Rawdon is a municipality located on the Ouareau River in southwestern Quebec, Canada, about 60 kilometres north of Montreal. It is the seat for the Regional County Municipality of Matawinie, in the Lanaudière region. Rawdon is part of the Joliette federal electoral district.

Rawdon
Municipality
Location within Matawinie RCM.
Rawdon Location in central Quebec.
Coordinates: 46°03′N 73°43′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Lanaudière
RCM	Matawinie
Settled	1799
Constituted	May 28, 1998
Government [2]
• Mayor	Raymond Rougeau
• Federal riding	Joliette
• Prov. riding	Bertrand
Area [2][3]
• Total	193.00 km2 (74.52 sq mi)
• Land	187.07 km2 (72.23 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[4]
• Total	11,719
• Density	63.2/km2 (164/sq mi)
• Pop 2016-2021	6%
• Dwellings	5,447
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	J0K 1S0
Area code(s)	450 and 579
Highways	Route 125 Route 337 Route 341 Route 348
Website	www.rawdon.ca

The town of Rawdon is a mostly French-speaking tourist resort and is home to one English public school and four French public schools as well as a medium-size ski resort.

Geography

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Rawdon is located at the beginning of the Canadian Shield mountains. Its lakes and mountains make it a destination for summer tourism with its many camps and cottages. Rawdon is home to the Dorwin and Manchester falls, which lie less than a kilometre from downtown and offer a public beach on the artificial Rawdon Lake. In summer, temperatures can soar as high as 35 °C (95 °F) while temperatures as cold as −30 °C (−22 °F) can be felt in winter.

History

This section includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (July 2019)

The township was established in 1799 and named after Sir Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings. The town was primarily home to people of Irish background up until 1844, when more and more French-Canadians settled the region and small shops and industries emerged. After the First World War and the October Revolution, Rawdon saw a considerable number of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian noble families arrive to settle in its countryside from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Rawdon was originally part of Montcalm County. From 1920 to 1998, there were two separate municipalities named "Rawdon," the Township of Rawdon and the Village of Rawdon; in 1998, they were united into a single municipality.On November 8, 2021, former pro wrestler Raymond Rougeau was elected mayor.

Demographics

Population

In summer, the population is said to double and even sometimes triple due to tourism and the presence of many cottages in the vicinity.

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 4532 (total dwellings: 5422)

Language

Mother tongue:[4]

• English as first language: 8.8%
• French as first language: 85.7%
• English and French as first language: 2.2%
• Other as first language: 3.2%

Education

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2017)

Commission scolaire des Samares operates francophone public schools.

• École Ste-Anne (primary)
• École St-Louis (primary)
• École secondaire des Chutes (secondary)

Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board operates anglophone public schools:

• Rawdon Elementary School[6]
• Joliette Elementary School
• Joliette High School in Joliette[7]

Notable people

• Martin Deschamps, singer
• Firmin Dugas (1830-1889), businessman and politician
• Jonathan Girard, former Boston Bruins hockey player
• Jean-Paul Jeannotte (1926–2021), operatic tenor, academic teacher and opera administrator

See also

• List of municipalities in Quebec
• Canadiana Village

References

External links

• Official Municipality Website
• A brief history of Rawdon
• Rawdon Historical Society