Lévis is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old Lévis, and two bridges, the Quebec Bridge and the Pierre Laporte Bridge, connect western Lévis with Quebec City.
The population in July 2015 was 302,709. Its current incarnation was founded on January 1st, 2002, as the result of a merger among ten cities, including the older city of Lévis founded in 1861.
Lévis is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census division (CD) of Quebec, coextensive with the city of Lévis. Its geographical code is 25 as a census division, and 251 as an RCM-equivalent territory.
Geography[]
Lévis covers an area of 171 square miles (442.89 km2): 10% urban, 48% farmlands, 36% forests and 6% wetlands. In addition to the Saint Lawrence River, the Etchemin and Chaudière Rivers also run through the city before ending their journey in the Saint Lawrence. The Chaudière River also boasts a fall with a suspended bridge, which can be accessed from Autoroute 73.
Lévis County existed until the 1980s when it was divided into Desjardins Regional County Municipality and Les Chutes-de-la-Chaudière Regional County Municipality.
On January 1st, 2002, ten cities were merged by the Quebec provincial government to form the new city of Lévis. Previously, the former cities of Lauzon and Saint-David-de-l'Auberivière had been merged to Lévis in 1989. The regional county municipalities which these cities were a part of ceased to exist.
Economy[]
Although a relatively small city, Lévis is not a typical suburb. The presence of several large employers has allowed many citizens to both live and work in Lévis. It is home to the Ultramar refinery, one of the largest in eastern Canada, Frito-Lay and Davie Shipbuilding are located in Lauzon Area (former city). A subsidiary of the Desjardins Group, Desjardins Financial Securities is headquartered in the city. The founder Desjardins, Alphonse Desjardins, lived in Lévis and ran with his wife, Dorimène Roy Desjardins, the first Caisse Populaire (similar to a credit union) from their home. The city is also a major agricultural business research and development centre. More and more high technology companies, such as Creaform (3D), are established in Lévis.
Lévis is home to the enclosed regional shopping mall, Les Galeries Chagnon which has 106 stores.
A lot of small business and entertainment developed in the city during the last decade and finalized the transformation from a Quebec City suburb into a small city.