Lake Saint Francis (, ) is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

which borders southeastern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, southwestern

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

and northern

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. It is located on the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

between

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec. The lake forms part of the

Saint Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of rivers, locks, canals and channels in Eastern Canada and Northern United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland ...

. The city of

Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Salaberry-de-Valleyfield () is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Regional County Municipality of Beauharnois-Salaberry. The population as of 2021 was 42,410. The historic downtown is a major touristic centre for the area. Due to th ...

is located at the east end of the lake. Lac Saint-François National Wildlife Area, located on the south shore of the lake, protects wetlands located on the shores of the lake. This area provides important habitat for

Redhead Red hair, also known as ginger hair, is a human hair color found in 2–6% of people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals homozygous for a recessive alle ...

ducks and other waterfowl. Thousands of migrating waterfowl stop over in this region. In 1987, it was recognized as a

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

of international significance under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...

. The Charlottenburgh Marsh, including Cooper Marsh, is an important wetland area located on the north shore of the lake.

References

{{authority control Saint Francis Saint Francis Landforms of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Ramsar sites in Ontario Borders of Quebec Borders of Ontario Canada–United States border Tourist attractions in Montérégie Saint Lawrence River Le Haut-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality