Sherbrooke

Industrial city in southern Québec, Canada, at the junction of the Magog and St Francis rivers, 160 km/100 mi east of Montréal; population (1991) 76,400; metropolitan area population (1991) 139,200. Settled in the 1800s by Vermonters, it industrialized in the 1840s, and is now the commercial and industrial centre of an agricultural and mining region, and a transportation hub. It developed as a textile centre; today heavy machinery, pulp and paper, rubber and leather goods, clothing, and dairy goods are also produced. Most employment, however, is in commerce and service industries, including teaching, health care, and regional administration. Tourism is also important, and Sherbrooke is a resort centre with lakes and mountains nearby.

The city was named after Lord Sherbrooke, the governor of Canada (1816-18). Institutions include the Collège du Sacre-Coeur (1945), the Séminaire de Sherbrooke (1875), the Université de Sherbrooke (1954), and the École des Sciences Domestiques (1956).