| Saint-Hyacinthe | |
| Official Name: | French: Ville de Saint-Hyacinthe |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Seal Size: | 115x80px |
| Pushpin Map: | Canada Southern Quebec |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in southern Quebec |
| Coordinates: | 45.6167°N -129°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Quebec |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Montérégie |
| Subdivision Type3: | RCM |
| Subdivision Name3: | Les Maskoutains |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 1849 |
| Established Title1: | Constituted |
| Established Date1: | 27 December 2001 |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] [2] |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | André Beauregard |
| Leader Title1: | Federal riding |
| Leader Name1: | Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot |
| Leader Title2: | Prov. riding |
| Leader Name2: | Saint-Hyacinthe |
| Area Footnotes: | [3] |
| Area Total Km2: | 191.60 |
| Area Land Km2: | 188.97 |
| Area Urban Km2: | 30.8 |
| Area Metro Footnotes: | [4] |
| Area Metro Km2: | 328.53 |
| Population Total: | 59614 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Density Km2: | 294.5 |
| Population Urban: | 50616 |
| Population Density Urban Km2: | 1643.4 |
| Population Metro: | 56794 |
| Population Density Metro Km2: | 181.5 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Pop 2011-2016 |
| Population Blank1: | 4.5% |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Dwellings |
| Population Blank2: | 25,483 |
| Timezone: | EST |
| Utc Offset: | −05:00 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | −04:00 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code(s) |
| Postal Code: | J2R-J2T |
| Area Code: | 450 and 579 |
| Blank Name: | Highways |
| Blank Info: | |
Saint-Hyacinthe (; French: in French pronounced as /sɛ̃t‿ijasɛ̃t/) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239.[5] The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie region, and is traversed by the Yamaska River. Quebec Autoroute 20 runs perpendicular to the river. Saint-Hyacinthe is the seat of the judicial district of the same name.[6]
Jacques-Hyacinthe Simon dit Delorme, owner of the seigneurie, started its settlement in 1757. He gave his patron saint name (Saint Hyacinth the Confessor of Poland) to the seigneurie, which was made a city in 1850.
St. Hyacinth's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe. It was erected in 1852. Bishop Louis-Zéphirin Moreau, beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 10, 1987, was bishop of the diocese from 1875 until his death in 1901.
See also: Municipal history of Quebec. As part of the 2000–06 municipal reorganization in Quebec, on 27 December 2001, the city of Saint-Hyacinthe amalgamated with five neighbouring towns (listed here with their populations as of 2001):
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Hyacinthe had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 188.85km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[7] In 2021, 9.8% of Saint-Hyacinthe residents were visible minorities, 1.3% were Indigenous, and the remaining 88.9% were white/European. The largest visible minority groups were Black (4.4%), Latin American (3.1%) and Arab (1.4%).[8]
71.8% of residents were Christian, down from 88.8% in 2011. 63.2% were Catholic, 5.6% were Christian n.o.s, 1.6% were Protestant, and 1.3% were other Christian denominations or Christian-related traditions. Non-religious or secular people were 25.0% of the population, up from 9.9% in 2011.[9] The only named non-Christian religions with adherents in Saint-Hyacinthe were Islam (2.6%) and Buddhism (0.2%). Other religions and spiritual traditions accounted for just 0.3% of the population.
In 2021, French was the mother tongue of 90.9% of residents. Other common first languages were Spanish (3.1%), Arabic (0.9%) and English (0.9%). 0.7% listed both French and a non-official language as mother tongues, while 0.6% listed both French and English.
| Canada Census Mother Tongue - Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Responses | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | ||||||
| 51,080 | 3.8% | 94.51% | 450 | 5.9% | 0.83% | 225 | 7.1% | 0.42% | 2,520 | 38.1% | 4.66% | ||||||||
| 49,235 | 2.2% | 95.24% | 425 | 46.6% | 0.82% | 210 | 68.0% | 0.41% | 1,825 | 38.7% | 3.53% | ||||||||
| 48,165 | 33.5% | 96.42% | 290 | 7.4% | 0.58% | 125 | 31.6% | 0.25% | 1,375 | 139.1% | 2.75% | ||||||||
| 36,085 | 1.8% | 97.46% | 270 | 27.0% | 0.73% | 95 | 17.4% | 0.26% | 575 | 26.4% | 1.55% | ||||||||
| 36,730 | n/a | 97.50% | 370 | n/a | 0.98% | 115 | n/a | 0.31% | 455 | n/a | 1.21% | ||||||||
Agriculture and its related derivates are at the heart of Saint-Hyacinthe's economic infrastructure. The city has been nicknamed the "Agricultural technopolis of Canada", because it is home to several research institutions in the field such as the centre de recherche sur les aliments, the Institut de recherche et développement en agro-environnement, the Institut de technologie agroalimentaire and the head office of the Artificial Insemination Center of Quebec.
Saint-Hyacinthe hosts numerous agriculture related events such as fairs, exposition and congresses and acts a hub in the field. The Agricultural Hall of Fame of Quebec decided to move there from Quebec City to give itself more visibility in the community.[10]
In addition, it is also home to Orgues Létourneau and Casavant Frères, builders of pipe organs, and Intact Financial, formerly known as ING Canada.
The South Shore Protestant Regional School Board previously served the municipality.[13]
In association with the Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe is home to the only veterinary medicine faculty of Quebec and the only such school in North America where teaching is provided in French.
From 1989 to 1996 the city had a team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League known as the Saint-Hyacinthe Laser. From 2001 to 2009 the city was represented in the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (known as the Quebec Semi-Pro Hockey League (QSPHL) until 2004) by the Saint-Hyacinthe Cousin (200105), Saint-Hyacinthe Cristal (200506), Saint-Hyacinthe Top Design (200608) and Saint-Hyacinthe Chiefs (200809). The city's main hockey arena is the historic Stade L.P. Gaucher, which was built in 1937.[14]
The following individuals were born or grew up in the region of Saint-Hyacinthe: