The Laurentides () is a

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 ...

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 ...

. While it is often called the Laurentians in English, the region includes only part 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 ...

. It has a total land area of and its population was 589,400 inhabitants as of the 2016 Census. The area is the traditional territory of the

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

First Nation Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

s began settlement in the first half of the 19th century, establishing an agricultural presence throughout the valleys. During the 20th century, the area also became a popular tourist destination, based on a cottage and lake culture in the summer, and a downhill and cross-country

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

culture in the winter. Ski resorts include

Saint-Sauveur Saint-Sauveur or St Sauveur (French for "Holy Savior") may refer to: Places Canada * Saint-Sauveur, New Brunswick * Saint-Sauveur, Quebec * Saint-Sauveur (electoral district), a former provincial electoral district in Quebec * Saint-Sauveur, Queb ...

and

Mont Tremblant Mont may refer to: Places * Mont., an abbreviation for Montana, a U.S. state * Mont, Belgium (disambiguation), several places in Belgium * Mont, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France * Mont, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a commune in France * Mont, ...

. The Laurentides offer a weekend escape for

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 ...

ers and tourists from New England to Ontario, and with the building of a major highway through the area in the 1970s ( Autoroute 15), the area has experienced much growth. Its largest city is

Saint-Jérôme Saint-Jérôme () ( 2021 population 80,213) is a suburban city located about northwest of Montreal on the Rivière du Nord. It is part of the Montreal of Greater Montreal. It is a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its resorts via the ...

, in its extreme southeast, with a 2011 census population of 68,456 inhabitants.

Administrative divisions

Regional county municipalities

Indian Reserve

Doncaster, Quebec Doncaster ( moh, Tioweró:ton), officially designated as Doncaster 17 by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, is a Mohawk Native Reserve in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada. It belongs to the Mohawk First Nation, specifically the people o ...

Major communities

* Blainville *

Boisbriand Boisbriand is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the north shore of the Rivière des Mille Îles in the Thérèse-De Blainville Regional County Municipality. The Hasidic community of Kiryas Tosh is located wi ...

* Deux-Montagnes *

Lachute Lachute () is a town in southwest Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal, on the Rivière du Nord, a tributary of the Ottawa River, and west of Mirabel International Airport. It is located on Autoroute 50, at the junctions of Quebec Provincial ...

* Mirabel *

Mont-Laurier Mont-Laurier () is a town and incorporated municipality in northwest Quebec, Canada, located on the banks of the Lièvre River (''Rivière du Lièvre''), a tributary of the Ottawa River. Known as the "Capital of the Haute-Laurentides", the motto ...

Rosemère Rosemère is an affluent suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the north shore of the Rivière des Mille Îles in the Thérèse-De Blainville Regional County Municipality. The town is noted for its green look, due to the high de ...

* Saint-Colomban * Saint-Eustache *

Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, 40 km northwest of the city of Montreal in the Thérèse-De Blainville Regional County Municipality, in the region of Laurentides. Its population was 14,990 during the census ...

* Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac *

Sainte-Sophie Sainte-Sophie is a municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada, part of the La Rivière-du-Nord Regional County Municipality. History The new Municipality of Sainte-Sophie was created on May 2, 2000, when the old Municipality of S ...

* Sainte-Thérèse

References

External links