La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality

La Vallée-du-Richelieu (French pronunciation: [la vale dy ʁiʃ(ə)ljø], The Valley of the Richelieu) is a regional county municipality in the Montérégie region in southwestern Quebec, Canada. Its seat is McMasterville.

La Vallée-du-Richelieu
Regional county municipality
Location in province of Quebec.
Coordinates: 45°34′N 73°12′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Montérégie
Effective	January 1, 1982
County seat	McMasterville
Government [2]
• Type	Prefecture
• Prefect	Gilles Plante
Area [3]
• Total	605.50 km2 (233.78 sq mi)
• Land	588.60 km2 (227.26 sq mi)
Population  (2016)[3]
• Total	124,420
• Density	211.4/km2 (548/sq mi)
• Change 2011-2016	6.5%
• Dwellings	49,971
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Area codes	450 and 579
Website	www.mrcvr.ca
[4]

It surrounds the Richelieu River as the river flows north from Lake Champlain in the United States to the Saint Lawrence River northeast of Montreal at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec. Dramatically different from the mountainous terrain to the south, the river valley is a vast plain that has been developed with extensive farmlands.

In the 21st century, the Richelieu River is very popular for both U.S. and Canadian recreational boaters, providing a connection that can bring boaters all the way from the outlet of the Saint Lawrence River to New York Harbor. A number of old fortifications exist dating back to the 17th century; they were built by the French in an effort to try to prevent the Iroquois from using the river as a way to attack the French settlers in the area. Fort Richelieu is at the mouth of the Richelieu River. Fort St. Louis (now Fort Chambly) at Chambly, Fort Sainte-Thérèse, and Fort Saint-Jean at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, are on the way. Fort St. Anne Isle La Motte, Vermont in Lake Champlain is near the river's source. The region is informally known as la Vallée-des-Forts.

Subdivisions

There are 13 subdivisions within the RCM:^[2]

Cities & Towns (7) Beloeil Carignan Chambly McMasterville Mont-Saint-Hilaire Otterburn Park Saint-Basile-le-Grand

Municipalities (6) Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-Baptiste Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil

Former municipalities

• Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville (now part of the Urban agglomeration of Longueuil)

Demographics

Population

Canada census – La Vallée-du-Richelieu community profile

	2021	2016	2011
Population	131,803 (+5.9% from 2016)	124,420 (+6.5% from 2011)	116,773 (+9.4% from 2006)
Land area	587.84 km2 (226.97 sq mi)	588.60 km2 (227.26 sq mi)	588.88 km2 (227.37 sq mi)
Population density	224.2/km2 (581/sq mi)	211.4/km2 (548/sq mi)	198.3/km2 (514/sq mi)
Median age	42.0 (M: 41.6, F: 42.4)	40.7 (M: 40.1, F: 41.2)	39.5 (M: 38.9, F: 40.0)
Private dwellings	53,796 (total)  52,785 (occupied)	49,971 (total)	46,215 (total)
Median household income	$100,000	$84,889	$74,521

References: 2021^[5] 2016^[6] 2011^[7]

Historical Census Data - La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, Quebec

Year Pop. ±% 1991 104,965 —     1996 113,832 +8.4% ADJ 116,745 +2.6%	Year Pop. ±% 2001 119,993 +2.8% 2006 106,762 −11.0% 2011 116,773 +9.4%	Year Pop. ±% 2016 124,420 +6.5%
[8][3]

Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, Quebec[8]
Census		Total		French				English				French & English				Other
Year		Responses		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %
2021		131,803		117,755	2.84%	89.34%		6,010	50.6%	4.56%		1,965	19.5%	1.49%		6,010	50.8%	4.56%
2016		123,485		114,405	5.7%	92.6%		3,990	1.7%	3.2%		1105	77.82%	0.80%		3985	61.0%	2.14%
2011		115,690		108,230	9.5%	93.55%		4,060	0.6%	3.51%		925	55.5%	0.80%		2,475	4.4%	2.14%
2006		105,870		98,870	8.6%	93.39%		4,035	41.9%	3.81%		595	43.3%	0.56%		2,370	2.1%	2.24%
2001		118,635		108,215	5.8%	91.22%		6,950	2.7%	5.86%		1,050	8.8%	0.88%		2,420	3.2%	2.04%
1996		112,920		102,310	n/a	90.60%		7,145	n/a	6.33%		965	n/a	0.85%		2,500	n/a	2.21%

Transportation

Access Routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the municipality, including external routes that start or finish at the county border:

Autoroutes A-10 A-20 (TCH) A-30 A-35

Principal Highways R-112 R-116 R-133 R-137

Secondary Highways R-223 R-227 R-229

External Routes None

See also

• List of regional county municipalities and equivalent territories in Quebec