Saint-Michel-des-Saints is a municipality in the Matawinie Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. Agriculture, forestry, recreation, and tourism have been the main activities found within this region.
History
In 1863, Thomas-Léandre Brassard settled near the falls of Pine Lake where he built a mill and a manor. Three years later, there were 136 inhabitants. In 1870, the post office opened. By 1883, the Parish of Saint-Michel-des-Saints was officially formed and followed two years later in 1885 by the formation of the parish municipality. The name Saint-Michel-des-Saints, chosen by Ignace Bourget at the suggestion of Father Brassard, honours Michael de Sanctis who lived from 1591 to 1625. In 1929, the dam on the Matawin River was constructed that would result in the formation of the Taureau Reservoir. This reservoir drowned the neighbouring village of Saint-Ignace-du-Lac and so that municipality was annexed by Saint-Michel-des-Saints in 1931, thereby increasing its territory by about. In 1979, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Michel-des-Saints and the United Township Municipality of Masson-et-Laviolette were merged to form the new Municipality of Saint-Michel-des-Saints. In 2018, a flood occurred in late April and early May.
Geography
Saint-Michel-des-Saints is the largest and northern-most municipality in the Lanaudière region. The village itself is located at the northern end of Quebec Route 131 along the Matawin River, near the south-western corner of Taureau Reservoir. The larger lakes in the municipality include Durand, Beauséjour, Hazen, and Kaiagamac. These and the many other ones attract many summer cottage vacationers. The area's forests are popular for hunting and trapping.
Demographics
Population
In the 2011 Census, Statistics Canada originally reported that Saint-Michel-des-Saints had a population of 2,201 living in 979 of its 1,774 total dwellings, an 18.9% change from its 2006 population of 2,713. Statistics Canada subsequently amended the 2011 census results to a population of 2,436 living in 1,084 of its 1,990 total dwellings, a -10.2% change from 2006. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2011.
