Municipalities of Quebec around 1965

The municipal history of Quebec started in 1796 with the creation of administrations for Montréal and Quebec City, but it really developed immediately prior to the creation of the Province of Canada in 1841 with the formation of municipal districts,^[1] followed in March 1845 when the Parliament of the Province of Canada adopted an Act to create local authorities in Lower Canada which took effect in July 1845.^[2]

The structure was abolished and replaced in September 1847 by a system of county municipalities, whose councillors were elected from the parishes and townships existing therein,^[3] with provision for the creation of towns and villages that would be separated from their counties.^[4] Further reform came into effect in July 1855^[5] for all parts of Lower Canada other than Montreal, Quebec City and Saint-Hyacinthe,^[6] which included provision for the creation of local councils for parishes and townships,^[7] the representation of towns and villages on county councils,^[8] and the formation of towns and villages by order in council upon the recommendation of the relevant county council.^[9] The municipal law of Lower Canada was consolidated into a single Act in 1860.^[10]

For more than a century localities changed little. The major modifications were from the colonization of new territories. Until 2002 and 2006, there were no major reorganizations in the municipal history of Quebec, with the notable exceptions of Montréal (1910), Laval (1965), Bécancour (1965) Gaspé (1971), Mirabel (1971), Percé (1971), Buckingham (1975), Gatineau (1975), La Pêche (1975), Beauport (1976), La Malbaie (1999), Mont-Tremblant (2000), Chandler (2001), Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (2001) and Saint-Hyacinthe (2001).

Municipalities written in bold are on their current form.

1608 to 1793

19th century

20th century