Val-des-Monts is a municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada, located about north 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 ...

, Ontario. It has a population of 13,328 residents in 2021. Formed in 1975 by the merger of the towns of Perkins, Saint-Pierre-de-Wakefield and Poltimore, it consists mainly of farms and mountainous forests. Many of its residents commute to Ottawa or Gatineau for work. Due to its numerous lakes, its population is boosted during summers by people living in cottages. Most of the people in Val-des-Monts live in the village of Perkins.

Toponymy

The name of Val-des-Monts is from the French words ''Val'' which means "small valley" and ''Monts'' which means "mounts". This name is a reference to the fact that the territory of the municipality includes several valleys and mountains.

Geography

The municipality of Val-des-Monts is located at approximately 10 km north of

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

and 220 km west of Montreal. It is part of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality within Outaouais region. It is also part of the National Capital Region which includes

and Gatineau as well as some adjacent municipalities. The territory of Val-des-Monts is composed mainly of lakes, farming lands and forests. The largest lakes are McGregor, Grand, l'Écluse and Newcombe. The municipality of Val-des-Monts shares its borders with the municipalities of Denholm and Bowman to the north, Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette and

L'Ange-Gardien L'Ange-Gardien or Ange-Gardien may refer to: *L'Ange-Gardien, Outaouais, Quebec, in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality *L'Ange-Gardien, Capitale-Nationale, Quebec, in La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality *Ange-Gard ...

to the east,

La Pêche La Pêche (, Quebec French pronunciation: ) is a municipality along both sides of the Gatineau River in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada, about north of downtown Gatineau. Bord ...

to the west, and Cantley and Gatineau to the south. The two main highways crossing Val-des-Monts are provincial highways

307 __NOTOC__ Year 307 ( CCCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Maximinus (or, less frequently, year 1060 ...

and

366 __NOTOC__ Year 366 ( CCCLXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gratianus and Dagalaifus (or, less frequently, year 1119 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

. The municipal road network includes more than 270 km of roads.

History

The first settlers of the territory of Val-des-Monts arrived during the 19th century. From 1878 the region was booming economically, thanks to the discovery of phosphate. From 1892 the phosphate production began decreasing while the

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

production began to develop. The Blackburn brothers' mine that was located to the northeast of Perkins was recognized as the biggest mica mine in Canada. At end of the 1910s the mica production was falling. At this time, after having exploited the mining and forestry resources, the inhabitants started to leave the region. The municipality of Val-des-Monts was created in 1975 by the merging of the municipalities of Perkins, Saint-Pierre-de-Wakefield and Poltimore. Nowadays it is mainly the attraction of living around the lakes that is drawing a large part of the population. On June 23, 2010, at 1:41 p.m. ET, a magnitude 5.0 earthquake hit Val-des-Monts. The earthquake was felt as far away as Montreal, Boston and Cleveland.

Demographics

Languages

According to the

2021 Canadian 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 sl ...

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 ...

, 62% of Val-des-Monts' population speak both official languages of Canada while 32% speak only

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and 6% speak only English. At home, 84% speak only French, 13% only English, and 2% both English and French. Beside the language spoken the most often at home, 6% also speak English and 3% also speak French. Among the population who worked, 68.9% use French most often at work, 24.5% English, and 6.5% both English and French. Beside the language spoken the most often at work, 34.9% also use English and 15.6% also use French.

Mayors

List of mayors of Val-des-Monts since 2005 and the year of their election: *

Marc Carrière Marc Carrière (born 21 September 1964) is a politician in the Canadian province of Quebec, who was elected to represent the riding of Chapleau in the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2008 provincial election. He is a member of the Quebec Li ...

(2005) * Jean Lafrenière (2008 and 2009) * Jacques Laurin (2013 and 2017)

Tourism

Val-des-Monts is part of the Outaouais touristic region. The main touristic attractions are outdoors activities, campgrounds and snowmobile trails. The municipality is also known for fishing since it has 125 lakes suitable for fishing. Every year since 2011, Val-des-Monts has hosted a country music festival.

Gallery

File:Poltimore QC.JPG, Poltimore File:St-Pierre-Wakefield QC.JPG, St-Pierre-de-Wakefield File:Lac Clair, Val-des-Monts, Quebec aerial.jpg, Lac Clair and other lakes

References

External links

Municipality of Val-des-Monts Website

Affaires Municipales et Regions Quebec

Statistics Canada

Elections Canada Results - 39th General Election (2006)

Director General of Quebec Elections

Official Transport Quebec Road Map
{{authority control Incorporated places in Outaouais Municipalities in Quebec National Capital Region (Canada)