Municipal reorganization in Quebec

The most recent episode of municipal reorganization in Quebec was undertaken in 2002 by the Parti Quebecois government headed by Premier Lucien Bouchard and his successor Bernard Landry. The government of Quebec sought to speed up the amalgamation of the province's municipalities, intensifying a campaign it had been waging during the 1990s. The latest round of restructuring was marked by the consolidation of suburban areas and their respective cities into super administrative units called villes amalgamated cities). Following the examples set by authorities in Boston and Ontario (in particular, Ottawa and Toronto), the government argued that mergers would improve the distribution of revenue and responsibilities between richer suburban communities and their poorer inner city counterparts.

Many suburban residents, especially those who were wealthy and English-speaking, resented the apparent attempt by large urban centers to grab more power and loudly protested the annexations of their communities. Nevertheless, the government abolished more than two hundred suburban municipal areas on January 1, 2002.

Merged cities

The following entities were created from these amalgamations:

Cities over 40 000 or who merged over 5 cities

• City of Montreal: former city of Montreal; cities of Anjou, Baie-d'Urfé, Beaconsfield, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Hampstead, Kirkland, L'Île-Bizard, L'Île-Dorval, Lachine, LaSalle, Mont-Royal, Montréal-Est, Montréal-Nord, Montréal-Ouest, Outremont, Pierrefonds, Pointe-Claire, Roxboro, Saint-Laurent, Saint-Léonard, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Sainte-Geneviève, Verdun and Westmount; towns of Côte-Saint-Luc and Dorval; village of Senneville.

• City of Quebec: former city of Quebec; cities of Beauport, Cap-Rouge, Charlesbourg, L'Ancienne-Lorette, Lac-Saint-Charles, Loretteville, Saint-Émile, Sainte-Foy, Sillery, Val-Bélair, Vanier; municipality of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures.

• City of Longueuil: former city of Longeuil; cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Greenfield Park, LeMoyne, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Saint-Hubert and Saint-Lambert.

• City of Gatineau: former city of Gatineau; cities of Aylmer, Buckingham, Hull and Masson-Angers.

• City of Lévis: former city of Lévis; cities of Charny, Saint-Jean-Chrysostome, Saint-Nicolas, Saint-Rédempteur and Saint-Romuald; municipalities of Pintendre and Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon; parishes of Sainte-Hélène-de-Breakeyville and Saint-Joseph-de-la-Pointe-de-Lévy.

• City of Saguenay: Former cities of Chicoutimi, Jonquière, La Baie, Laterrière; municipalities of Shipshaw and Lac-Kénogami; part of the township of Tremblay and 2 unincorporated areas.

• City of Shawinigan: former city of Shawinigan; cities of Grand-Mère and Shawinigan-Sud; municipality of Lac-à-la-Tortue; village of Saint-Georges; parishes of Saint-Gérard-des-Laurentides and Saint-Jean-des-Piles; and the unincorporated areas of Lac-des-Cinq and Lac-Wapizagonke.

• City of Saint-Hyacinthe: Former city of Saint-Hyacinthe; village of Sainte-Rosalie; parishes of Sainte-Rosalie, Saint-Hyacinthe-le-Confesseur, Notre-Dame-de-Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Thomas-D'Aquin.

• City of Rimouski: former city of Rimouski; city of Pointe-au-Père; municipality of Mont-Lebel; village of Rimouski-Est; parishes of Sainte-Blandine and Saint-Odile-sur-Rimouski.

• City of Rouyn-Noranda: former city of Rouyn-Noranda; city of Cadillac; municipalities of Arntfield, Bellecombe, Cléricy, Cloutier, D'Alembert, Destor, Évain, McWatters, Mont-Brun, Montbeillard and Rollet; unincorporated areas of Lac-Montanier, Lac-Surimau and Rapides-des-Cèdres.

• City of La Tuque: Former city of La Tuque; municipalities of La Bostonnais, La Corche, Lac-Édouard; Village of Parent; unincorporated areas of Kiskissink, Lac-Berlinguet, Lac-des-Moires, Lac-Pellerin, Lac-Tourlay, Obedjiwan, Petit-Lac-Wayagamac and Rivière-Windigo

• Municipality of Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine: municipalities of Fatima, Grande-Entrée, Grosse-Île, Havre-aux-Maisons, L'Étang-du-Nord and L'Île-du-Havre-Aubert; village of Cap-aux-Meules.

• City of Sherbrooke: former city of Sherbrooke; cities of Bromptonville, Fleurimont, Lennoxville and Rock Forest; municipalities of Ascot, Deauville and Saint-Élie-d'Orford.

• City of Trois-Rivières: former city of Trois-Rivières; cities of Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Sainte-Marthe-du-Cap, Saint-Louis-de-France and Trois-Rivières-Ouest; municipality of Pointe-du-Lac.

• City of Saint-Jérôme: former city of Saint-Jérôme; cities of Bellefeuille, Lafontaine and Saint-Antoine.

• City of Val-d'Or: former city of Val-d'Or; municipalities of Dubuisson, Sullivan, Val-Senneville and Vassan.

Other mergers

• City of Beauharnois: former city of Beauharnois; city of Maple Grove; village of Melocheville.

• City of Thetford Mines: Former cities of Thetford Mines and Black Lake; municipality of Pontbriand, village of Robertsonville and township of Thetford-Partie-Sud.

• City of Saint-George: Former city of Saint-george; municipality of Aubert-Gallion and parishes of Saint-Georges-Est and Saint-Jean-de-la-Lande.

• City of Mont-Tremblant: Former municipalities of Mont-Tremblant, Lac-Tremblant-Nord; village and parish of Saint-Jovite.

• City of Rivière-Rouge: Former municipalities of La Macaza and Marchand; former villages of L'Annonciation and Sainte-Véronique.

• City of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield: Former cities of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Saint-Timothée; municipality of Grand-île.

• City of Matane: Former city of Matane; municipalities of Petit-Matane and Saint-Luc-de-Matane; parish of Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane.

• City of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts: Former city of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts; municipalities of Sainte-Agathe-Nord and Ivry-sur-le-Lac.

• City of Mont-Laurier: Former city of Mont-Laurier; municipalities of Des Ruisseaux and Saint-Aimé-du-Lac-des-Îles.

• City of Sept-îles: Former cities of Sept-Îles and Moisie, municipality of Gallix.

• City of Cookshire-Eaton: Former city of Cookshire, municipality of Eaton and township of Newport.

• City of Magog: Former city and township of Magog; village of Omerville

• City of Saint-Sauveur: Former village of Saint-Sauveur-des-Monts and parish of Saint-Sauveur.

• City of Sainte-Marguerite-Estérel: Former city of Estérel and parish of Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson.

• City of Saint-Pie: Former city and parish of Saint-Pie.

• Municipality of Lacolle: Former village of Lacolle and parish of Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel.

• Municipality of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge: Former township of Grenville and village of Calumet.

• City of Sutton: Former city and township of Sutton.

• City of Port-Cartier: Former city of Port-Cartier an municipalité of Rivière-Pentecôte.

• City of Métis-sur-Mer: Former village of Métis-sur-Mer and municipality of Les Boules.

• City of Lac-Etchemin: Former city of Lac-Etchemin and parish of Sainte-Germaine-du-Lac-Etchemin.

• City of Mont-Joli: Former city of Mont-Joli and municipality of Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

• City of Alma: Former city of Alma and municipality of Delisle.

• Municipality of Adstock: former municipality of Adstock and village of Sainte-Anne-du-Lac.

Calls for deamalgamation

After the mergers took place, local communities which had opposed amalgamation clamored for the right to reconstitute the abolished municipalities if they wished. Jean Charest, the leader of the opposition at the time, promised to introduce laws to ensure the public would be democratically consulted on questions of municipal governance in future.

In the general election of April 14, 2003, Jean Charest's Liberal Party soundly defeated the ruling Parti Quebecois led by Bernard Landry. The Liberals benefited considerably from the anti-PQ discontent in constituencies that had experienced municipal amalgamations.

Honoring its promise, the new government adopted Law No. 9 which created a formal process by which old municipalities could be reconstituted. This process requires 10% of voters residing within an amalgamated municipality to sign a petition to demand the holding of a referendum on reconstitution. To succeed, a referendum has to fulfill two conditions:

• A majority must vote yes to deamalgamation.
• 'Yes' voters must represent at least 35% of all registered electors.

On June 20, 2004, referendums were held in 89 of the former municipalities of Quebec. The 'Yes' vote recorded majorities in several municipalities, but did not reach the required threshold of 35% of registered voters.