The territory was known as Saint-Rémi early into the European settling. It is thought that the name was chosen to honor Daniel de Rémy de Courcelle, Governor General of New France from 1665 to 1672, but this fact is still in doubt today.
History
At the start of the 19th century, Lord Christophe Sanguinet experienced legal disputes with the British colonial administration and after two trials in 1805 and 1807, the territory of the Lordship of La Salle was reduced by 20% of its area, the most developed by being removed. He and his successors, his son Ambroise Sanguinet and his grandsons Christophe-Ambroise and Charles-Amable Sanguinet tried to recover this part of the territory while interceding so that the hundreds of threatened censitaires were not expelled from their lands. Christophe-Ambroise and Charles-Amable Sanguinet took up the cause of the Lower Canada Rebellion and were hanged in 1839.
Saint-Rémi is located in the former seigneury of La Salle and on the former township of Huntigndon. The origin of the name Saint-Rémi comes from Saint Remigius, bishop of Reims, who baptized the king of the Salian Franks Clovis I in 496. It was in 1815 that the first pioneer, Alexis Perras, arrived.
On 1 July 1845, the parish municipality of Saint-Rémi was officially created. Two years later in 1847, it was merged into the newly created Huntingdon County, but this county was dissolved on July 1, 1855, and the parish municipality was reestablished.[4]
On 23 October 1859, the village of Saint-Rémi was formed by detachment from the parish of the same name. On November 19, 1946, it changed statutes to become a ville (city).[5]
In 1975, the municipal councils of the city of Saint-Rémi and the parish of the same name adopted a by-law authorizing the granting of letters patent to merge the two municipalities into one City of Saint-Rémi.[5]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Rémi had a population of 8,957 living in 3,682 of its 3,796 total private dwellings, a change of 11.1% from its 2016 population of 8,061. With a land area of 78.18 km2 (30.19 sq mi), it had a population density of 114.6/km2 (296.7/sq mi) in 2021.[3]
Historical Census Data – Saint-Rémi, Quebec
Year
Pop.
±%
1921
1,135
—
1931
1,201
+5.8%
1941
1,431
+19.2%
1951
1,845
+28.9%
1956
2,303
+24.8%
1961
2,276
−1.2%
1966
2,221
−2.4%
Year
Pop.
±%
1971
2,282
+2.7%
1976
4,866
+113.2%
1981
5,146
+5.8%
1986
5,288
+2.8%
1991
5,768
+9.1%
1991
5,768
+0.0%
1996
5,707
−1.1%
Year
Pop.
±%
2001
5,736
+0.5%
2006
6,136
+7.0%
2011
7,265
+18.4%
2016
8,061
+11.0%
2021
8,957
+11.1%
Population amounts are not adjusted for boundary changes (in 1975, the city of St-Remi merged with the Parish Municipality of St-Remi. Source: Statistics Canada[8]
Canada Census Mother Tongue – Saint-Rémi, Quebec[8]
Census
Total
French
English
French & English
Other
Year
Responses
Count
Trend
Pop %
Count
Trend
Pop %
Count
Trend
Pop %
Count
Trend
Pop %
2021
8,810
8,145
5.1%
92.5%
190
22.6%
2.2%
125
212.5%
1.4%
315
103.2%
3.6%
2016
8,061
7,750
12.9%
96.1%
155
40.9%
1.9%
40
0.00%
0.5%
155
11.4%
1.9%
2011
7,185
6,860
19.7%
95.5%
110
46.7%
1.5%
40
300.0%
0.6%
175
16.7%
2.4%
2006
5,965
5,730
5.5%
96.1%
75
7.1%
1.3%
10
66.7%
0.2%
150
150.0%
2.5%
2001
5,590
5,430
0.7%
97.1%
70
16.7%
1.3%
30
20.0%
0.5%
60
50.0%
1.1%
1996
5,595
5,390
n/a
96.3%
60
n/a
1.1%
25
n/a
0.5%
120
n/a
2.1%
Local government
List of former mayors:
André Adolphe Dugast (1859–1862)
Josephe Hugues Martin (1862–1864)
Pierre Avila Hogleman (1864–1870, 1877–1879, 1880–1882)
Antoine Goyer (1870–1872)
Célestin Eméré Bonneville (1872–1875, 1879–1880)
Joseph Chéri Fifre (1875–1877, 1883–1884)
Louis Sainte Marie (1882–1883)
Laurent Hébert (1884–1885)
Alexis Bisaillon (1885–1887)
Célestin Chéri Benoit (1887–1888, 1898–1900)
André Hébert (1888–1891)
Julien Longtin (1891–1894)
Camille Lamare (1894–1896)
Joseph Adolphe Poirier (1896–1897)
Jean Baptiste Blain (1897–1898)
Hugues Alexandre Harkin (1900–1901)
Joseph Emile Phidime Thérien (1901–1903, 1904–1907)
