Sainte-Julie, Quebec

Sainte-Julie (originally Sainte-Julie-de-Verchères), is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, east of Montreal in Marguerite-D'Youville Regional County Municipality. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 30,045. In 2009 Sainte-Julie was called one of the best towns in which to live in Quebec, and the city is often known as "The Happiest City in Quebec" (French: "La ville la plus heureuse du Québec").

History
The territory of Sainte-Julie, was part of the parish of Sainte-Anne-de-Varennes and was informally known as "Grand Coteau". These settlers mostly came from Boucherville.

Soon residents, finding the Sainte-Anne-de-Varennes parish too far away, asked to establish their own parish in 1843. In 1850 they received authorization and built a church on land belonging to Julie Gauthier dite St-Germain, who asked that the name of the patron Sainte-Julie be given to the parish after Julia of Corsica, a virgin martyr from the fifth century A.D.

On May 6, 1851, a civil proclamation recognized the parish municipality of Sainte-Julie. In the fall of 1851, there were more than 190 families and 1,251 people in Sainte-Julie, according to the federal census.

On July 1, 1885, the municipality of Sainte-Julie was officially created and obtained the right to legally elect, its first mayor, Jules Choquet. The first village school vas built in 1885, located on Rue Principale at the intersection of Boulevard Saint-Joseph.

Disaster struck the municipality in 1929 with the collapse of the upper floor of a grain shed: four people lose their lives.

In the mid-1960s, the construction of the Quebec Autoroute 20 further stimulated the development of Sainte-Julie, which became a rapidly developing suburb south of Montreal. The 1960s were also marked by the protest against the smoke produced by the asphalt plan of the Desourdy company and the damage caused to Mont-Saint-Bruno. Also, in 1968, A CF-100 warplane from the Saint-Hubert ARC base crashes into a house on Rue Félix-Leclerc.

Sainte-Julie gained city status in 1971. The same year, the biggest snowstorm of the century paralyzes part of the city for several days.

The 1980s marks the inauguration of the public transportation system between Sainte-Julie and the Longueuil metro station, giving citizen a direct access to the Montreal transit system. Also, a fire at the PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) warehouse in Saint-Basile-le-Grand forces the evacuation of part of the population.

Geography
Sainte-Julie is located on the south shore of Montréal. The city is well connected to the nearby cities of Montréal and Longueuil by the highways 20 and 30

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Sainte-Julie had a population of $30,045$ living in $11,609$ of its $11,761$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $29,881$. With a land area of 48.49 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Attractions
Hydro-Quebec's electricity interpretation centre, Électrium, is located in Sainte-Julie. La Vallée du Richelieu Golf Club's Verchères course is also located in the city.

Government
The mayor of Sainte-Julie is Mario Lemay. There are eight city councillors, all of which of members of La voix des citoyens — Équipe Mario Lemay, as of the 2021 Sainte-Julie municipal election.

Sainte-Julie is part of the federal electoral district of Montarville, which is represented by Stéphane Bergeron of the Bloc Québécois. It is also part of the provincial electoral district of Verchères, which is represented by Suzanne Dansereau of the Coalition Avenir Québec.

Infrastructure
The Sainte-Julie public transit system provides commuter and local bus services.

Quebec Autoroute 20, Quebec Autoroute 30 and Quebec Route 229 cross the city.

Education
Secondary education is provided at the public secondary school of Grand-Côteau.

The South Shore Protestant Regional School Board previously served the municipality.