2023-08-21 20:21:21
MUNICIPAL. Drummondville and its neighboring municipalities passed the 100,000 population mark in 2021, forming a census metropolitan area (CMA). The seventh in Quebec. However, this rare status went unnoticed so much so that the City learned the news this morning in a Montreal media.
Since 1986, Quebec had six CMAs, namely Montreal, Quebec, Gatineau, Saguenay, Trois-Rivières and Sherbrooke. Drummondville was a census agglomeration (CA) before obtaining CMA status, as written in a document from the Institut de la statistique du Québec dated March 2022.
“We learned regarding it at the same time as everyone else this morning!, smiles the mayor of Drummondville, Stéphanie Lacoste. The fact remains that we are very proud of it. It’s not trivial to be alongside those regions and to have a CMA in Centre-du-Québec. It brings the region to another level.”
This achievement is the result of an economic vitality specific to Drummondville, believes the mayor.
“The dynamism of the region has a lot to do with it and I include all the municipalities that form the MRC in this. Our businesses bring a lot of people to come and live here. They discover the city then wish to stay there because of the quality of life offered and the access to property which remains affordable compared to the rest of Quebec. The fact that we are a university town and that we are located near highways 20 and 55, leads many young families and retirees to choose us. There is also the train service which has encouraged people from Montreal to come and settle here in recent years. Of course, immigration has also contributed to this. In short, all these factors are such that we have experienced a demographic explosion, ”she explains.
Stéphanie Lacoste, Mayor of Drummondville.¸(Photo: Ghyslain Bergeron)
This status being good news in itself, it will certainly serve as an additional argument in the case of the new hospital.
“It will be one more argument. We deserve a regional hospital! Our hospital was built for a certain number of citizens and we outgrew it a long time ago. The entire Centre-du-Québec region is experiencing a population boom, so that justifies the regional hospital. And with a university component, we will become even more attractive for health professionals, which will allow us to offer specialties and thus avoid trips abroad to citizens, ”she argues.
Administratively speaking, the municipal apparatus will have access to more statistics as well as more precise data.
“Often, when we make decisions, we seek to have the most recent information, so that will help us,” says Ms. Lacoste.
To honor this title, the Mayor ensures that the City and its partners will continue to promote the region throughout the province and will pursue their development efforts.
“For the future, we want to develop the university pole and that’s good, because we have a good partner who believes in it: UQTR. We want to look at setting up residences, making room for other pavilions, seeing the possibility of having a collaboration with Drummondville sports, etc. We must also increase the number of schools on our territory and ensure the sustainability of this pole. Of course, we work continuously to ensure a good quality of life. It’s incredible what we offer citizens to preserve their quality of life, just think of the outdoor offer and how green the city is in terms of green spaces. Sometimes we forget all that. There is also the transport service, in particular by train, which we must review, ”she lists.
In 2022, Drummondville was approaching 82,000 inhabitants; the RCM of Drummond had just over 111,140.
what they said
“I want to extend a significant portion of the credit to our entrepreneurs who have boosted the economic development of our region. Over the past few decades, several jewels of the Quebec economy have emerged in our MRC and we are extremely proud of them. I also underline the fact that several international companies have chosen to settle in Drummondville because of our economic dynamism, the quality of our workforce and our unique and enviable geographical position. This confirmation of our status as a regional metropolis is good news for Centre-du-Québec, a region that will experience significant growth, particularly with the arrival on its territory of the innovation zone surrounding the energy transition.” -Gerry Gagnon, General Manager of the SDED
“Thanks to the economic boom of recent years, Drummondville sees itself becoming a metropolitan region with several important responsibilities that it must respect. This too is essential, as a regional capital, to exercise its health responsibilities, with adequate services for our entire population. We can see some results there at all levels, such as in education where we had the construction of two new primary schools as well as one in secondary school soon. It is the result of the work accomplished by all the actors in the field for several decades and we can all be very proud of it.” -Sébastien Schneeberger, Member of Parliament for Drummond-Bois-Francs and Government Assistant for Transport and Sustainable Mobility
“Drummondville and its region have experienced a real revolution over the past few decades. At the heart of this great change lies a capacity for consultation that has no equal. That Drummondville now takes the rank of CMA stems from its great dynamism, and marks an important step towards many great successes to come.” -André Lamontagne, MNA for Johnson and Minister responsible for Centre-du-Québec
“I applaud that. The region has been said to be dynamic for a long time. He invested money in it. But you have to level up one step at a time. There’s potential here like it just can’t be. There is still a lot of room to grow. The future is rosy for me in Drummondville. And if it can bring other major tourist attractions like the Village québécois d’antan is, well I ask for nothing better, because it will bring us traffic and vice versa. -Guy Bellehumeur, general manager of the Village québécois d’antan
—
Simple and always free
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) now blocks your news from L’Express in response to Bill C-18.
To stay connected to the source, L’Express invites you to download its application. You will be able to continue reading your news for free, in real time.
1692656720
#Drummondville #unaware #CMA #status #year
