Val-des-Monts
Val-des-Monts is a municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada, located about north of Ottawa, Ontario. It has a population of 13,328 residents in 2021. Formed in 1975 by the merger of the towns of Perkins, Saint-Pierre-de-Wakefield and Poltimore, it consists mainly of farms and mountainous forests. Many of its residents commute to Ottawa or Gatineau for work. Due to its numerous lakes, its population is boosted during summers by people living in cottages. Most of the people in Val-des-Monts live in the village of Perkins. Toponymy. The name  of Val-des-Monts is from the French words "Val" which means "small valley" and "Monts" which means "mounts". This name is a reference to the fact that the territory of the municipality includes several valleys and mountains. Geography. The municipality of Val-des-Monts is located at approximately 10 km north of Gatineau and 220 km west of Montreal. It is part of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality within Outaouais region. It is also part of the National Capital Region which includes Ottawa and Gatineau as well as some adjacent municipalities. The territory of Val-des-Monts  is composed mainly of lakes, farming lands and forests. The largest lakes are McGregor, Grand, l'Écluse and Newcombe. The municipality of Val-des-Monts shares its borders with the municipalities of Denholm and Bowman to the north, Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette and L'Ange-Gardien to the east, La Pêche to the west, and Cantley and Gatineau to the south. The two main highways crossing Val-des-Monts are provincial highways 307 and 366. The municipal road network includes more than 270 km of roads. History. The first settlers of the territory of Val-des-Monts arrived during the 19th  century. From 1878 the region is booming economically thanks to the discovery of phosphate. From 1892 the phosphate production is decreasing while the mica production is developing. The Blackburn brothers' mine that was located to the northeast of Perkins was recognized as the biggest mica mine in Canada. At end of the 1910s the mica production is falling. At this time, after having exploited the mining and forestry resources, the inhabitants start to leave the region. The municipality of Val-des-Monts is created in 1975 by the merging of the municipalities of Perkins, Saint-Pierre-de-Wakefield and Poltimore . Nowadays it is mainly the attraction of living around the lakes that are drawing a large part of the population. On June 23, 2010, at 1:41 p.m. ET, a magnitude 5.0 earthquake hit Val-des-Monts. The earthquake was felt as far as Montreal, Boston and Cleveland. Demographics. Languages. According to the 2016 Canadian Census by Statistics Canada, 59.5% of Val-des-Monts' population speak both official languages of Canada while 36% speak only French and 4.5% speak only English. At home, 86.9% speak only French, 11.1% only English, and 1.4% both English and French. Beside the language spoken the  most often at home, 11.9% also speak English and 3.7% also speak French. Among the population who worked, 68.9% use French most often at work, 24.5% English, and 6.5% both English and French. Beside the language spoken the most often at work, 34.9% also use English and 15.6% also use French. Mayors. List of mayors of Val-des-Monts since 2005 and the year of their election: Tourism. Val-des-Monts is part of the Outaouais touristic region. The main touristic attractions are outdoors activities, campgrounds and snowmobile trails. The municipality is also known for fishing since it has 125  lakes suitable for fishing. Every year since 2011, Val-des-Monts has hosted a country music festival.