Bromont () is a city in the Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of southern Quebec, Canada. It lies at the foot of Mont Brome, one of the Monteregian Hills, between Granby and Cowansville. Bromont had a population of 11,357 in the 2021 Canadian census.
The present city grew from a planned community established in 1964 by brothers Roland and Germain Désourdy and from the older settlements of West Shefford and Adamsville. West Shefford was merged with Bromont in 1966, while the village municipality of Adamsville was annexed in 1973. The new city was planned around two principal areas of development: recreation and tourism around Mont Brome, and a high-technology industrial sector.
Bromont later became a centre for alpine skiing, cycling and equestrian sport. Its Olympic Equestrian Centre hosted most of the equestrian competitions at the 1976 Summer Olympics, as well as the riding portion of the modern pentathlon. The city's industrial area developed around firms in microelectronics and advanced manufacturing, including IBM, Teledyne DALSA and GE Aerospace, and is also home to the Université de Sherbrooke's MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre.
History
Early settlement and West Shefford
European settlement in the area began during the closing years of the 18th century. John Savage, an Irish-born Loyalist who had lived in New York before the American Revolution, settled in what became Shefford Township in 1793.
The settlement that developed around Savage's land became known as West Shefford. The name was taken from the local post office, established in 1843, and ultimately from Shefford Township. The township name itself was derived from Shefford in Bedfordshire, England. West Shefford was constituted as a village municipality in 1888.
Agriculture was initially the main economic activity in the surrounding countryside, although manufacturing developed during the 19th century. Municipal historical material identifies potash production and the dairy industry among the activities associated with West Shefford's early economy.
Rail service was established through West Shefford during the 19th century. A May 1869 timetable for the Stanstead, Shefford and Chambly Railroad lists West Shefford as a station on the line between Waterloo and St. Johns. Railway connections later formed part of the industrial development of the village and surrounding area.
The old centre of West Shefford survives along present-day Shefford Street and forms what Bromont now calls the Vieux-Village.
Adamsville
A second settlement developed farther west in the Township of Farnham. It became known as Adamsville after George Adams (1813–1885), a merchant from Vermont whose family had settled in the Saint-Armand area in 1816. Adams moved to the Farnham township area and became a merchant and mill owner there during the 1840s.
By the second half of the 19th century, Adamsville had developed around lumber, milling, tanning and agriculture. A Catholic parish was established in the 1870s as the French-speaking population of the district increased. The village municipality of Adamsville was constituted in 1923.
The present Saint-Vincent-Ferrier church was built in 1932–1933. Earlier churches serving the parish had been damaged or destroyed by fires in 1916 and 1931.
Creation of Bromont
Bromont was founded on June 18, 1964, through a private act of the Quebec legislature. The project was promoted by businessmen Roland and Germain Désourdy. Germain Désourdy became the city's first mayor, while Roland Désourdy was closely involved in the development of its recreational and industrial projects.
The project differed from the older villages around it. Bromont was conceived as a planned community combining residential development, recreation and high-technology industry. Municipal planning documents describe the residential component as being influenced by the garden-city model.
Development of the ski area on Mont Brome began at the same time as the city. The first ski runs opened in 1964. Two years later, Bromont and the village municipality of West Shefford were merged.
The territory continued to expand during the following decade. Between 1964 and 1974, Bromont underwent two municipal mergers and twelve annexations. The village municipality of Adamsville was annexed in 1973.
Autoroute 10, linking Montreal and Sherbrooke, was constructed through the area during the city's early development. Bromont's regional airport opened in 1968 beside land reserved for industrial development.
Industrial development followed. IBM established a manufacturing operation at Bromont, with its plant opening in 1972. Other manufacturers later established facilities in the area, including General Electric and DALSA.
Olympic development
Bromont's equestrian facilities became part of the preparations for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Roland Désourdy proposed Bromont as the location for the equestrian competitions, and the site was approved in 1974.
The Olympic Equestrian Centre hosted dressage, eventing and individual jumping during the 1976 Games. The team jumping final was held at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. The riding portion of the modern pentathlon was also held at Bromont.
The site remained in use after the Olympics and became the venue for International Bromont and other equestrian competitions.
Bromont was selected in 2014 to host the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, but the organizing committee withdrew in 2016 after it was unable to secure the required financing.
Toponymy
The name Bromont was adopted when the new city was created in 1964. The Commission de toponymie du Québec traces the name to Mont Brome, around which much of the original recreational development was planned. The change from West Shefford to Bromont was associated with the creation of the new resort community.
The older name West Shefford came from a post office established in 1843. It referred to Shefford Township, whose name was itself taken from Shefford in Bedfordshire, England.
The name Adamsville remains in local use for the western part of Bromont. It commemorates George Adams, an early merchant and mill owner in the area.
The demonyms Bromontois and Bromontoise were officially recognized by the Commission de toponymie in 1986.
Geography
Bromont covers of land in the northern part of the Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality. It lies southeast of Granby, with Shefford to the northeast, Lac-Brome to the southeast, Brigham to the southwest and Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby to the west.
The central physical feature of the city is Mont Brome, which reaches an elevation of . The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills, a group of isolated hills extending eastward from the Montreal area.
Mont Gale lies southwest of Mont Brome. Other named elevations are found around the Brome massif, including Mont Soleil and Mont Bernard. Residential and recreational development occupies portions of the mountain slopes, while agricultural and forested land remains in the lower-lying parts of the municipality.
The Yamaska River crosses the municipal territory. Lac Bromont lies south of Mont Brome and is approximately long. It drains toward the Yamaska River through Beaver Meadow Brook. The lake was formerly known as Brome Pond and Lac Tétreault; the present name was adopted in 1971 to avoid confusion with nearby Brome Lake. The smaller Lac Gale lies to the west.
The city identifies six principal neighbourhoods or districts: Adamsville, Lac-Bromont, Mont-Brome, Mont-Soleil, Pierre-Laporte and Shefford.
Conservation
The Réserve naturelle du Lac-Gale protects near Lac Gale, approximately south of Bromont's centre. The reserve was established to protect natural areas within the municipality.
The protected area forms part of the Domaine naturel du lac Gale, a municipal conservation area containing forest and recreational trails.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population, Bromont had a population of 11,357 living in 5,062 of its 6,249 private dwellings, an increase of 25.6% from its 2016 population of 9,041. With a land area of , it had a population density of .
The median age was 47.6 years in 2021, compared with 44.2 in 2016.
Language
In 2021, 10,160 residents reported French as their sole mother tongue, representing 90.2% of respondents. English was the sole mother tongue of 600 residents, or 5.3%, while 165 reported both English and French and 285 reported another mother tongue.
+ Mother tongue, 2021 Language Population % French 10,160 90.2 English 600 5.3 English and French 165 1.5 Other 285 2.5
Economy
Bromont was planned from its creation around two economic sectors: recreation and tourism, and high-technology industry. Both remain important parts of the city's economy.
Technology and manufacturing
The Bromont Scientific Park developed around the regional airport beginning in the late 1960s. IBM's Bromont plant opened in 1972 and became one of the principal industrial facilities in the city. The facility specializes in semiconductor assembly, packaging and testing.
Other technology and manufacturing firms established operations in Bromont, including Teledyne DALSA and GE Aviation. Bromont has consequently developed a concentration of activity in microelectronics, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing.
The MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre (C2MI) is located in the scientific park. Created through a partnership involving the Université de Sherbrooke, IBM Canada and Teledyne DALSA, the centre provides clean rooms, laboratories and equipment for research and commercialization in microelectronics and electronic systems.
The Quebec government designated the Bromont area as an innovation zone in digital technologies and intelligent electronic systems in 2022.
Hyundai plant
Hyundai Auto Canada established an automobile assembly plant in Bromont in the late 1980s. The plant occupied an site and included body, paint and final assembly facilities. Construction represented an investment of approximately $387.7 million, including about $131 million in federal and provincial assistance.
The plant was intended to assemble the Hyundai Sonata. Hyundai and Chrysler discussed an agreement under which Chrysler would sell a rebadged version of the Bromont-built Sonata, but the proposed arrangement was abandoned in 1990.
The plant closed in 1994 after only a few years of production. The property was later divided for other industrial uses.
Tourism
Recreational development began with the establishment of the ski area on Mont Brome in 1964. The mountain subsequently developed into a year-round resort offering alpine skiing, cycling and a water park.
Golf and equestrian sport also became established in the area during Bromont's early development. The city's Olympic Equestrian Centre remains in use for national and international competitions.
Sport
Bromont has hosted competitions in skiing, cycling and equestrian sport since the 1960s.
The Olympic Equestrian Centre was built for the 1976 Summer Olympics. All of the Olympic equestrian competitions except the team jumping final were held in Bromont, together with the riding portion of the modern pentathlon. The venue continued to operate after the Games and became the site of recurring international equestrian competitions.
Bromont has also hosted international alpine and freestyle skiing competitions and mountain-bike events. The city hosted the mountain-bike world championships in 1994 and later rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.
The original Bromont Velodrome opened in 2001 using a wooden track acquired following the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The outdoor track closed in 2020. It was replaced by the indoor Vélodrome Sylvan Adams, which opened in September 2022.
Culture and heritage