Sherbrooke

Sherbrooke is a city in Quebec located at the confluence of the Magog and Saint-François rivers. It is located approximately 130 km east of Montreal and approximately 50 km north of the American border. Sherbrooke is the main economic, cultural and institutional center of the administrative region of Estrie, hence its nickname “the Queen of the Eastern Townships”. It is the seat of a Catholic archbishopric. Its population is estimated at 178,809 inhabitants in 2022 and it constitutes the 6th largest city in Quebec. The Sherbrooke census metropolitan area (CMA) has 224,557 inhabitants and constitutes the 4th largest CMA in Quebec and the 20th in Canada. Since November 2021, Évelyne Beaudin has been the mayor of Sherbrooke, making her the first woman to hold this position.

Sherbrooke is an important university hub with two institutions (Université de Sherbrooke and Bishop's University) and 40,000 students per year. The proportion of university students there is 10.32 students per 100 inhabitants, which in proportion to its population makes it the largest concentration of students in Quebec. Since the 19th century, the city has also been an important manufacturing center, although this area has undergone considerable transformation in recent decades via the decline of the city's traditional manufacturing sectors. 1 Today, the tertiary sector occupies a significant place preponderant in the economy of Villed 2, as well as the ever-growing knowledge economy.

The Sherbrooke region is renowned for its rugged environment, bathed by numerous lakes and rivers, as well as its architectural setting reminiscent of New England. These characteristics make it an important tourist location. There are several ski areas nearby and various tourist attractions with a regional flavor.