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Rigaud | |
|---|---|
City | |
 The church of Sainte-Madeleine-de-Rigaud | |
 Location within Vaudreuil-Soulanges RCM | |
  Rigaud Location in southern Quebec | |
| Coordinates:45°29′N74°18′W / 45.483°N 74.300°W /45.483; -74.300[1] | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Quebec |
| Region | Montérégie |
| RCM | Vaudreuil-Soulanges |
| Constituted | 29 November 1995 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Marie-Claude Frigault |
| • Federal riding | Vaudreuil-Soulanges |
| • Prov. riding | Soulanges |
| Area | |
• Total | 114.00 km2 (44.02 sq mi) |
| • Land | 99.23 km2 (38.31 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[4] | |
• Total | 7,854 |
| • Density | 79.2/km2 (205/sq mi) |
| • Pop 2011–2016 |  1.0% |
| • Dwellings | 3,496 |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Postal code(s) | |
| Area code(s) | 450 and 579 |
Highways  A-40 (TCH) |  R-325 R-342 |
| Website | ville |
Rigaud (French pronunciation:[ʁigo]) is a city in southwesternQuebec, Canada, in theVaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality inVallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent region. It is located at the junction of theOttawa River and theRigaud River, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) west of downtownMontreal and 130 kilometres (81 mi) east ofOttawa. The population as of theCanada 2021 Census was 7,854.[5]
Rigaud is located on the traditional territory of theAlgonquins, who fled the region before the arrival of the French, due to violent attacks by theIroquois.[citation needed]Étienne Brûlé was the firstEuropean to travel on the Ottawa River, in1615.
TheSeigneury of Rigaud was granted in 1732 to the brothersPierre andFrançois-Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, governors inNew France, and was sold in 1763 toMichel Chartier de Lotbinière, who in turn gave the seigneury to hisson in 1771.[1]
The seigneury saw its firstsettlers in 1783. At the beginning of the19th century, the locality developed rapidly as an accommodation relay forloggers, and as a loading point for timber and cereals. In 1802, the Mission of Sainte-Magdeleine-de-Rigaud was founded, which became a parish in 1830. In 1835, the Rigaud Post Office opened. In 1845, the Municipality of Rigaud was formed, but abolished in 1847. It was reestablished in 1855 as the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Magdeleine-de-Rigaud (or Sainte-Madeleine-de-Rigaud).[1]
In the second half of the 19th century, the establishment of several religious institutions and the development of therailways contribute to local development. In 1880, the village itself split off from the rural parish municipality to form the Village Municipality of Rigaud. That same year,Pointe-Fortune andTrès-Saint-Rédempteur were also created out of territory of Sainte-Madeleine-de-Rigaud.[1][6]
At the beginning of the 20th century, Rigaud was an important regional center and becomes administrative centre of theriding of Vaudreuil. Rigaud changed status to city in March 1911.[1]
On November 29, 1995, the City of Rigaud and the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Madeleine-de-Rigaud rejoined to form the new Municipality of Rigaud, which changed status to city again on August 22, 2015.[1]
In April 2023 there was a storm of black ice that affected the residents of the territory. People numbering 1872 lost electricity because of that storm.[7]
Rigaud is located at the northwestern part of theSuroît region, on the south shore ofLake of Two Mountains, a widening of theOttawa River, leading north towards theLaurentians region. It extends along theRigaud River back from Ottawa, and several hamlets are built for certainriparian areas of the lake, others as old industrial centers in the plains, or more recently, rural residential developments. The western limit of the municipality constitutes the interprovincial border with theUnited Counties of Prescott and Russell, in Ontario.
Dairy andcattle farms dominate the western part of the territory, while theequine farms propagate in the east and north, and that severalsugar bushes are exploited on the mountain. In addition to this agricultural activity, there aresand pits, as well as resort and leisure areas, and particularlywinter and hiking sports andcamping, as well as commercial and service areas serving both the surrounding population and traffic. transit . The population of Rigaud is around 7,854 inhabitants, as per the 2021 Census.[8] Rigaud remains a regional community, unlike neighboring cities to the east, which have been integrated into theMontreal Metropolitan Area.
Neighbouring municipalities areHudson,Vaudreuil-Dorion,Sainte-Marthe,Très-Saint-Rédempteur,East Hawkesbury, andPointe-Fortune. The municipality located across Ottawa River isSaint-André-d'Argenteuil. The geographic location of Rigaud, at the head of the Ottawa River and between the Montreal and Ottawa metropolitan areas, has contributed largely to its economic development throughout its history.
The municipality covers a total area of 113.71 square kilometres (43.90 sq mi), of which 99.23 square kilometres (38.31 sq mi) are terrestrial. The relief is composed, on the North side, of the Ottawa River plain, which is part of theSt. Lawrence Lowlands and, on the South side, of the Rigaud Mountain. The plain is partly agricultural, partly wooded and partly urbanized. It has three subspaces:wetlands and lowlands, which are prone to flooding as they are located along the Ottawa River; the indentations andembankments of the Rigaud andRaquette rivers; and, the flatterrace, which makes up most of the territory. The soils of the plain consist ofalluvial deposits, and Pointe à la Raquette is particularly alluvial and muddy.
Lake of Two Mountains and the Rigaud mountain dominate the landscape. The Rigaud mountain covers 47 square kilometres (18 sq mi), and is divided into three physiographic units: theescarpment to the north-west; the central plateau modulated by local peaks; and the lower slopes to the east and north.
The forest mainly composed of rocky surface andloam, and approximately a third of its area is rocky and rugged . This bottom moraine consists of pieces of rock that a glacier has torn from its bed, the bedrock of theCanadian Shield, chunks it shrunk and rounded as it rolled over them, carrying them and dropping them in this bowl, a few thousand years ago, at the end of theWisconsin Ice Age.8,500 years ago, when thelowlands of the St.Lawrence rose directly to theChamplain Sea, the Rigaud stadium was characterized by the powerful rivers which drained water from the present-dayGreat Lakes, transporting immense quantities of sand, thus forming the terraces of Rigaud and the plateau of Saint-Lazare.[9] Thelithology of Rigaud is characterized by three zones:
The Rigaud Mountain is home to one of the only twoancient forests of Suroît. The forest is generally intermediate there, with mature areas on the northern flank. Areas of young forest also line the shore of the Ottawa River.[10] The forest stand is characteristic of thebioclimatic domain of the maplehickory stand. The hill is populated mainly withmaple andbeechgroves. Theexceptional forest ecosystems foster an extensive catalogue, of which ahemlock grove/red spruce forest, ared oak grove, a moistcedar forest withfir, a maple hickory and a maplelinden forest on Rigaud mountain, as well as asilver maple with red ash, amaple hickory, and a group ofoval hickory around the edges ofBrazeau and Quesnel bays. The Rigaud Mountain is home to about 250white-tailed deer, as well as to thespotted salamander. It is also home to 250 species of birds,[11] including thegreat woodpecker, thewild turkey, theruffed grouse, as well as toowls. A large number of aquatic and migratory birds also live in wetlands, particularly on the shores of the Brazeau and Rigaud bays, as well as at Pointe à la Raquette.
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The plain offers favorable conditions for agriculture, infrastructure and urban development. Rigaud Mountain, because of its slope and the poor quality of its soil, has kept its forest cover, although it has had extensive residential and recreational development.[11] More than a third of the territory of Rigaud is forest.[11]
Farmland in Rigaud is mainly to the west, on the left bank of the Rigaud River, and primarily used for market gardening. The valley of theRivière à la Raquette to the east is sparsely populated in the north due to the presence of swamps in the point; the land is used for various purposes including a sand pit, a transit service center, a campground and small horse farms. Rigaud mountain, along the crest of Chemin Saint-George and at the top of Rue Bourget, offers a view of the Ottawa River and the Laurentians. It is a wooded area, with hiking trails, a few isolated clusters of new country residences and old cabins, as well as recreational and tourism operations.[11]
The village of Rigaud, which roughly corresponds to the old town of Rigaud, is made up of old and of traditional Quebec architecture. It is organized around the primary roads, Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Saint-Pierre streets, as well as Saint-Viateur Street. It includes almost all the businesses, shops, services and institutions of the municipality. The industrial companies are located in three industrial parks on the edge of the urban core, namely the industrial parks of the Cooperative, Doctor-Oscar-Gendron and J.-Marc-Séguin.[12]
The cadastre and the arterial road network of Rigaud are structured around nine original concessions of the seigneury of Rigaud. Severalhamlets and built-up areas dot the countryside:
The toponym of the hamlet comes from the golden dragon represented on the logo of the companyNorthern Explosive which was established there;[13]
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Rigaud had a population of7,854 living in3,311 of its3,496 total private dwellings, a change of1% from its 2016 population of7,777. With a land area of 99.2 km2 (38.3 sq mi), it had a population density of79.2/km2 (205.1/sq mi) in 2021.[16]
| 2021 | 2016 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 7,854 (+1.0% from 2016) | 7,777 (5.9% from 2011) | 7,346 (+8.3% from 2006) |
| Land area | 99.20 km2 (38.30 sq mi) | 99.23 km2 (38.31 sq mi) | 99.12 km2 (38.27 sq mi) |
| Population density | 79.2/km2 (205/sq mi) | 78.4/km2 (203/sq mi) | 74.1/km2 (192/sq mi) |
| Median age | 46.4 (M: 46.4, F: 46.4) | 46.3 (M: 45.7, F: 47.0) | 45.1 (M: 44.8, F: 45.4) |
| Private dwellings | 3,496 (total) | 3,525 (total) | 3,254 (total) |
| Median household income | $79,500 | $64,175 | $56,775 |
| Canada Census Mother Tongue – Rigaud, Quebec[15] | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Census | Total | French | English | French & English | Other | |||||||||||||
| Year | Responses | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | |||||
2021 | 7,760 | 5,465 |  7.7% | 70.4% | 1,580 | 17.5% | 20.4% | 260 | 108.0% | 3.4% | 410 | 22.4% | 5.3% | |||||
2016 | 7,745 | 5,920 | 5.4% | 76.4% | 1,345 | 9.8% | 17.4% | 125 |  0.0% | 1.6% | 335 | 13.6% | 4.3% | |||||
2011 | 7,260 | 5,615 | 9.7% | 77.3% | 1,225 | 5.6% | 16.9% | 125 | 127.3% | 1.7% | 295 | 9.3% | 4.1% | |||||
2006 | 6,605 | 5,120 | 8.0% | 77.5% | 1,160 | 20.2% | 17.6% | 55 | 8.3% | 0.8% | 270 | 54.3% | 4.1% | |||||
2001 | 5,940 | 4,740 | 1.4% | 79.8% | 965 | 14.2% | 16.2% | 60 | 14.3% | 1.0% | 175 | 16.7% | 3.0% | |||||
1996 | 5,930 | 4,805 | n/a | 81.0% | 845 | n/a | 14.3% | 70 | n/a | 1.2% | 210 | n/a | 3.5% | |||||
The main attraction is Mont-Rigaud, a hill with downhill ski runs (atSki Mont Rigaud), a private school (Collège Bourget), amonastery, and a shrine dedicated to theVirgin Mary (Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes). The mountain is also home to an unusual, natural rock garden known as the "champs de patates[20]", so named because of the local legend that it was once a potato field, turned to stone by God because the farmer worked on Sunday. There is also the open yearound Sucrerie de la Montagne,[21] a traditional sugar shack offering explanation of the maple syrup production and traditional sugaring off feast.
On the opposite side of the mountain is a residential community known as "Mountain Ranches." The middle to upper-middle class community features large, mostly secluded building lots in a wooded setting that draws residents because of its isolated tranquility and privacy. As such, it was the hiding place for fugitiveCharlie Wilson, one of the leaders of the notorious 1963Great train robbery inEngland. This area was also known for its "tree farms" in the 1960s and 1970s, providing a tax shelter for the well off, until the tax laws were later changed to require harvesting of those "tree farms". The "Pitcairn Tree Farm" was one such example.
Other attractions include its maple and blueberry products, and the local microbreweryLe Castor.[22]
A training center for theCanada Border Services Agency is located in Rigaud.[23]
List of former mayors 1880–1995:[24]
List of former mayors of current city:[25]
TheRigaud station was the former terminus of theAMTcommuter train to downtown Montreal.
On 1 July 2010, service to Rigaud was discontinued, as the town was unable to pay the $300,000 annual fee to the AMT to allow service to continue to the town. After that date, the rail line ends atHudson.[26]
The town is served by the 61 bus fromExo La Presqu’Île.
Commission Scolaire des Trois-Lacs operates Francophone schools.[27]
Lester B. Pearson School Board operates Anglophone schools.[29]
French-language private educational institution (Collège Bourget)
Adjacent Municipal Subdivisions | |
|---|---|
 Subdivisions ofVaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality | |
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| Cities & towns | |
| Municipalities | |
| Villages | |
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| Quebec City area | |
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| Montreal local area | |
| Laurentides area: Montreal-areaLaurentians | |
| Eastern Townships: | |
| Gatineau area: Ottawa-areaLaurentians | |
| Lanaudière area: Montreal-areaLaurentians | |
| Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean | |
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | |
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
