Prévost, Quebec

"Shawbridge" redirects here. For Shawbridge Youth and Family Services, see Shawbridge (group home).

Prévost (French pronunciation: [pʁevo]) is a town within the La Rivière-du-Nord Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada, and the administrative region of Laurentides in the Laurentian Mountains, north of Montreal. It was created in 1973 from the amalgamation of the former villages of Shawbridge and Lesage with old Prévost on the other side of the Rivière du Nord. Shawbridge was named after William Shaw (1805-1894) who settled in the township of Abercromby in 1847 and built the first bridge over the Rivière du Nord.^[5]

Prévost
City
Highway 117 in Prévost
Location within La Rivière-du-Nord RCM
Prévost Location in central Quebec
Coordinates: 45°52′N 74°05′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Laurentides
RCM	La Rivière-du-Nord
Settled	1842
Constituted	January 20, 1973
Government [2]
• Mayor	Paul Germain
• Federal riding	Les Pays-d'en-Haut
• Prov. riding	Prévost
Area [2][3]
• City	35.10 km2 (13.55 sq mi)
• Land	34.29 km2 (13.24 sq mi)
• Urban [4]	10.02 km2 (3.87 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[3]
• City	13,692
• Density	399.3/km2 (1,034/sq mi)
• Urban [4]	7,967
• Urban density	796.0/km2 (2,062/sq mi)
• Pop 2016-2021	5.3%
• Dwellings	5,722
Demonym(s)	Prévostois, Prévostoises
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	J0R
Area codes	450 and 579
Highways A-15 (TCH)	R-117
Website	www.ville.prevost.qc.ca

It is known for its cross-country skiing and for the Shawbridge Boys' Farm, a youth detention centre operated by Batshaw Youth Services.^[6] Route 117, also known as Curé-Labelle Boulevard, is the town's main street crossing the city from south to north. Autoroute 15, the Laurentian Autoroute, also serves the town. The city's main roads also include chemin du Lac-Écho and rue de la Station which both lead to nearby Saint-Hippolyte, Quebec.

Prévost was formerly known as Shawbridge until 1973.

Police services are provided by the Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force.

Former train station

Shawbridge was formerly served by freight and passenger services of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Prévost railway station is now a community centre and stop on the Parc Linéaire Le P'tit Train du Nord bicycle and hiking trail.

Shawbridge and old Prévost were traditionally linked by the Shaw bridge, built in 1923 as a replacement for William Shaw's wooden bridge, over the Rivière du Nord. The bridge was closed by the Quebec government in late June 2008 as unsafe, forcing pedestrians to walk along the highway, but local residents and the town's mayor, Claude Charbonneau, have asked that the bridge be reopened, at least for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.^[7][8] The Quebec Ministry of Transport reopened the bridge on August 28, 2008, but only for pedestrians and bicyclists.

History

Prévost is located on the seigneury of Augmentation-des-Mille-Îles, granted in 1752, and on the township of Abercrombie, established in 1842. It was initially part of the parish of Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, then of Saint-Jérôme when the latter was created in 1834. Prévost began as a small Protestant Irish colony called Mount Pleasant and later Shawbridge. William Shaw settled there in 1830 and built a bridge over the Rivière du Nord during the decade.^[9]

The foundations of the new town were laid on 27 April 1909, when the municipality of Shawbridge was founded by detaching part of the municipalities of Saint-Jérôme, Saint-Sauveur and Abercrombie.The municipality was first developed as a summer resort particularly popular with Montreal's Jewish community. a couple of years later, two other municipalities were formed in the surrounding area. The first one, Prévost, split from Saint-Sauveur in 1927 while the second one, Lesage, was created from territories belonging to Saint-Jérôme, Shawbridge and Abercombie. The current municipality was created 20 January 1973, under the name of Shawbridge, when the municipalities of Shawbridge, Lesage and Prévost merged together. The name Shawbridge was then replaced with Prévost on 15 October 1977, probably to honour the Prévost family, which produced a number of MPs in both Quebec and Ottawa, including Wilfrid Prévost in particular.^[1] Prévost acquired official city status on 8 May 1999.

In June 2008, the Quebec government closed the Shaw Bridge linking the Shawbridge neighborhood with the rest of Prévost. Prévost's mayor, Claude Charbonneau, asked the government to reopen the bridge. On 28 August 2008, the Ministère des Transports du Québec reopened the structure for the safe passage of pedestrians and cyclists. Motorists were forced to take a diversion via route 117 until the bridge was fully reopened on 27 June 2011.

Geography

Prévost is located in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada, nestled along the Rivière du Nord and surrounded by rolling hills and dense forests. The city lies approximately 60 kilometers north of Montreal and is part of the Laurentian mountain range, known for its scenic beauty and outdoor recreational opportunities. Its geography includes a mix of residential areas, green spaces, and natural features such as lakes, streams, and wooded areas, contributing to its appeal as both a commuter town and a destination for nature enthusiasts^[10].

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Prévost had a population of 13,692 living in 5,532 of its 5,722 total private dwellings, a change of 5.3% from its 2016 population of 13,002. With a land area of 34.29 km² (13.24 sq mi), it had a population density of 399.3/km² (1,034.2/sq mi) in 2021.^[11]

Population trend:^[12]

• Population in 2021: 13,692 (2016 to 2021 population change: 5.3%)
• Population in 2016: 13,002 (2011 to 2016 population change: 10.7%)
• Population in 2011: 11,747 (2006 to 2011 population change: 15.9%)
• Population in 2006: 10,132 (2001 to 2006 population change: 22.4%)
• Population in 2001: 8,280
• Population in 1996: 7,308
• Population in 1991: 6,024
• Population in 1986: 5,229
• Population in 1981: 4,716
• Population in 1976: 3,298

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 2.3%
• French as first language: 94.2%
• English and French as first language: 1.7%
• Other as first language: 1.8%

Education

Commission scolaire de la Rivière-du-Nord operates Francophone schools:^[13]

• Champ-Fleuri, Val-des-monts, Des Falaises
• École polyvalente Saint-Jérôme in Saint-Jérôme

Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board operates English-language public schools. Schools serving the town:

• Morin Heights Elementary School in Morin-Heights^[14]
• Laurentian Regional High School in Lachute^[15]

Previously Batshaw High School was in Prévost.^[16]