Saint-Donat is a

township municipality The following is a list of the types of local and supralocal territorial units in Quebec, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy and compiled by the Inst ...

in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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 ...

, part of the

Regional County Municipality The term regional county municipality or RCM (''french: municipalité régionale de comté, MRC'') is used in Quebec, Canada to refer to one of 87 county-like political entities. In some older English translations they were called county r ...

of Matawinie, within the larger administrative region of

Lanaudière Lanaudière (, ) is one of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada, situated immediately to the northeast of Montreal. It has a total population ( 2016 Census) of 494,796 inhabitants, an increase of 4.9% over the 2011 census. Geog ...

. The main town within the township is also identified as Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm to distinguish it from a parish municipality with the same name in La Mitis RCM. It is located approximately

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

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 ...

. The town is surrounded by mountains and numerous water basins of the

Laurentian Mountains The Laurentian Mountains (French: ''Laurentides'') are a mountain range in southern Quebec, Canada, north of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River, rising to a highest point of at Mont Raoul Blanchard, northeast of Quebec City in the Laurentid ...

. The nearest natural landmark is the

Mont-Tremblant National Park Mont-Tremblant National Park (french: Parc national du Mont-Tremblant) is a provincial park in Canada located north of the town of Mont-Tremblant, and the village of Saint-Donat and Saint-Côme, in the administrative regions of Laurentides and La ...

History

Saint-Donat was founded sometime near 1876 by a religious community of suffragettes as the "Saint-Donat Parish" near the church (located at the intersection of Principale and Allard streets). It was therefore first settled in the mid-to-late 19th century, as a solution to the overcrowding of cities such as Montreal. Over the time, the small village received urban population attracted by its beautiful landscape and the town was officially established in 1904. By 1950, Saint-Donat had reached a population of 2,000. As of 2021, the town was nearing 4,600 permanent residents.

Economy

A silica mine is located in Saint-Donat.

Demographics

Population

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 2434 (total dwellings: 4527)

Language

All official government actions take place in French, the official language of Quebec. French is the primary language spoken in Saint-Donat, though some people, especially those who deal often with tourists, are able to speak and understand English. * Mother tongue: * English as first language: 2.8% * French as first language: 94.4% * English and French as first language: 1.1% * Other as first language: 1.9%

Government

The current mayor of Saint-Donat is Joé Deslauriers. The mayor and a six-member

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

are the elected officials of the municipality.

Education

Sainte Agathe Academy (of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board) in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts serves English-speaking students in this community for both elementary and secondary levels.About Us
"

Saint Agathe Academy Sainte Agathe Academy (SAA; french: Académie Sainte Agathe) is a public anglophone primary and secondary school in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec. It is operated by the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Persons from the following communities are ...

. Retrieved on September 4, 2017. Se
Elementary zone map
an
Secondary zone map
- Note that all areas covered in the elementary map are also covered in the secondary one.

Tourism

Saint-Donat is often frequented by

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

in the winter. Its main attraction is

snowmobiling A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

, but other winter

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

, such as

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

, can be enjoyed there as well, with Ski Garceau and Ski La Reserve being the two most popular resorts in the area. Outdoor skating rinks and cross country ski trails through the forest are frequented by locals and tourists alike. Its mountains,

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s, and pleasant

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

attract many tourists in the summer

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. Many people who vacation in Saint-Donat during the summer enjoy swimming, kayaking, sailing, and water-skiing on its two large

s, Lac Archambault and

Lac Ouareau Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is '' Kerria lacca''. Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infe ...

. Saint-Donat is the only village in the Laurentiens that has two side-by-side lakes of the size of Archambault and Ouareau. Saint-Donat also contains many other smaller lakes such as Lac Baribeau, Lac Pembina, Lac Croche, and others. The year-round

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of Saint-Donat is approximately 3,700, but during the tourist season, the number of people actually in Saint-Donat can reach 20,000. Saint-Donat has been recognized for its beauty and has received national recognition, especially for the quality of its public places. It was first recognized as a prime tourist destination in 1908, by an engineer with the

Ministry of Lands and Forests Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

. Hotels and other businesses necessary in a tourist destination began within a few decades, and tourism was the focal point of the local economy by 1970. Saint-Donat can be accessed by two main highways, the 125 and 329, and is located 1h30min from Montreal by car. There is also a local airport accessible to light aircraft in the village of Saint-Donat.

Twin towns

Saint-Donat is twinned with: *

Lans-en-Vercors Lans-en-Vercors is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Twin towns Lans-en-Vercors is twinned with: * Saint-Donat, Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada, since 1990 See also *Communes of the Isère department *Par ...

, France, since 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Donat, Lanaudiere, Quebec Municipalities in Quebec Incorporated places in Lanaudière Matawinie Regional County Municipality