Estrie

Estrie (French pronunciation: [ɛstʁi]) is an administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. Estrie, a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of est, "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 per cent francophone.^[3] Anglophones are concentrated in Lennoxville, home of the region's only English-speaking university, Bishop's University. The Eastern Townships School Board runs 20 elementary schools, three high schools, and a learning centre.^[4]

Estrie
Administrative region
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Regional County Municipalities (RCM) and Equivalent Territories (ET)	8 RCM, 1 ET Coaticook Le Granit Le Haut-Saint-François Le Val-Saint-François Les Sources Memphrémagog Brome-Missisquoi La Haute-Yamaska Sherbrooke (ET)
Government
• Regional conference of elected officers	Jacques Demers (President)
Area [1]
• Land	10,212.00 km2 (3,942.88 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[1][2]
• Total	337,701
• Density	31.2/km2 (81/sq mi)
Demonym	Estrien(ne)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Postal code	J
Area code	819
Website	estrie.gouv.qc.ca

The region originally consisted of 6 regional county municipalities. In 2021, La Haute-Yamaska & Brome-Missisquoi joined Estrie, transferring from Montérégie.

Economy

While the economy of the area is mainly based on agriculture, forestry, and mining,^[5] tourist attractions include four Sépaq parks: Yamaska, Mont-Orford, Frontenac, and Mont-Mégantic,^[6] ski resorts at Mont Brome and Mont Orford, and agritourism.

Administrative divisions

Regional county municipalities

Regional County Municipality (RCM)	Population 2021 Canadian census	Land Area	Density (pop. per km2)	Seat of RCM
Brome-Missisquoi	64,786	1,651 km2 (637 sq mi)	34.3	Cowansville
Coaticook	18,906	1,339.80 km2 (517.30 sq mi)	13.8	Coaticook
La Haute-Yamaska	92,796	637 km2 (246 sq mi)	136.0	Granby
Le Granit	21,948	2,735.21 km2 (1,056.07 sq mi)	7.8	Lac-Mégantic
Le Haut-Saint-François	22,926	2,273.39 km2 (877.76 sq mi)	9.8	Cookshire-Eaton
Le Val-Saint-François	31,551	1,403.43 km2 (541.87 sq mi)	21.9	Richmond
Les Sources	14,623	787.13 km2 (303.91 sq mi)	18.1	Val-des-Sources
Memphrémagog	54,797	1,319.29 km2 (509.38 sq mi)	38.2	Magog

Equivalent territory

Territory Equivalent to a RCM (TE)	Population 2021 Canadian census[7]	Land Area	Density (pop. per km2)	Seat of ET
Sherbrooke	172,950	367.10 km2 (141.74 sq mi)	456.0	Sherbrooke

Demographics

Largest cities or towns in Estrie 2021 census
	Rank		Regional county municipality	Pop.	Rank		Regional county municipality	Pop.
Sherbrooke Granby	1	Sherbrooke	Sherbrooke	172,950	11	Lac-Mégantic	Le Granit	5,747	Cowansville
	2	Granby	La Haute-Yamaska	69,025	12	Cookshire-Eaton	Le Haut-Saint-François	5,344
	3	Magog	Memphrémagog	28,312	13	Windsor	Le Val-Saint-François	5,294
	4	Cowansville	Brome-Missisquoi	15,234	14	Orford	Memphrémagog	5,007
	5	Bromont	Brome-Missisquoi	11,357	15	Waterloo	La Haute-Yamaska	4,920
	6	Farnham	Brome-Missisquoi	10,149	16	Saint-Denis-de-Brompton	Le Val-Saint-François	4,594
	7	Coaticook	Coaticook	8,867	17	Sutton	Brome-Missisquoi	4,548
	8	Shefford	La Haute-Yamaska	7,253	18	Roxton Pond	La Haute-Yamaska	4,224
	9	Val-des-Sources	Les Sources	7,088	19	Danville	Les Sources	3,888
	10	Brome Lake	Brome-Missisquoi	5,923	20	East Angus	Le Haut-Saint-François	3,840

2021 Canadian Census First Official Language Spoken - ^[2]Estrie

Census	French	English	French and English	Other
2021	304,620	23,565	4,485	1,345
2016	289,040	21,745	3,110	1,115
2011	281,305	22,070	2,720	825

Estrie has a population of 377,701 according to the 2021 Canadian Census. Out of 326,955 singular responses the most common out of them are as follows.

2021 Canadian Census Mother Tongue - Estrie^[2]

Rank	Language	Population	Percentage
1	French	291,685	89.2%
2	English	20,195	6.2%
3	Spanish	4,070	1.2%
4	Arabic	2,365	0.7%

2021 Canadian Census Knowledge of Official Languages - Estrie^[2]

Census	French Only	English Only	French and English	Neither French Nor English
2021	181,810	7,645	142,755	1,345
2016	179,590	6,685	127,565	1,170
2011	179,480	6,970	119,595	865

Cultural or ethnic origin

Estrie has a majority European population but it does have a diverse group of minorities. The most commonly described ethnic groups amongst the 328,025 responses are as follows^[2]

Rank	Ethnic/Cultural Identity	Population	Percentage
1	Canadian	120,150	36.6%
2	French	85,115	26%
3	Quebecois	42,855	13%
4	French Canadian	28,290	8.6%
5	English	9,185	3%
6	Scottish	8,045	2.5%
7	First Nations	7,270	2.2%

Religion

2021 Canadian Census Religious identity - Estrie^[2]

Rank	Religion	Population	Percentage
1	Catholicism	193,700	59%
2	No Religion	97,435	29.7%
3	Islam	6,575	2%
4	Anglicianism	2,555	0.7%
5	United Church of Canada	1,830	0.5%

School Districts

Francophone:

• Commission scolaire des Hauts-Cantons (Coaticook, East Angus and Lac-Mégantic).
• Commission scolaire de la Région-de-Sherbrooke
• Commission scolaire des Sommets
• Commission scolaire Val-des-cerfs

Anglophone:

• Eastern Townships School Board

Major communities

• Bromont
• Coaticook
• Cookshire-Eaton
• Cowansville
• Farnham
• Granby
• Lac-Brome

• Lac-Mégantic
• Magog
• Orford
• Shefford
• Sherbrooke
• Val-des-Sources
• Windsor

References

1. "Census Profile, 2016 Census: Estrie [Economic region], Quebec". Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
2. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2022-02-09). "Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Estrie [Economic region], Quebec". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
3. "Eastern Townships". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
4. Elementary schools Archived 2010-11-30 at the Wayback Machine and High Schools Archived 2010-10-27 at the Wayback Machine, Eastern Townships School Board, accessed 19 November 2010.
5. "Community Snapshot – Eastern Townships" (PDF). The Community Information Database. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
6. "Best of the Townships". Tourism Eastern Townships. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
7. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2022-02-09). "Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Sherbrooke, Ville (V) [Census subdivision], Quebec". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-07-22.

Further reading

• Farfan, Matthew (2022). "Why "Eastern Townships"?". Township History WebMagazine.

External links

• Estrie, Government of Quebec
• Tourism Eastern Townships
• Estrieplus.com (in French)

45°28′53.6″N 71°40′4.5″W