Rigaud () is a city in southwestern

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, in the

Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality Vaudreuil-Soulanges () is a regional county municipality in Quebec, Canada. It is located on a triangular peninsula in the western Montérégie region of Quebec, formed by the confluence of the Ottawa River to the north, and the St. Lawrence River ...

in Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent region. It is located at the junction of the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

and the

Rigaud River The Rigaud River is a river in eastern Ontario and western Quebec. It rises south of Vankleek Hill, Ontario and flows east, entering the province of Quebec. It joins with the East Rigaud River which rises to the south of it and flows north to empt ...

, about west of downtown

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and east of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. The population as of the

Canada 2021 Census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

was 7,854.

History

Rigaud is located on the traditional territory of the

Algonquins The Algonquin people are an Indigenous people who now live in Eastern Canada. They speak the Algonquin language, which is part of the Algonquian language family. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely related to the Odawa, Potawatomi, ...

, who fled the region before the arrival of the French, due to violent attacks by the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

Étienne Brûlé Étienne Brûlé (; – c. June 1633) was the first European explorer to journey beyond the St. Lawrence River into what is now known as Canada. He spent much of his early adult life among the Hurons, and mastered their language and learned ...

was the first

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

to travel on the Ottawa River,in

1615 Events January–June * January 1 – The New Netherland Company is granted a three-year monopoly in North American trade, between the 40th and 45th parallels. * February – Sir Thomas Roe sets out to become the first am ...

. The Seigneury of Rigaud was granted in 1732 to the brothers

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

and François-Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, governors in

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

, and was sold in 1763 to Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, who in turn gave the seigneury to his

son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

in 1771. The seigneury saw its first

settler A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...

s in 1783. At the beginning of the 19th century, the locality developed rapidly as an accommodation relay for

loggers Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...

, and as a loading point for timber and cereals. In 1802, the Mission of Sainte-Magdeleine-de-Rigaud was founded, which became a parish in 1830. In 1835, the Rigaud Post Office opened. In 1845, the Municipality of Rigaud was formed, but abolished in 1847. It was reestablished in 1855 as the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Magdeleine-de-Rigaud (or Sainte-Madeleine-de-Rigaud). In the second half of the 19th century, the establishment of several religious institutions and the development of the

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

contribute to local development. In 1880, the village itself split off from the rural parish municipality to form the Village Municipality of Rigaud. That same year,

Pointe-Fortune Pointe-Fortune () is a village municipality in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the Ottawa River (Rivière des Outaouais) in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality, northwest of Montreal. The population at the 2021 Census was 582. H ...

and

Très-Saint-Rédempteur Très-Saint-Rédempteur is a municipality located in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 978. The municipality includes the town of Saint-Redempteur, and lies ...

were also created out of territory of Sainte-Madeleine-de-Rigaud. At the beginning of the 20th century, Rigaud was an important regional center and becomes administrative centre of the riding of Vaudreuil. Rigaud changed status to city in March 1911. On November 29, 1995, the City of Rigaud and the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Madeleine-de-Rigaud rejoined to form the new Municipality of Rigaud, which changed status to city again on August 22, 2015.

Geography

Rigaud is located at the northwestern part of the Suroît region, on the south shore of

Lake of Two Mountains Lake of Two Mountains (French: ''Lac des Deux Montagnes'') is part of the river delta widening of the Ottawa River in Quebec, Canada, at its confluence with the St. Lawrence River. Lake of Two Mountains has four outflows: Rivière des Mille Île ...

, a widening of the

, leading north towards the Laurentians region. It extends along the

back from Ottawa, and several hamlets are built for certain

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

areas of the lake, others as old industrial centers in the plains, or more recently, rural residential developments. The western limit of the municipality constitutes the interprovincial border with the

United Counties of Prescott and Russell The United Counties of Prescott and Russell (french: Comtés unis de Prescott et Russell) are consolidated counties located in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its county seat is L'Orignal. It was created as a result of a merger between Russe ...

, in Ontario.

Dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

farms dominate the western part of the territory, while the equine farms propagate in the east and north, and that several sugar bushes are exploited on the mountain. In addition to this agricultural activity, there are sand pits, as well as resort and leisure areas, and particularly winter and hiking sports and

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

, as well as commercial and service areas serving both the surrounding population and traffic. transit . The population of Rigaud is around 7,854 inhabitants, as per the 2021 Census. Rigaud remains a regional community, unlike neighboring cities to the east, which have been integrated into the Montreal Metropolitan Area. Neighbouring municipalities are

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

Vaudreuil-Dorion Vaudreuil-Dorion () is a suburb of Greater Montreal, in the Montérégie region of southwestern Quebec, Canada. The result of the merger of two towns, Vaudreuil and Dorion, it is located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. ...

, Sainte-Marthe,

East Hawkesbury East Hawkesbury is a township in eastern Ontario, Canada, in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell. Situated on the Ottawa River, its eastern boundary is the border with the province of Quebec. Communities The township comprises the village ...

, and

. The municipality located across Ottawa River is

Saint-André-d'Argenteuil Saint-André-d'Argenteuil () is a municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Argenteuil Regional County Municipality. It is located along the Ottawa River, just south of Lachute. History Carillon, being located at th ...

. The geographic location of Rigaud, at the head of the Ottawa River and between the Montreal and Ottawa metropolitan areas, has contributed largely to its economic development throughout its history. The municipality covers a total area of , of which are terrestrial. The relief is composed, on the North side, of the Ottawa River plain, which is part of the

St. Lawrence Lowlands ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

and, on the South side, of the Rigaud Mountain. The plain is partly agricultural, partly wooded and partly urbanized. It has three subspaces: wetlands and lowlands, which are prone to flooding as they are located along the Ottawa River; the indentations and embankments of the Rigaud and Raquette rivers; and, the flat

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

, which makes up most of the territory. The soils of the plain consist of

alluvial deposits Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

, and Pointe à la Raquette is particularly alluvial and muddy.

Lake of Two Mountains and the Rigaud mountain dominate the landscape. The Rigaud mountain covers , and is divided into three physiographic units: the

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

to the north-west; the central plateau modulated by local peaks; and the lower slopes to the east and north. The forest mainly composed of rocky surface and

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

, and approximately a third of its area is rocky and rugged . This bottom moraine consists of pieces of rock that a glacier has torn from its bed, the bedrock of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...

, chunks he shrunk and rounded as he rolled over them, carrying them and losing them in this bowl, a few thousand years ago, at the end of the Wisconsin Ice Age. 8,500 years ago, when the lowlands of the St.Lawrence rose directly to the

Champlain Sea The Champlain Sea (french: Mer de Champlain) was a prehistoric inlet of the Atlantic Ocean into the North American continent, created by the retreating ice sheets during the closure of the last glacial period. The inlet once included lands in ...

, the Rigaud stadium was characterized by the powerful rivers which drained water from the present-day

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

, transporting immense quantities of sand, thus forming the terraces of Rigaud and the plateau of Saint-Lazare. The

lithology The lithology of a rock unit is a description of its physical characteristics visible at outcrop, in hand or core samples, or with low magnification microscopy. Physical characteristics include colour, texture, grain size, and composition. Lit ...

of Rigaud is characterized by three zones: * a Cambrian substrate composed of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, conglomerate,

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

in the waterfront area from Rigaud to Vaudreuil; * dolomite and sandstone area of Ordovicien, less than the circumference of the Rigaud River; * and the

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

of the

Proterozoic The Proterozoic () is a geological eon spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8million years ago. It is the most recent part of the Precambrian "supereon". It is also the longest eon of the Earth's geologic time scale, and it is subdivided ...

on Rigaud mountain. The Rigaud Mountain is home to one of the only two ancient forests of Suroît. The forest is generally intermediate there, with mature areas on the northern flank. Areas of young forest also line the shore of the Ottawa River. The forest stand is characteristic of the bioclimatic domain of the maple

hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...

stand. The hill is populated mainly with

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

and

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

groves. The exceptional forest ecosystems foster an extensive catalogue, of which a

hemlock grove ''Hemlock Grove'' is a 2012 Horror-thriller debut novel by American author Brian McGreevy. The book was released on March 27, 2012 through Farrar, Straus and Giroux and is set in the fictional town of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania. A graphic nove ...

/red spruce forest, a

red oak The genus Oak, ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many List of the largest genera of flowering plants, large genera, is Taxonomic rank#Ranks in botany, divided into subgenus, subgen ...

grove, a moist

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

forest with

fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

, a maple hickory and a maple linden forest on Rigaud mountain, as well as a

silver maple ''Acer saccharinum'', commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, large maple, water maple, swamp maple, or white maple, is a species of maple native to the eastern and central United States and southeastern Canad ...

with red ash, a maple hickory, and a group of

oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

hickory around the edges of Brazeau and Quesnel bays. The Rigaud Mountain is home to about 250

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

, as well as to the

spotted salamander The spotted salamander or yellow-spotted salamander (''Ambystoma maculatum'') is a mole salamander common in eastern United States and Canada. The spotted salamander is the state amphibian of Ohio and South Carolina. This salamander ranges from N ...

. It is also home to 250 species of birds, including the great woodpecker, the

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an Upland game bird, upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic ...

, the

ruffed grouse The ruffed grouse (''Bonasa umbellus'') is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is non-migratory. It is the only specie ...

, as well as to

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s. A large number of aquatic and migratory birds also live in wetlands, particularly on the shores of the Brazeau and Rigaud bays, as well as at Pointe à la Raquette.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Rigaud had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Town planning

Occupation of the territory

The plain offers favorable conditions for agriculture, infrastructure and urban development. Rigaud Mountain, because of its slope and the poor quality of its soil, has kept its forest cover, although it has had extensive residential and recreational development. More than a third of the territory of Rigaud is forest. Farmland in Rigaud is mainly to the west, on the left bank of the Rigaud River, and primarily used for market gardening. The valley of the Rivière à la Raquette to the east is sparsely populated in the north due to the presence of swamps in the point; the land is used for various purposes including a sand pit, a transit service center, a campground and small horse farms. Rigaud mountain, along the crest of Chemin Saint-George and at the top of Rue Bourget, offers a view of the Ottawa River and the Laurentians. It is a wooded area, with hiking trails, a few isolated clusters of new country residences and old cabins, as well as recreational and tourism operations. The village of Rigaud, which roughly corresponds to the old town of Rigaud, is made up of old and of traditional Quebec architecture. It is organized around the primary roads, Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Saint-Pierre streets, as well as Saint-Viateur Street. It includes almost all the businesses, shops, services and institutions of the municipality. The industrial companies are located in three industrial parks on the edge of the urban core, namely the industrial parks of the Cooperative, Doctor-Oscar-Gendron and J.-Marc-Séguin. The cadastre and the arterial road network of Rigaud are structured around nine original concessions of the seigneury of Rigaud. Several

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

s and built-up areas dot the countryside: *La Baie, on the edge of Rigaud Bay to the west of the village; *Rigaud-sur-le-Lac (Bas-de-la-Rivière), on the Ottawa River at the mouth of the Rigaud River, consists of old chalets, many of which have been transformed into residences, and is experiencing recent residential development; *Dragon (Grande Ligne), near Pointe à la Raquette on the edge of the railroad, was developed during the First World War. The toponym of the hamlet comes from the golden dragon represented on the logo of the company ''Northern Explosive'' which was established there; * (Anse-à-la-Raquette), old and rural, is located on the edge of Anse near Hudson; Petit-Brûlé — Haut-de-la-Chute, rural country sector bordering the Rigaud and Rigaud Est rivers. The soil in this area is subject to landslides; *Mountain Ranches, made up of recent rural residential pockets on the north side of the Rigaud mountain, accessible by the Town Hall path; *Saint-Georges, on the Rigaud mountain plateau.

Local government

List of former mayors 1880–1995: * Alphonse Chevrier (1880–1882, 1889–1892, 1904–1907, 1908–1910) * J. Baptiste Emedée Mongenait (1882–1889) * Joseph Adrien Bélanger (1889) * Charles Jean Fletcher (1892–1893, 1903–1904) * Jean Baptiste Emery Alfred Lalonde (1893–1897) * Joseph Archibald Duncan McDonald (1900–1903, 1904, 1910–1913) * Benjamin Gustave Boyer (1907–1908, 1913–1920) * Charles Laplante (1913) * Elzéar Montpetit (1920–1923, 1924–1927) * Joseph Louis Lafleur (1923–1924) * Joseph Ovila Lévaque (1927–1933) * Joseph Floribert Lefebvre (1933–1935) * Alphonse Hector Chevrier (1935) * Joseph Oscar Hector Gendron (1935–1948, 1951–1965) * Ambroise Elzear Robillard (1948–1951) * Joseph-Welly Antonio Bussière (1965–1968) * Joseph Henri-Vital Marc Séguin (1968–1975) * Joseph-Fernand Calixte Labbé (1975) * Joseph Aimé Bruno Ernest Aubry (1975–1987) * Joseph Alphée Fernand Jean Goupil (1987–1991) * Gildor Ernest Roy (1991–1995) List of former mayors of current city: * Gildor Ernest Roy (1995–1996) * Jean-Guy Faubert (1996–1999) * Joseph Raymond Réal Brazeau (1999–2013) * Hans Gruenwald Jr. (2013–present)

Attractions

Rigaud Mountain

The main attraction is Mont-Rigaud, a hill with downhill ski runs (at Ski Mont Rigaud), a private school (

Collège Bourget Collège Bourget is a French-language private education institution in Rigaud, Quebec, Canada. Despite its former religious involvements under the Roman Catholic branch, the students are no longer obliged to practice Catholicism or any other re ...

), a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, and a shrine dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

(Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes). The mountain is also home to an unusual, natural rock garden known as the "champs de patates", so named because of the local legend that it was once a potato field, turned to stone by God because the farmer worked on Sunday.

Other attractions

On the opposite side of the mountain is a residential community known as "Mountain Ranches." The middle to upper-middle class community features large, mostly secluded building lots in a wooded setting that draws residents because of its isolated tranquility and privacy. As such, it was the hiding place for fugitive Charlie Wilson, one of the leaders of the notorious 1963 Great train robbery in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. This area was also known for its "tree farms" in the 1960s and 1970s, providing a tax shelter for the well off, until the tax laws were later changed to require harvesting of those "tree farms". The "Pitcairn Tree Farm" was one such example. Other attractions include the Sanctuary of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, the

, the legend of the ''Champ de guérêts'', commonly referred to as the "potato field", its maple and blueberry products, and the local microbrewery ''Le Castor''. A training center for the

Canada Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; french: Agence des services frontaliers du Canada, ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and cu ...

is located in Rigaud.

Camping and Outdoors

Nearly a hundred mobile homes are located at the south-eastern end of the territory along the Rivière à la Raquette near th
Choisy campsite
This campground an
Camping Trans-Canadien
located northwest on Lac des Deux Montagnes, have 746 sites, which increase the population in the summer .

Transportation

The Rigaud station was the former terminus of the

AMT Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

commuter train Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are consi ...

to downtown Montreal. On 1 July 2010, service to Rigaud was discontinued, as the town was unable to pay the $300,000 annual fee to the AMT to allow service to continue to the town. After that date, the rail line ends at

. The town is served by the 61 bus from Exo La Presqu’Île.

Education

Commission Scolaire des Trois-Lacs operates Francophone schools. * École de l'Épervière * Some areas are served by École Sainte-Marthe in Sainte-Marthe

Lester B. Pearson School Board The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB, french: Commission scolaire Lester-B.-Pearson, CSLBP) is one of the largest school boards on the island of Montreal and one of the nine English school boards in the province of Quebec. It is headquartere ...

operates Anglophone schools.School Board Map
"

. Retrieved on 28 September 2017. * Soulanges Elementary School in

Saint-Télesphore Saint-Télesphore is a municipality located in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality, Quebec (Canada). The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 754. The municipality is situated west of Saint-Polycarpe, south of Sainte-Jus ...

or Evergreen Elementary and Forest Hill Elementary (Junior Campus and Senior campus) in Saint-Lazare

References

External links

Surrounding area – Hudson, Quebec
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Incorporated places in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality Canada geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia