Sainte-Marie is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of La Nouvelle-Beauce Regional County Municipality, in Chaudière-Appalaches, Quebec, Canada. It had a population was 13,134 as of the Canada 2021 Census, when 95.7% was French-speaking. 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

Partner cities