The Department of National Defence has received $452 million for the repair and upgrade of Canadian Armed Forces facilities. Revitalized defence infrastructure across Canada will provide the Canadian Armed Forces with the facilities they need to provide support to troops and military families, to support the Reserve forces, to support operations at home and abroad, and to ensure the health and safety of our men and women in uniform.
The Department of National Defence has identified an opportunity to perform a number of improvements at its aging armouries across Canada. Over the next two years, $135 million will be invested in projects involving repairs to roofs, siding, plumbing, and heating and ventilation systems.
Drummondville and St-Hyacinthe are home to 6 Battalion, Royal 22e Regiment, which is a Reserve infantry unit of the Canadian Armed Forces. The unit’s members are from the Montérégie and Central Quebec regions.
The battalion’s headquarters are in St-Hyacinthe while the unit’s B Company and Band are located in Drummondville.
The unit that was to serve as the basis for Régiment de Saint-Hyacinthe came to be in 1866, a time when the Fenians in the United States were threatening to invade Canada.
Throughout its history, the regiment has played an active role in all conflicts. First, in 1899, during the Boer War, the unit supplied a number of volunteers who travelled to Halifax to reinforce the Royal Canadian Regiment, including several men who served in Africa.
In August 1939, the regiment was mobilized for several months and, in 1942, was once again placed on active service and assigned to the defence of Newfoundland and the Atlantic coast. Meanwhile, a second Reserve battalion was set up. As was the case during WWI, a number of its members also served with units who fought on the European continent from 1939 to 1945.
On February 2, 1956, the regiment was merged with the Royal 22e Regiment to become 6 Battalion, with its command post in Saint-Hyacinthe. In 1968, B Company, of 6 Battalion, was created in Drummondville.
Since becoming part of Royal 22e Regiment, 6 Battalion has provided ongoing support to the regiment’s 1, 2 and 3 Battalions by providing augmentation personnel during missions for the United Nations and NATO, and in support of domestic operations.
In January 1998, 6 Battalion was the first Canadian Forces unit to be employed as part of Operation RECUPERATION in Saint-Hyacinthe following the ice storm that struck all of southern Quebec.
