Sainte-Marie, Quebec

Sainte-Marie is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Municipalité régionale de la Nouvelle-Beauce, in Chaudière-Appalaches, Quebec, Canada. The population was 13,134 as of the Canada 2021 Census, and was 95.7% French-speaking as of 2021. It is located 59 km south-east of Quebec City, on the Chaudière River.

History
The seigneurie of Sainte-Marie-de-la-Nouvelle-Beauce was granted to Thomas-Jacques Taschereau in 1736. He chose the name in honour of his wife, Marie-Claire de Fleury de La Gorgendière. The religious parish was founded in 1737 and the municipality in 1845.

The territory of Sainte-Marie was divided on several occasions, as population increased, in order to found neighbouring communities: Saint-Bernard, Saint-Isidore, Saint-Maxime-de-Scott (now Scott), Sainte-Marguerite, Sainte-Hénédine, Saint-Sylvestre, Saint-Elzéar, Saint-Séverin, Saints-Anges, and Vallée-Jonction.

In 1913, the territory was split again, following the detachment of the village (urban part of the territory) from the parish municipality (rural part). In 1958, the village was constituted as a city and in 1959, Sainte-Marie-de-la-Nouvelle-Beauce was renamed as Sainte-Marie. In 1978, the city and the parish municipality governments amalgamated.

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Sainte-Marie had a population of $13,134$ living in $5,500$ of its $5,630$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $13,565$. With a land area of 107.55 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Notable people

 * Marius Barbeau, ethnographer
 * Elzéar-Henri Juchereau Duchesnay, Canadian politician
 * Ernest Savard, hockey executive, head coach, general manager (Montreal Canadiens)
 * Nycole Turmel, Canadian politician
 * Henri-Jules Juchereau Duchesnay, Canadian politician
 * Gabriel-Elzéar Taschereau, Quebec politician
 * Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, clergyman
 * Henri Elzéar Taschereau, lawyer
 * Jean-Thomas Taschereau, lawyer
 * Joseph-André Taschereau, judge
 * Pierre-Elzéar Taschereau, Canadian politician
 * Thomas Linière Taschereau, Canadian politician
 * Mario Gosselin, NASCAR driver
 * Thomas Chabot, ice hockey defenceman for the NHL’s Ottawa Senators

Partner cities

 * 🇫🇷 Pont-du-Château, Auvergne, France