At the begining of the twentieth century, the town of Shawinigan, located in the province of Québec, was known for its spectacular industrial growth. This growth, which continued almost uninterrupted until the fifties, has given way to a steady decline since 1960. Owing largely to numerous layoffs in the chemical industries group, the manufacturing employment index (1952 = 100) dipped as low as 60 in 1972. Many reasons have been suggested to explain this decline : Militant labour unions have brought about an increase in production costs, industrial promotion has been insufficient, nationalization of power production facilities has favoured Montréal at the expense of peripheral power-producing regions, the transport network has become obsolete and congested, etc. Without discounting the importance of these factors, it seems that the decline of Shawinigan's manufacturing industry must be explained mainly in terms of the dynamics of industrial location, the latter being related to technological progress. Therefore, during the last two decades, the major factors of Shawinigan's industrial development have lost their importance and do not have the same attractive power as they used to. Consequently, Shawinigan has momentous problems in its industrial development.