Granby () is a town in the Estrie region of Quebec, and the administrative centre of the La Haute-Yamaska Regional County Municipality. The municipality had a population of 69,025 in the 2021 Canadian census, while the Granby census agglomeration had 90,833.
The present municipality was created in 2007 through the merger of the former city of Granby and the Township of Granby. Granby developed as a manufacturing centre from the late 19th century and is also home to the Granby Zoo.
Toponymy Most researchers trace the name "Granby" to John Manners, Marquess of Granby (1721-1770), a British soldier and politician. The name was first used for the township and was later retained when Granby was incorporated as a village municipality in 1859.
History
Before European settlement, the Yamaska watershed was used by Indigenous peoples for hunting, fishing, travel and trade. Historical and archaeological work cited by the MRC de La Haute-Yamaska records W8banakiak, Anishinabeg, Haudenosaunee, Kanien'kehá:ka and St. Lawrence Iroquoians along the Yamaska River and its tributaries. An 1801 survey described the low ground around present-day Lac Boivin as meadows and forest, with ash, fir, maple, hemlock and birch among the trees recorded in the area.
Colonel Henry Caldwell first petitioned the colonial government for land for members of the Quebec militia in 1788. Granby Township was surveyed over the following years, and Jeremiah McCarthy filed the final survey in 1801. On January 8, 1803, Granby and Milton townships were granted to Quebec City militiamen and the widows of militiamen.
Settlement was underway by 1809. Roswell Spaulding was living in the township that year, and John Horner settled near the site of the future village around 1810. Horner built a sawmill on the Yamaska River. A road through the township was completed in 1819, improving access toward Montreal and the townships farther east. By 1831, Granby Township had 797 residents living in 134 occupied houses.
The first dam on the North Yamaska River at Granby was built in 1815 to power local mills. The backed-up water formed the beginnings of Lac Boivin. A second dam followed in 1835, and later industrial dams increased the flooded area.
Granby was incorporated as a village municipality in 1859. Railway service arrived the same year, and the Notre-Dame parish was established. Granby became a cité in 1916 and a ville in 1971.
French Canadians began settling in Granby in the early 1840s. Their numbers increased during the industrial expansion that followed. By the 1930s, the French-Canadian population had become the dominant cultural and linguistic presence in the city.
Industrial development accelerated in the late 19th century. Granby Rubber was established in 1882 and Empire Tobacco in 1895. Granby Elastic Web opened in 1910, followed by Miner Rubber in 1911. By 1930, Miner Rubber, Imperial Tobacco and Granby Elastic Web employed about 2,500 of the city's 3,000 factory workers. Five American manufacturers opened Granby plants between 1929 and 1932, four of them in the textile industry.
The city's industrial base changed after the Second World War. Rubber and tobacco declined, while metal products, machinery, plastics, electronics and food processing took on a larger role. Granby's industrial park opened in 1967.
Residential development spread north of the older town beginning in the late 1930s. In 1939, Granby Development laid out the Ville moderne subdivision on a 168-acre property, divided into about 800 residential lots. Seven new streets were planned, including Boulevard Leclerc, and the area was annexed to Granby in 1940.
Granby's population rose from about 14,000 in 1939 to 30,000 by 1960. Much of the new construction took place in the Saint-Joseph sector, where private development was joined after 1948 by the Chantiers Saint-Joseph housing cooperative. Between 1949 and 1961, the cooperative built 165 houses in the neighbourhood.
The upper part of Rue Principale was extensively redeveloped between the mid-1960s and the 1980s. The Hôtel Granby, Hôtel Windsor and the former post office were among the buildings demolished. Queen Street disappeared during the work, while sections of Young and City streets were removed or shortened.
Lac Boivin supplied part of Granby's drinking water from 1932 until 1977. During the 1970s, proposals to fill or dredge sections of the wetlands met opposition from local conservation groups. The eastern part of the lake was eventually set aside for conservation and interpretation, while recreational development was concentrated mainly on the western shore.
Granby and the surrounding Township of Granby voted on a merger on May 28, 2006. The proposal received 56% support in the city and 81% in the township; turnout was 33%. The two municipalities were merged on January 1, 2007.
Geography
Granby covers 152.69 km². The built-up area is concentrated near the centre of the municipality, with farmland and lower-density development around it. The North Yamaska River flows through Lac Boivin before continuing through the city.
Route 112, Route 137 and Route 139 cross Granby. Route 139 connects the city with Autoroute 10 south of Granby.
Parks and natural areas Granby has many parks and fountains, including the Daniel-Johnson, Victoria, Terry Fox, Miner, Pelletier, and Kennedy parks. Lake Boivin, Daniel-Johnson park, and the Centre d'interprétation de la nature du lac Boivin (nature interpretation centre of lake Boivin), take shape in the 1980s, landscaped with paths all around for bikers and pedestrians, they have become a haven for Nature's lovers as they harbour abundant wildlife. Lake Boivin has park Daniel-Johnson on its northern shores, from which citizens and tourists can practice recreational sports such as navigation and cycling, the park also hosts events for Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Earth Day; as well as a self-proclaimed fête de la rivière (river festival) to honour and clean the North Yamaska River; characteristic hills on the park's premises are very popular for picnicking during the summer and sledding in the winter. The Centre d'interprétation de la nature du lac Boivin is a non-profit devoted to conservation of the territory, habitat, fauna and flora of lake Boivin. Yamaska National Park is a vast protected wetland around the Choinière reservoir with forest, beach, walking and biking paths, as well as navigable waters (only light non-motorized vessels are permitted); it is an important bird sanctuary. Park Victoria is the oldest park in Granby. The park opened in 1889 and is named in honour of Queen Victoria (1876-1901). There are war memorials to Latimer (1901), to the soldiers killed in the Second Boer War, and a monument to the Braves. Selbach fountain, inaugurated in 1982, rises on the corner of Dufferin street and Mountain boulevard. Two ponds connected by a small stream, large rock outcrops, and a hilly terrain are its main geographical characteristics; its northeastern tip is bisected by Lorne street; at its southernmost limits, the park borders Parkview Elementary School, an English-language school. In the warm months, free concerts are sometimes played in a gazebo. Park Miner is the second oldest park in Granby; it was given to the town by mayor Stephen Henderson Campbell Miner in 1910; today, it lies downtown and houses Piscine Miner (Miner pool), the municipal indoor public pool. A monument to the founders of Saint-Jean-Baptiste society was erected in 1934. The first community public art gallery in the region is installed by Atelier 19 to celebrate its ten years.During the summer, the park has tents installed to house different public activities such as dance and music.
Parc Daniel-Johnson occupies part of the western shore of Lac Boivin. The wetlands on the eastern side are used for conservation and environmental education. Local conservation work began there in 1969, and the Centre d'interprétation de la nature du lac Boivin was established as a non-profit organization in 1980.
Climate Granby has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). For the 1991–2020 climate normals, the annual mean temperature was 6.6 °C (43.9 °F). Average annual precipitation was 1,226.4 mm (48.28 in), including 261.6 cm (103.0 in) of snow.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Granby had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Ethnicity In 2021, 92.5% of the population were white/European, 5.5% were visible minorities and 2.0% were Indigenous. The largest visible minority groups were Black (1.8%), Latin American (1.6%), Arab (0.8%), and West Asian (0.5%). Panethnic groups in the City of Granby (2001−2021)Panethnic group20212016201120062001 European 61,645 60,435 59,200 44,915 42,145 Indigenous 1,310 715 425 165 90 African 1,200 830 500 275 125 Latin American 1,080 1,045 585 405 65 Middle Eastern 835 640 380 190 70 Southeast Asian 210 135 140 80 85 East Asian 130 105 110 65 45 South Asian 70 70 65 0 0 Other/multiracial 110 50 75 30 10 Total responses 66,590 64,005 61,480 46,100 42,630 Total population 69,025 66,222 63,433 47,637 44,121
Language 91.8% of residents spoke French as a mother tongue. Other common first languages were English (2.1%), Spanish (1.6%), Arabic (0.6%), and Persian languages (0.4%). 1.0% of residents listed both French and English as their mother tongues, while 0.4% listed both French and a non-official language. +Mother tongue language (2021) Language Population Pct (%) French only 62,150 91.8% English only 1,435 2.1% Both English and French 705 1.0% Other languages 3,025 4.5%
Religion 69.0% of residents were Christian, down from 87.2% in 2011. 61.6% were Catholic, 4.3% were Christian n.o.s., and 1.4% were Protestant. Other Christian denominations and Christian-related traditions accounted for 1.6% of the population. Non-religious and secular people were 28.9% of the population, up from 11.3% in 2011. 2.1% of residents followed other religions, up from 1.5% in 2011. The largest non-Christian religion was Islam (1.7%).
Economy Manufacturing remains a substantial employer in Granby. Granby Industriel reports 247 manufacturing companies and more than 8,900 manufacturing jobs in the city, with more than 160 manufacturers located in the industrial park.
The agency identifies aerospace and specialty vehicles as two local industrial specializations, along with food processing and hydroelectric engineering. Other manufacturing includes metal products, plastics and rubber, and textiles.
Built heritage
Several buildings from Granby's early industrial period remain near the Yamaska River and Cowie Street. The former Granby Rubber complex dates from a rubber company founded in 1882 at the corner of Saint-Charles and Cowie streets. The former Imperial Tobacco plant includes brick buildings constructed between 1895 and 1915. Tobacco production there ended in 1971.
St. George's Anglican Church was built in 1908, replacing an earlier chapel dating from 1843. The Montreal architectural firm Cox & Ames prepared the plans for the brick Gothic Revival church. Sainte-Famille Church was built in 1930–1931 from plans by architect Louis-Napoléon Audet. The church is a municipally cited heritage building.
Granby City Hall was built in 1942 from plans by local architects Paul-Émile Lapointe and Sheldon Ross. Besides the municipal offices and council chamber, the building originally housed the police and fire departments, the municipal court and the local health unit. The municipal library occupied part of the building from 1944 to 1955.
Culture and attractions
The Granby Zoo began with a collection of animals kept by mayor Pierre-Horace Boivin. The Société zoologique de Granby was incorporated in 1953, and the zoo opened on May 28, 1955.