Shawinigan is a city of approximately 51,904 people, located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. For decades, the local pulp and paper, chemical and textile industries created thousands of jobs in this town.
Shawinigan Falls has had a vibrant English-speaking community, which at times comprised more than 30% of the population. Early on, members of the French-speaking majority and the more privileged English-speaking minority settled in segregated neighbourhoods.
The city has been investing in the hospitality industry by establishing the La Cité de l'Énergie, a theme park based on local industrial history, with a 115 metre high observation tower. Since it opened in 1997, it has attracted thousands of visitors to the area. The lattice tower consists of a dismantled pylon used for a power line crossing of Saint Lawrence River between Grondines and Lotbinière. there is also a historical sector, which consists of two power plants, Northern Aluminum Company (NAC) and Shawinigan 2, and the ruins of a third one (Alcan 16), as well as an electricity distribution station and an aluminium smelter.