Jonction** Baie-du-Febvre** Grand-Saint-Esprit...
Native Reserves
The Centre-du-Québec region is home to several thousand members of the Wabanaki NationWestern Abenaki
The Abenaki are a tribe of Native American and First Nations people, one of the Algonquian-speaking peoples of northeastern North America. The Abenaki live in the New England region of the United States and Quebec and the Maritimes of Canada, a region called Wabanaki in the Eastern Algonquian...
. They are scattered throughout the region, with two major population centres:
- Odanak, QuebecOdanak, QuebecOdanak is an Indian reserve in the Centre-du-Québec region, Quebec, Canada. The mostly Abenaki population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 469. The territory is located near the mouth of the Saint-François River at its confluence with the St. Lawrence River. It is partly within the limits of...
- Wôlinak, QuebecWôlinak, QuebecWôlinak is an Abenaki Indian reserve in the Centre-du-Québec region, Quebec, Canada. An enclave within the city of Bécancour, it was one of the Seven Nations of Canada.-External links:**...
Major communities
- BécancourBécancour, QuebecBécancour is a town in the Centre-du-Québec region of Québec, Canada; it is the seat of the Bécancour Regional County Municipality. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the confluence of the Bécancour River, opposite Trois-Rivières.Wôlinak, an Abenaki Indian reserve, is...
- Drummondville
- Kingsey FallsKingsey Falls, QuebecKingsey Falls, Quebec is a town in Centre-du-Québec, Quebec, Canada. It is 30 Km east of Drummondville and west of Route 116.-Sources:*...
- NicoletNicolet, QuebecNicolet, Quebec is the county seat of Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 7,827...
- PlessisvillePlessisville, QuebecPlessisville, Quebec is a county seat of L'Érable Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. Routes 116 and 165 go through it. The city is 185 km from Montreal and 95 km from Quebec City...
- PrincevillePrinceville, QuébecPrinceville is a city in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in L'Érable Regional County Municipality.The population was 5571 in 2006.-External links:*...
- Victoriaville
- WarwickWarwick, QuebecWarwick is a small town north east of Montreal, located in Arthabaska county, Quebec, Canada. The town was incorporated in 1861 and named after a city of the same name in England....
Highways
Main highways in the region include:- Autoroute 20Quebec Autoroute 20Autoroute 20 is a major Quebec Autoroute, following the Saint Lawrence River through one of the more densely-populated parts of Canada, and is part of the Trans-Canada Highway. At , it is the longest Autoroute in Quebec...
- Autoroute 30Quebec Autoroute 30Autoroute 30 is a superhighway in Quebec, Canada.There are three segments currently open for travel:...
- Autoroute 55Quebec Autoroute 55Autoroute 55 Autoroute 55 Autoroute 55 (also called Autoroute de l'Énergie (North of the Autoroute 20) and Autoroute Joseph-Armand Bombardier (South part) is an important north-south Autoroute and the only one running in that direction in central Quebec. It is the longest north-south Autoroute,...
- Route 116Quebec route 116Route 116 is an east/west highway on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Until the 1970s it was known as Route 9. Its eastern terminus is in Lévis at the junction of Route 132, and the western terminus is at the junction of Route 134 in Lemoyne part of a concurrency with...
- Route 122Quebec route 122Route 122 is an east/west highway on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Its western terminus is at the junction of Route 132 in Yamaska and the eastern terminus is in Victoriaville at the junction of Route 116...
- Route 132Quebec route 132Route 132 is the longest highway in Quebec. It follows the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River from the border with the state of New York in the hamlet of Dundee , west of Montreal to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and circles the Gaspé Peninsula...
- Route 161Quebec route 161Route 161 is a north/south highway south of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Its current northern terminus is east of the junction of Autoroute 55 in Saint-Wenceslas, and its southern terminus is at the border of Maine in the USA, where it continues as Maine State Route 27.-Municipalities...
See also
- List of regions of Quebec
- Quebec municipal elections, 2005, results in Centre-du-QuébecQuebec municipal elections, 2005, results in Centre-du-QuébecThese are the results of the November 6, 2005, municipal elections in Quebec for the region of Centre-du-Québec. Some mayors and councillors were elected without opposition from October 14, 2005.-Aston-Jonction:All elected without opposition....
External links
Centre-du-Québec official website Centre-du-Québec government portal- Centre-du-Québec tourist site Toile Jeunesse, a regional youth-oriented portal