Bécancour

They arrived from Norridgewock, Maine (formerly Acadia) in the aftermath of Father Rale's War. There was a small migration of Acadians to the village (1759), after the British began the Expulsion of the Acadians from the Maritimes. Specifically, the Acadians migrated from present-day New Brunswick to avoid being killed or captured in the St. John River Campaign. The town of Bécancour was created October 17, 1965, from an amalgamation of eleven municipalities. One of the province of Quebec's first amalgamated cities. At the time, Bécancour was the largest city in Quebec in terms of land area (as of 2003, the title belongs to La Tuque, Quebec). Now divided into six secteurs (lit. "sectors"): Bécancour, Saint-Grégoire, Gentilly, Précieux-Sang, Sainte-Angèle-de-Laval, and Sainte-Gertrude. Bécancour, Saint-Grégoire and Gentilly, each located near the shore of the Saint Lawrence River, can be considered the main urban centres. Autoroute 55 intersects Autoroute 30 and Route 132 at Saint-Grégoire. Part of the Trois-Rivières metropolitan area; many residents work in Trois-Rivières and commute across the Laviolette Bridge daily.

• Name — Bécancour • Type — City • Shield Size — 100x80px • Motto — Vivre et grandir ("To live and to grow") • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Type1 — Province • Subdivision Type2 — Region • Subdivision Name2 — Centre-du-Québec • Subdivision Type3 — RCM • Subdivision Name3 — Bécancour • Established Title1 — Constituted • Established Date1 — October 17, 1965 • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — Pascal Blondin • Leader Title1 — Federal riding • Leader Name1 — Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel • Leader Title2 — Prov. riding • Leader Name2 — Nicolet-Bécancour • Area Total Km2 — 494.60 • Area Land Km2 — 439.54 • Area Urban Km2 — 3.79 • Elevation M — 148 • Population Total — 13561 • Population As Of — 2021 • Population Density Km2 — 30.9 • Population Urban — 4748 • Population Density Urban Km2 — 1252.8 • Population Blank1 Title — Pop 2016-2021 • Population Blank1 — 4.1% • Population Blank2 Title — Dwellings • Population Blank2 — 6348 • Time Zone — EST • Utc Offset — −5 • Time Zone Dst — EDT • Utc Offset Dst — −4 • Postal Code Type — Postal code(s) • Postal Code — G9H • Area Code — 819 • Custom Label Sec1 — Highways • Website — www.becancour.net

Constituent municipalities of Bécancour included: • La Nativité de Notre-Dame-de-Bécancour (1722) • Saint-Édouard-de-Gentilly (1784) • Saint-Grégoire-le-Grand (1802) • Sainte-Gertrude (1845) • Sainte-Angèle-de-Laval (1868) • Très-Précieux-Sang-de-Notre-Seigneur (1903) And the villages of: • Larochelle (1863) • Gentilly (1900) • Villers (1901) • Bécancour et Laval (1909) The town of Bécancour was created October 17, 1965, from an amalgamation of eleven municipalities. Bécancour was one of the province of Quebec's first amalgamated cities. A nuclear power plant, Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station, was commissioned in 1983 in the Gentilly sector; it was decommissioned in 2012.

Floral emblem: Lilac Bird: Ruby-throated hummingbird Slogan: De nature énergique ("An energetic nature")

• Illustration — Village Bécancour • Bécancour • Gentilly • Précieux-Sang • Sainte-Angèle-de-Laval • Sainte-Gertrude • Saint-Grégoire

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Bécancour had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of. With a land area of 439.54 km2, it had a population density of sqmi in 2021. Knowledge of official languages (2021) • Language — Population — Percentage (%) • English Only — 25 — 0.2% • French Only — 9,300 — 70.6% • English and French — 3,835 — 29.1% • Neither English nor French — 10 — 0.1% Mother Tongue (2021) • Language — Population — Percentage (%) • English — 110 — 0.8% • French — 12,840 — 97.5% • Non-official languages — 115 — 0.9%

The economy of Bécancour, once mainly agricultural, shifted towards heavy industry and manufacturing in the 1970s and 1980s. An industrial park was built in the area, attracting producers of aluminum, magnesium, refractory metals, and petroleum products; machine shops; and many related services, such as excavators and sales of industrial parts. The magnesium smelter was operated by Norsk Hydro, and closed down by 2011.

Despite its proximity to Trois-Rivières, Bécancour has a culture and identity of its own. The city hosts a hot air balloon festival, a weekly public marketplace, a biodiversity museum and interpretation centre, and a maritime pumpkin race.

• France Joué-lès-Tours, France

• Nicolas Perrot (1644–1717), explorer, diplomat, and fur trader. • Blessed Louis Zephyrinus Moreau, Canadian Roman Catholic priest and fourth Bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe • Denis Villeneuve, filmmaker, lived in Gentilly. • Sam Montembeault, hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens • Zachary Bolduc, hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens