Retail businesses are gradually disappearing in the region. Between 2006 and 2022, the proportion of Quebec villages that have no stores on their territory has almost doubled, show data from the Institute of Statistics of Quebec (ISQ) compiled by The duty.
Françoise Bouchard and her fellow citizens tried by all means to save the only business in the village of Dixville, in Estrie. “The municipality helped as best it could. The next generation was there. It could have continued,” says the mayor of the municipality of around 800 inhabitants.
After losing their general store in the 1990s, “people from the public” mobilized to open a convenience store in the form of a cooperative in the 2010s.
Despite the best of wishes, a series of “bad lucks” weighed down the initiative. The fraudulent practices of an entrepreneur initially plunged the finances into the red. Then the pandemic “was the final nail in the coffin”. Daily management “was a lot of volunteer work,” notes the mayor. “And the enthusiasm of the volunteers has waned. »
However, everything has been tried to keep the business open: its transformation into a so-called “smart” convenience store equipped with self-service checkouts, a partnership with the restaurant next door for the sale of almost expired foods, promotion among the villagers …
“People have not gotten into the habit of going to the convenience store,” emphasizes Françoise Bouchard, because Dixville is only “seven minutes” from the town of Coaticook and its big box stores.
This closure is far from being a unique case, both in Estrie and elsewhere in Quebec. Of the 458 Quebec municipalities with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, 95 (20.7%) have no retail business, according to data from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing published by the ISQ. In 2006, this proportion was only 11.6%.
By comparing data by administrative regions, The duty found that in absolute numbers, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Estrie, Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Chaudière-Appalaches sit at the top of this depressing list. These regions also bring together the most villages in Quebec; that said, they are still among the regions where the proportion of municipalities without businesses is the highest.
Estrie also stands out from the crowd. Even if the region experienced the largest increase in total population between 2006 and 2022, i.e. 16.8%, this increase is mainly attributable to the urban centers in its territory. Indeed, Estrie is the place where the number of municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants increased the most during the same period, which happened as villages emptied in favor of large centers.
Habits that change
How to explain this disappearance? “People no longer necessarily consume in the same way today as in 2006,” explains Jean-Philippe Meloche, full professor at the School of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Montreal.
The transition to online commerce has certainly had an influence on the phenomenon, but also, he notes, the reflex of many people to take their car in order to obtain rarer products, or simply at a better price.
“People are more mobile today,” confirms the professor. They preferred to go to large stores a little further away than to go to a small store a little closer. »
Because in reality, several of the municipalities that have lost a retail business in recent years were located near an urban center with multiple amenities. And therefore just a car ride from supermarkets and specialty stores.
“Eventually, regional stores took over local stores,” summarizes the researcher. Even if we observe the same phenomenon everywhere in the province, even in cities, “in small communities, it ended up making a difference.” “We have fewer businesses. Where there were four, it drops to three. » And so on, until there are none left.
A social fabric to preserve
The crumbling of community life within these villages particularly worries Jacques Demers, president of the Fédération québécoise des municipalities. “A convenience store or a small restaurant, in a village, is often the place where a large part of the community stops, has a coffee, can chat or see each other without making an appointment,” emphasizes he interviewed at Duty.
Mr. Demers, who is also mayor of Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, in Estrie, also sees it in his community. “Often, the owner of the convenience store knows what is happening in the municipality much more than me, as mayor! Because everyone stops there for their pint of milk, for their eggs, their chips, their beer…” These exchanges and this knowledge are lost with the closure of businesses.
For Jean-Philippe Meloche, the loss of these socializing spaces is not a new phenomenon. He notes, among other things, the example of the numerous churches and parishes which have seen their number of faithful decrease over the years, to the point of having to close their doors as well.
“Technological innovations, from television to smartphones, have caused households to turn inward rather than turning toward the community,” both in their social habits and in their way of to consume, argues the researcher.
A lack of funding that is felt
According to Jacques Demers, these regional closures show the importance of financing local services, which must be considered beyond consumption.
This need is particularly acute in rural agricultural areas. “We should not force the people who feed us to be in areas where there are no services either,” he maintains. Why settle in such places without businesses if, “by working in other fields, we would not have to make this sacrifice? »
Financing must be done at the beginning of the process, when merchants seek to set up in a municipality. According to him, it is a more “long-term” solution than saving existing companies in difficulty, although there are also needs in this area. “That’s how you become attractive,” he explains.
In 2022, during the electoral campaign, the Coalition Avenir Québec promised municipalities funding of $470 million dedicated to making up for the lack of local services, among other things. However, according to the latest budget from François Legault’s government, only 50 million will be invested in municipalities over five years, or 10 million per year.
“Yes, these 10 million can be a first step that will allow us to see how we place things, but we need much more than that, if we hope to retain these services,” concludes Mr. Demers.
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.