# Pointe-des-Cascades

Pointe-des-Cascades (French pronunciation:) is a village municipality in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on a spit of land where the St. Lawrence River flows into Lake Saint-Louis. The river has here a significant drop, forming several cascades which give the village its name. The islands of Île des Cascades and Île des Joybert are connected by a narrow causeway, but Île des Cascades and Pointe-des-Cascades are only connected artificially.

## History

Starting in the mid-seventeenth century until 1700, many military expeditions arrived at this place in order to portage around the cascades on the Saint Lawrence River. The first reference to Pointe-des-Cascades appeared in a text of Louis-Armand de Lahontan in 1684 and on a map of Deshayes in 1695, when Pointe des Cascades was included in the Vaudreuil Lordship.
In 1893, the post office opened under the English name Cascades Point (renamed in 1951 to Pointe-des-Cascades). A few years later construction began on the Soulanges Canal and when it was completed in 1899, the village became the eastern, downstream terminus of the canal. In 1958, it closed when it was superseded by the new Beauharnois Canal. The paths along the canal are now used as a regional cycling route.
In 1961, the Village Municipality of Pointe-des-Cascades was formed on the territory of the Parish Municipalities of Saint-Joseph-de-Soulanges (now Les Cèdres) and Saint-Michel-de-Vaudreuil (now part of Vaudreuil-Dorion).

## Demographics

| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1976 | 726 | — |
| 1981 | 692 | −4.7% |
| 1986 | 641 | −7.4% |
| 1991 | 691 | +7.8% |
| 1996 | 910 | +31.7% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 2001 | 913 | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 1,046 | +14.6% |
| 2011 | 1,340 | +28.1% |
| 2016 | 1,481 | +10.5% |
| 2021 | 1,775 | +19.9% |
Source: Statistics Canada :
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Pointe-des-Cascades had a population of 1,775 living in 743 of its 762 total private dwellings, a change of 19.9% from its 2016 population of 1,481. With a land area of 2.74 km$^2$ (1.06 sq mi), it had a population density of 647.8/km$^2$ (1,677.8/sq mi) in 2021.
Canada Census mother tongue - Pointe-des-Cascades, Quebec :
| Census | Total | French | French | French | English | English | English | French & English | French & English | French & English | Other | Other | Other |
| Year | responses | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % |
| 2021 | 1,775 | 1,335 | 8.1% | 75.2% | 230 | 58.6% | 13.0% | 55 | 175.0% | 3.1% | 145 | 81.3% | 8.2% |
| 2016 | 1,480 | 1,235 | 4.7% | 83.4% | 145 | 45.0% | 9.8% | 20 | 20.0% | 1.4% | 80 | 128.6% | 5.4% |
| 2011 | 1,340 | 1,180 | 19.8% | 88.1% | 100 | 185.7% | 7.5% | 25 | n/a% | 1.9% | 35 | 133.3% | 2.6% |
| 2006 | 1,035 | 985 | 13.2% | 95.2% | 35 | 22.2% | 3.4% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 15 | n/a% | 1.5% |
| 2001 | 915 | 870 | 2.2% | 95.1% | 45 | 350.0% | 4.9% | 0 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| 1996 | 920 | 890 | n/a | 96.7% | 10 | n/a | 1.1% | 10 | n/a | 1.1% | 10 | n/a | 1.1% |

## Local government

Pointe-des-Cascades federal election results :
| Year | Year | Liberal | Liberal | Conservative | Conservative | Bloc Québécois | Bloc Québécois | New Democratic | New Democratic | Green | Green |
| | 2021 | 32% | 273 | 18% | 154 | 36% | 300 | 9% | 79 | 2% | 14 |
| | 2019 | 38% | 349 | 6% | 56 | 38% | 350 | 10% | 88 | 6% | 53 |
Pointe-des-Cascades provincial election results :
| Year | Year | CAQ | CAQ | Liberal | Liberal | QC solidaire | QC solidaire | Parti Québécois | Parti Québécois |
| | 2018 | 48% | 447 | 21% | 200 | 15% | 140 | 12% | 108 |
| | 2014 | 0% | 0 | 39% | 294 | 13% | 101 | 42% | 322 |
Pointe-des-Cascades forms part of the federal electoral district of Salaberry—Suroît and has been represented by Claude DeBellefeuille of the Bloc Québécois since 2019. Provincially, Pointe-des-Cascades is part of the Soulanges electoral district and is represented by Marilyne Picard of the Coalition Avenir Québec since 2018.
List of former mayors:
* Joseph-Pierre-Amable Clément (1961–1968, 1971–1979)
* Joseph-Bruno-Germain Vallée (1968–1971)
* Joseph-Thomas-Ronald-Maurice Hayes (1979–2005)
* Francis Masse (2005–2007)
* Jean-Pierre Dupont (2007–2008)
* Maryse Morin Sauvé (2008–2013)
* Gilles Santerre (2013–2020)
* Pierre Lalonde (interim 2020)
* Peter Zytynsky (2021–present)

## Education

Commission Scolaire des Trois-Lacs operates Francophone schools.
Lester B. Pearson School Board operates Anglophone schools. It is zoned to Birchwood Elementary School in Saint-Lazare and St. Patrick Elementary School in Pincourt.