Saint-Jean

Saint-Jean stretches across the southeastern Montérégie region of Quebec, anchored by the city of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (population approximately 98,000) on the banks of the Richelieu River, roughly 40 kilometres southeast of Montreal. The riding encompasses most of the regional county municipality of Le Haut-Richelieu, including the municipalities of Lacolle, Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Saint-Alexandre, Saint-Blaise-sur-Richelieu, Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix, Saint-Valentin, and Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville, along with the parish of Sainte-Anne-de-Sabrevois. The riding covers 734 square kilometres of terrain ranging from the flat agricultural plains of the Richelieu valley to the lower slopes of Mont-Saint-Grégoire, one of the Montérégian Hills.

Candidates

Christine Normandin (Bloc Québécois) Born in 1984, Normandin holds a Bachelor's degree in biomedical sciences, completed after a research internship on melanoma in India. She subsequently trained as a lawyer, practising in civil litigation, family law, employment law, and Aboriginal land issues, and appeared before all levels of court including the Supreme Court of Canada. She established her own law firm in 2019. First elected in the riding in 2019, she was appointed deputy house leader and critic for national defence in the Bloc Québécois shadow cabinet following her re-election.

Patrick Agbokou (Liberal) Agbokou ran as the Liberal standard-bearer in the riding, seeking to reclaim a seat the party had held from 2015 to 2019 under Jean Rioux.

Marie Louis-Seize (Conservative) Louis-Seize carried the Conservative banner in the riding, where the party has historically placed second or third.

Vincent Piette (Green) Piette represented the Green Party of Canada in the Saint-Jean riding.

About the Riding

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu has deep military roots. Fort Saint-Jean, first constructed in 1666 by soldiers of the Carignan-Salières Regiment, is—after Quebec City—the military site that has been continuously occupied for the longest period in Canada. The Royal Military College Saint-Jean, located on the historic fort site, was created in 1952 as Canada's first bilingual military college to train French-speaking officers. Closed in 1995 due to budget cuts, it was reinaugurated in 2008 and granted independent university status in 2021. The military presence—including the college and the Canadian Forces Recruiting Centre—remains central to the local economy and cultural identity.

The Richelieu River defines the riding's geography and much of its character. The river corridor supports recreational boating, fishing, and tourism, and the annual International de montgolfières de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu—one of the largest hot-air balloon festivals in Canada—draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each August. Agriculture thrives on the fertile plains, with apple orchards, market gardens, and dairy farms dotting the landscape around Mont-Saint-Grégoire.

The riding's proximity to the United States border—Lacolle hosts one of Quebec's busiest Canada–U.S. border crossings—has made irregular migration a recurring topic of public discussion. The stretch of Roxham Road near Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle became the primary entry point for asylum seekers crossing into Canada outside official ports of entry, prompting debate over immigration policy and federal resources for border management. Local infrastructure, including housing and social services in border-adjacent communities, came under strain as a result.