La Pocatière () is a town in the Kamouraska Regional County Municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. The town is listed as a Village rélais.
History The name La Pocatière refers to François Pollet de La Combe-Pocatière (c. 1630-1672).
In 2025, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and Saint-Onésime-d'Ixworth were merged with La Pocatière.
Geography Located 130 km northeast of Quebec City, La Pocatière is the gateway to the Lower St. Lawrence region. Situated in the eastern Appalachian Mountains, the town of La Pocatière and its surroundings constitute the largest urban area between Montmagny and Rivière-du-Loup. The region offers an interesting geological feature: steep, isolated hills, known as monadnocks, which rise up from the plain. Montagne du Collège, located in the centre of the city, is one of these hills and offers a panoramic view of the region.
The Saint-Jean River flows through the municipality from southwest to northeast, where it empties into the estuary of St. Lawrence.
Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, La Pocatière 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.
Economy
Alstom has a plant which manufactures subway and railway cars:
R62A (New York City Subway car) New Technology Prototype R110B (New York City Subway car) R142 (New York City Subway car) R179 (New York City Subway car) Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad M7/A cars Montreal Metro MR-73 and MPM-10 Boston Red Line (MBTA) 1800-85 series cars MultiLevel Coach cars VIA Rail LRC (train) set shell for Toronto Transit Commission subway cars (T1 and TR) and streetcars (Flexity Outlook)
The plant was built in 1961 to build Moto-Ski snowmobiles and the plant was converted to railcars in 1971 (Bombardier continued to market Moto-Ski until 1985).
Arts and culture La Pocatière is home to the Musée François-Pilote, a museum of Quebec ethnology. The museum features exhibits on the history of agricultural education, a number of historical period rooms, stuffed bird and animal displays, and presentations on other aspects of local history.
Attractions Near the city are small isolated hills known as monadnocks. The Montagne du College-de-Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière is 119 metres high.
Government
City council consists of a mayor and six councillors:
As of 2024 the council consisted of:
Mayor: Vincent Bérubé Councillors: 1: Guillaume Dufour 2: Émilie Dionne 3: Marie-Claude Godin 4: Mario Guignard 5: Simon Fissette 6: Steve Leclerc
Education
There are three post-secondary institutions in La Pocatière: Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière - c. 1827 Cégep de La Pocatière c. 1967 Institut de technologie agroalimentaire - agro-food technology institute with focus on equines (horses) at the La Pocatière campus
The town has three public schools under the Commission scolaire de Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup: École Sacré-Coeur - elementary school École Polyvalente La Pocatière - secondary school Éducation des adultes - adult learning
Sister cities La Pocatière is twinned with:
Coutances in France
Notable people Hélène Alarie (1941-2023), politician Jean-François Caron, writer Bernard Généreux, politician Jean-Guy Hudon, politician Jean-Marie Pelletier, politician
See also List of municipalities in Quebec
References
External links
City web site La Pocatière en images...