Shawinigan-Sud, Quebec


Shawinigan-Sud is a predominantly French-speaking settlement in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada on the Saint-Maurice River. In 1996, its population was 11,804.

History

Shawinigan-Sud was incorporated as a village in 1912 and was called Almaville until 1948. It developed primarily as a residential hub for Shawinigan. Its status was upgraded from village to town in 1961.
Prior to the municipal reorganization in Quebec in 2002, Shawinigan-Sud was a separate municipality in the Le Centre-de-la-Mauricie Regional County Municipality. In January 2002, it was merged into the new City of Shawinigan.
In colloquial language, the older and lower section of Shawinigan-Sud, closer to Saint-Maurice River, is called Almaville en bas. The rest of the community, which is built on higher ground, is known as Almaville en haut.
National Hockey League player Martin Gélinas grew up in Shawinigan-Sud.

Religion

Even though many of them are not church-goers, most residents of Shawinigan-Sud are Catholic. Four Catholic parishes exist on Shawinigan-Sud's territory. Those parishes are:
ParishChurch LocationYear of FoundationNumber of Parishioners
Notre-Dame-de-la-Présentation '825, 2e Avenue1914738
Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc '1050, 5e Avenue19232,750
Saint-Sauveur '615, 123e Rue19475,695
Saint-André '1795, 14e Avenue19523,375

The current church building of Notre-Dame-de-la-Présentation parish was completed in 1924. From 1942 to 1955, the structure was decorated with the artwork of painter Ozias Leduc and his assistant Gabrielle Messier.
Members of the Baptist community attend church at Église Évangélique Baptiste De Shawinigan-Sud, located at 2500, route Lamothe.
A Society of St. Pius X retreat house can be found at 905, Rang St-Mathieu Est. It has been active since 1951.

Education

There are four public schools. All are under the supervision of the Commission scolaire de l'Énergie school board.
SchoolLevelLocationNumber of Students
École secondaire Val-MauricieSecondary1200, rue Val-Mauricie1,372
Saint-André 'Elementary1350, 120e Rue289
Saint-Georges 'Elementary975, 111e Rue175
Saint-Paul Elementary750, 125e Rue291

The École secondaire Val-Mauricie school has also had links with CISV International as it was used for a 4-week camp in the summer of 2004 which had children from Great Britain, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Lebanon, Japan, Usa & Canada.

Mayors of Shawinigan-Sud

From 1912 until 2002, Shawinigan-Sud had its own mayor. The mayors of Shawinigan-Sud were:
#MayorTaking OfficeLeaving
1Omer Landry19121913
2Hercule Lambert19141925
3Philippe Veilleux19251927
4Georges Gauthier19271929
5Gédéon Veilleux19291935
6Napoléon Boulanger19351939
4Georges Gauthier19391941
7Omer Leblanc19411946
8Gérard Garceau19461947
9Alcide Raîche19471951
10Charles-Édouard Lambert19511955
11Bruno Sigmen19551957
12Philippe Demers19571962
11Bruno Sigmen19621964
13Louis-Philippe Lacoursière19641970
14Albert Landry19701977
15Gilles Grondin19771985
15Claude Pinard19851989
16Marcel Vézina19891997
17Maurice Héroux19972001

Footnotes