It is the home of a prominent Lactantia dairy factory, two shopping malls ("La Grande Place des Bois-Francs" and "Le Carrefour des Bois-Francs", this one has been renamed and became "le Centre de Victoriaville"), the Cégep de Victoriaville, and a quaint yet vibrant downtown core/shopping area on Rue Notre-Dame.

[8] The Victoriaville area was known to the native Abenaki peoples as Arthabaska or Awabaska, meaning "place of bulrushes and reeds".

The area was first claimed in 1802 by a fur trader named John Gregory; the first settlers began arriving several decades later, beginning around 1825.

Early colonists from the banks of the Saint Lawrence River arrived slowly, blazing trails as they went; the first provincial road would be built in 1844.

In 1854 a train station was erected to serve the Grand Trunk Railway line from Richmond to Lévis, uniting the region with Montreal and Quebec City.

The RCAF school trained potential pilots and Navigators on common topics and divided the trainees into their trades.

A large Lactantia factory producing butter, cheeses and other dairy products has been a major employer for decades.

The Grand foyer Victoriaville-et-sa-région, remarkable for its vast windows, hosts numerous cocktail parties, often extending into the Lounge Laurier or the Terrasse Daniel-Gaudreau.

[12] Jean Béliveau (August 31, 1931 – December 2, 2014), ten-time Stanley Cup winner with the Montreal Canadiens, was raised in Victoriaville after moving there from Trois-Rivières at a young age.