Châteauguay, Quebec, Canada

🇨🇦 Châteauguay is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in south-western Quebec, located both on the Chateauguay River and Lac St-Louis, which is a section of the St. Lawrence River.

History The land was first given to Charles Lemoyne by the governor of New France at the time, the Comte de Frontenac with the intention of setting up a seigneurie in the area. Afterwards the seigneurie was assumed by Zacharie Robutel de la Noue in 1706. In 1763 France relinquished its claims in Canada and Châteauguay was now under British mandate. The seigneurie was bought by Marguerite d'Youville, a founder of the Quebec religious society the Grey Nuns in 1765 and 10 years later construction began on the Church of Saint-Joachim.

Châteauguay played an important part in the colonial history of North America. With the United States having declared war on Britain in 1812, Châteauguay was seen as little more than a good vantage point to post troops to defend Montreal against an invasion. This prong of the American advance on Montreal ended with the Battle of the Châteauguay, where on October 26, 1813, Lieutenant Colonel Charles de Salaberry succeeded in halting the American force of 4,000 advancing on Montreal with only some 400 troops, mostly French-Canadian and 170 Kahnawake Mohawk warriors. The second American incursion towards Montreal was defeated shortly after at Crysler's Farm on November 11.

During the Lower Canada Rebellion, Châteauguay was the scene of a notable action involving the Patriote movement. In November 1838, members of the rebel group, including some of their leaders, were arrested: François-Maurice Lepailleur, who was later exiled to Australia, and two natives of Châteauguay, Joseph Duquet and Joseph-Narcisse Cardinal, both of whom were later hanged at Au-Pied-du-Courant Prison and subsequently interred beneath a monument to the Patriotes at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.

The actual village of Châteauguay was created in 1855, after the abolition of the seigneurie system in Quebec by the United Province of Canada. Later on the city annexed two neighboring districts, Châteauguay-Heights (1968) and Châteauguay-Centre (1975). In 1982, with the passage of the Loi sur l'aménagement et l'urbanisme, Québec, the city became part of the Roussillon Regional County Municipality.

Public security The Châteauguay Police have more than 130 police officers. Their duties include investigations, crime prevention and routine city patrols. The force also participates in many community efforts. The majority of these outreach programs are aimed at Châteauguay youth and focus on the prevention of drug and alcohol use which is widespread among the youth (up to 78% of the teens have used a drug on the course of last month according to a survey). The force, originally having only jurisdiction within the city limits expanded its jurisdiction over the nearby cities of Léry, Mercier, Beauharnois and Saint-Isidore between 2002 and 2007 through agreements between the municipalities. However, Mercier set up an independent policing system in 2019.

Public transit Public transportation is assured by CITSO (Conseil Intermunicipal de Transport du Sud-Ouest). They run two Châteauguay-Angrignon loop bus routes circulating in opposite directions. A city minibus transfers commuters from the western part of the suburb to the downtown, where the other off-peak routes pass. During rush hours, more bus routes connect the various neighbourhoods with the Angrignon bus terminal and metro station. A special express bus route connects western Châteauguay and the Châteauguay Park-and-ride with downtown Montreal, only during rush hours. A reserved lane on Highway 138 eastbound makes the connection significantly faster when the Mercier Bridge is congested. The Châteauguay public transit system also offers a Taxi-Bus service which allows those people who live outside of the normal bus routes to, by way of transfer, use a taxi funded by CITSO to drop them off at specific points in the city usually within walking distance of their residence.

Utilities Since 1984, Châteauguay has been home to one of the largest HVDC-back-to-back stations in the world with an operating voltage of 140 kV and a maximum transmission rate of 1000 MW.

Education The majority of the education institutions within Châteauguay are public, with the exception of Collège Héritage. A small list of Châteauguay schools includes: • Collège Héritage - Semi-private high school for French-speaking students (also houses 5th and 6th grade elementary school students). • Howard S. Billings Regional High School - High school for English-speaking students. • Louis-Philippe-Paré, more commonly known as L.P.P. - High school for French-speaking students. • Gabrielle-Roy - Middle school for French-speaking students. • Centennial Park Elementary - Elementary school for English-speaking students (sometimes known as CPS). • St-Jude - Elementary school for French-speaking students. • Mary Gardner - Elementary school for English-speaking students. • École de La Rive - Elementary school for French-speaking students. • Laberge - Elementary school for French-speaking students. • Harmony School - Elementary school for English-speaking students. • St-Jean-Baptiste - Elementary school for French-speaking students. • St. Willibrord - Elementary school for English-speaking students. • Gérin-Lajoie - Elementary school for French-speaking students. • Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption - Elementary school for French-speaking students. • Marguerite-Bourgeoys - Middle school for French-speaking students. • Trois-Sources - Elementary school for French-speaking students. • Marc-André Fortier - Elementary school for French-speaking students.

NOVA Career Centre for adult students recently established itself in a building adjacent to Howard S. Billings. It was previously located in the school building.

During the 1980s, three English elementary schools became French due to a demographic shift: • St-Paul School: The first, an English Catholic elementary school. It remained at the time property of the Commission Scolaire de Châteauguay. It was later renamed École des Trois Sources. • Julius Richardson: The oldest of the English elementary schools in Châteauguay. It closed in the early 80s and became the Centre l'Accore d'Abottsford, later becoming an adult education centre. It was a school belonging to the then "Chateauguay Valley School Board" before being ceded to the "Commission Scolaire de Châteauguay". • Robert A. Jobber: The final English school to close. It was shuttered at the end of the 1987–88 school year. During its final years, classroom space was leased out to the Catholic school board to house grade 6 students from neighboring École Laberge. Robert A. Jobber, which is architecturally identical to Centennial Park school, became École Gabrielle Roy. To maintain the Robert A. Jobber name, the gymnasium at Centennial Park was named in his honour.

Media The city's local newspaper is Le Soleil (The Sun). Châteauguay Express was shut down in 2014.