![Val-d'Or mine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Val-d%27Or_mine.jpg)
Val-d'Or (, , ; "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in
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 with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to 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 ...
. The city is located in the
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 146,717 peo ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
near
La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve
La Vérendrye wildlife reserve is one of the largest reserves in the province of Quebec, Canada, covering of contiguous land and lake area (Assinica wildlife reserve is the largest in the province, but its territory is broken up in four non-cont ...
.
History
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
was discovered in the area in 1923. The name of the town is French for "Valley of Gold." While gold is still mined in the area today, base metals, such as
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
(Cu),
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
(Zn), and
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
(Pb) have become increasingly important resources. The ore is usually found in volcanic rocks that were deposited on the sea floor over 2.7 billion years ago. They are referred to as volcanic-hosted (or
volcanogenic) massive sulphide deposits (
VMS).
The city is known for its vast parks, cycle tracks, and forests. Some other attractions include the
City of Gold and the mining village of
Bourlamaque, which were officially proclaimed historic sites in 1979.
The city hosted the
Quebec Games
The Quebec Games (french: 'Jeux du Québec') is a biennial multi-sport event, held every two years in the Canadian province of Quebec, alternating between the Quebec Winter Games and the Quebec Summer Games. Athletes are strictly amateur only, ...
in 1987. The local hockey team, the
Val-d'Or Foreurs
The Val-d'Or Foreurs are a junior ice hockey team based in Val-d'Or, in the region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec, Canada. The team was founded for the 1993–94 season of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, a member of the Canadian Hockey ...
, have played in the
QMJHL
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...
since 1993, winning the league championship in 1998, 2001 and 2014 to claim a spot in the
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...
. They play at
Centre Air Creebec
The Centre Agnico Eagle, formerly known as the Centre Air Creebec and Palais des Sports, is a 3,504 capacity (2,140 seated) multi-purpose arena in Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada. It is home to the Val-d'Or Foreurs ice hockey team. It was built in 1949 ...
. The Foreurs' mascot is called Dynamit, named after
dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...
which was extensively used by the mining industry of Val-d'Or.
Val-d'Or was once home to
CFS Val-d'Or, a
Canadian Forces Station
A Canadian Forces base or CFB (french: links=no, base des Forces canadiennes, BFC) is a military installation of the Canadian Armed Forces. For a facility to qualify as a Canadian Forces base, it must station one or more major units (e.g., army r ...
.
In the
municipal reorganizations of January 1, 2002, Val-d'Or was merged with the neighbouring municipalities of Dubuisson, Sullivan, Val-Senneville and Vassan.
[
The ]Radio-Canada
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
investigative television program, Enquête, revealed in October 2015 numerous allegations of assault and sexual abuse of local aboriginal women by members of the provincial police, the Sûreté du Québec
The (SQ; , ) is the provincial police service for the Canadian province of Quebec. No official English name exists, but the agency's name is sometimes translated to 'Quebec Provincial Police' or QPP in English-language sources. The headquarters ...
. The news propelled the town into the national spotlight, causing Québec's Public Safety Minister, Lise Thériault
Lise Thériault (born January 7, 1966) is a former Canadian politician. She is a former Member of the National Assembly of Quebec representing the riding of Anjou–Louis-Riel in Montreal. She was the Deputy Premier of Quebec and Minister for t ...
, to suspend the officers and launch an independent investigation led by the Montréal police force.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population 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 ...
, Val-d'Or 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.
Population:
* Population in 2016: 32,491
** 2011 to 2016 population change: +1.97%
* Population in 2011: 31,862
* Population total in 2001: 31,430
** Dubuisson: 1,686
** Sullivan: 3,529
** Val-d'Or: 22,748
** Val-Senneville: 2,479
** Vassan: 988
* Population in 1996:
** Dubuisson: 1,655
** Sullivan: 3,312
** Val-d'Or: 24,479
** Val-Senneville: 2,408
** Vassan: 988
Mother Tongue:
* English: 2.74%
* French: 94.16%
* English and French: 0.59%
* Other only: 2.22%
City council
City council (as of 2022):
* Mayor: Céline Brindamour
Céline, sometimes spelled Celine, is a French female first name of Latin origin, coming from ''Caelīna'', the feminine form of the Roman cognomen ''Caelīnus'', meaning "heavenly".
* Councillors: Maxime Gagné, Benjamin Turcotte, Èveline Laverdière, Martin Lavoie, Jean St-Jules, Sylvie Hébert, Lisyane Morin, Yvon Rodrigue
Media
Almost all media in Val-d'Or and the nearby city of Rouyn-Noranda
Rouyn-Noranda ( 2021 population 42,313) is a city on Osisko Lake in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada.
The city of Rouyn-Noranda is a coextensive with a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census ...
serves both cities. Although the cities are far enough apart that radio and television stations in the area serve the cities from separate transmitters, almost every broadcast station in either city has a rebroadcaster
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
in the other city. The only nominal exceptions are the cities' separate NRJ stations, although at present even these stations share the majority of their broadcast schedule.
Economy
Air Creebec
Air Creebec Inc. is a regional airline based in Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada. It operates scheduled and charter services to 16 destinations in Quebec and Ontario. Its main base is Val-d'Or Airport, with a hub at Timmins Victor M. Power Airport.
...
, a regional airline, has its headquarters in Val-d'Or and the Val-d'Or Airport
Val-d'Or Airport is located south of Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada.
Airlines and destinations
Accidents and incidents
*On 19 June 1970, Douglas C-47A CF-AAC of Austin Airways was written off in an accident.
*On 13 March 1994, during a flight ...
serves as its hub.
Val-d'Or's proximity to the Abitibi gold belt
The Abitibi gold belt is a region of Canada that extends from Wawa, Ontario to Val-d'Or, Quebec. Located within the mineral-rich Abitibi greenstone belt, the gold belt is an established gold mining district having produced over 100 mines, and ...
has made it a large gold producer, being part of a region that produced 45 million ounces of gold since the 1930s.
In 2012, Quebec Lithium Corp. re-opened a lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...
mine which had operated as an underground mine from 1955–65, planning to carve an open pit mine over pegmatite
A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic com ...
dikes. the mine is about north of Val d'Or, southeast of Amos
Amos or AMOS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Amos Records, an independent record label established in Los Angeles, California, in 1968
* Amos (band), an American Christian rock band
* ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray
* ''Amos' ...
, and km west of Barraute. Access to the mine is via paved road from Val d'Or.
Geography
Val-d’Or is situated on 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 ...
at an elevation of 1100 feet (330m) above sea level. Although its name refers to a valley (“Val”), the city is actually situated on a vast, slightly undulating plain.
Val-d’Or is at the heart of a vast hydrographic network which includes to the north Lake Blouin, the head water of the Harricana River
The Harricana River (french: Rivière Harricana) (also known as Harricanaw River) is a river in western Quebec and northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is long, has a drainage area of , and has a mean discharge of . While 80% of its drainage area is ...
and to the south Baie Carrière, a reservoir which feeds 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 ...
.[http://www.ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=806869]
Climate
Val-d'Or has a humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Dfb''), closely bordering on a subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...
(''Dfc'') with warm, humid summers and severely cold winters. Winters are snowy with a January mean of . There are 18.4 days where the temperature will fall below although with the wind chill factored in, it can occasionally drop below . Snowfall totals are heavy, averaging with reliable snow cover from November to April. Summers are warm with a July daily high of though highs reach above an average of 4.3 days per year. Val-d'Or receives
of precipitation per year which is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, though precipitation is heaviest during the warmest months. Val-d'Or receives 1853 hours of sunshine per or about 39.5 of possible daylight hours, ranging from a low of 19.2% in November to a high of 52.9% in July.
Education
The Centre de services scolaire de l'Or-et-des-Bois operates French-language public schools, while the Western Quebec School Board operates English-language public schools.
The city also hosts campuses of Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue is a public college-level institute of education (CEGEP) with its main campus located in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada. The CEGEP has two additional campuses, in Amos and Val-d'Or. It was founded in 1967, an ...
and of UQAT.
See also
*Parc Roland-Veillet
The Rolland-Veillet Park is a public park located at the intersection of Bussières and Mercedès-Bourgeois streets, in the western part of the town of Val-d'Or, in the Regional County Municipality of La Vallée-de-l'Or Regional County Municipa ...
, a public park
*List of towns in Quebec
This is the list of municipalities that have the Quebec municipality type of city (''ville'', code=V), an administrative division defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy.
Note that although the terms "city" and ...
References
External links
Municipal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Val-D'or
Cities and towns in Quebec