# Mascouche

Mascouche (/mæsˈkuːʃ/; French:) is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southern Quebec, Canada. The city is located on the Mascouche River within the Les Moulins Regional County Municipality and has a population of 51,183, ranking 20th among Quebec municipalities.
The name comes from Algonquin word maskutchew meaning "bear plain" in singular. Compare plural form to maskutew for the Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality located nearby.

## History

Mascouche (then known as Saint-Henri-de-Mascouche) received city status on December 9, 1970, under mayor Gilles Forest.
On June 21, 2021, the city was struck by an EF2 tornado, killing one person.

## Infrastructure

Montréal/Mascouche Airport, the largest regional airport in Quebec, was three kilometres southeast of the city. It has now been replaced by the CentrOparc, a business district with the ambition of joining a transit-oriented urban development (DOT).
Autoroutes 640 and 25, both major national transportation routes, meet just south of the centre of the city.
Mascouche is connected to Montreal's Central Station by commuter rail via the Mascouche station of the Réseau de transport métropolitain's Mascouche line.
L'Étang-du-Grand-Coteau, an urban park situated in the city centre on Mascouche Boulevard, has the same area as Mount Royal Park in Montreal.

## Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Mascouche had a population of 51,183 living in 19,981 of its 20,290 total private dwellings, a change of 9.6% from its 2016 population of 46,692. With a land area of 106.89 km$^2$ (41.27 sq mi), it had a population density of 478.8/km$^2$ (1,240.2/sq mi) in 2021.
Canada Census Mother Tongue - Mascouche, 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 % |
| 2016 | 46 375 | 42 740 | 7.03% | 92.10% | 1 150 | 12.17% | 2.47% | 355 | 120.0% | 0.76% | 1 840 | 39.39% | 3.96% |
| 2011 | 42,185 | 39,580 | 25.8% | 93.82% | 1,010 | 5.2% | 2.39% | 275 | 29.09% | 0.65% | 1,320 | 26.3% | 3.13% |
| 2006 | 33,600 | 31,470 | 13.4% | 93.66% | 960 | 17.1% | 2.86% | 125 | 40.5% | 0.37% | 1,045 | 111.1% | 3.11% |
| 2001 | 29,285 | 27,760 | 5.0% | 94.79% | 820 | 9.4% | 2.80% | 210 | 82.6% | 0.72% | 495 | 3.1% | 1.69% |
| 1996 | 27,930 | 26,430 | n/a | 94.63% | 905 | n/a | 3.24% | 115 | n/a | 0.41% | 480 | n/a | 1.72% |

## Mayors

* André Duval (1955–1965)
* Gilles Forest (1965–1983)
* Bernard Patenaude (1983–1992)
* Richard Marcotte (1992–2012)
* Denise Paquette (2012–2013)
* Guillaume Tremblay (2013–present)

## Education

The Commission scolaire des Affluents operates Francophone public schools. They include:
Primary schools:
* L'école Aux 4 Vents
* L'école De la Source
* L'école La Mennais
* L'école des Hauts-Bois
* L'école Soleil-Levant
* L'école Le Rucher
* L'école de La Seigneurie
Secondary schools :
* École secondaire Le Prélude
* École secondaire Du Coteau
One professional school, École L'Impact.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board operates Anglophone public schools:
* Pinewood Elementary School in Mascouche serves the western portion
* Franklin Hill Elementary School in Repentigny serves the eastern portion
* Rosemere High School (all areas) in Rosemere

## Famous residents

Mascouche is the hometown of baseball player Éric Gagné.
It is also Émilie Mondor's hometown, a Canadian Olympic athlete, who was a two-time national champion in the women's 5,000 metres.