Rigaud, Quebec, a city nestled in the southwestern part of the province, is a hidden gem in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality in the Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent region. Situated at the junction of the Ottawa River and the Rigaud River, it's approximately 70 kilometres west of downtown Montreal and 130 kilometres east of Ottawa. As of the Canada 2021 Census, Rigaud is home to 7,854 residents.
Rigaud's history is deeply rooted in the traditional territory of the Algonquins. The first European to travel on the Ottawa River was Étienne Brûlé in 1615. The Seigneury of Rigaud was granted in 1732 to Pierre and François-Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, governors in New France. The seigneury saw its first settlers in 1783 and rapidly developed as an accommodation relay for loggers and a loading point for timber and cereals.
In 1802, the Mission of Sainte-Magdeleine-de-Rigaud was founded, which became a parish in 1830. The Rigaud Post Office opened in 1835, and the Municipality of Rigaud was formed in 1845. The city status was granted to Rigaud in March 1911. On November 29, 1995, the City of Rigaud and the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Madeleine-de-Rigaud rejoined to form the new Municipality of Rigaud, which changed status to city again on August 22, 2015.
Rigaud is located at the northwestern part of the Suroît region, on the south shore of Lake of Two Mountains, a widening of the Ottawa River. The municipality covers a total area of 113.71 square kilometres, of which 99.23 square kilometres are terrestrial. The relief is composed of the Ottawa River plain on the North side and the Rigaud Mountain on the South side.
The Rigaud mountain covers 47 square kilometres and is divided into three physiographic units: the escarpment to the north-west; the central plateau modulated by local peaks; and the lower slopes to the east and north. The forest mainly composed of rocky surface and loam, and approximately a third of its area is rocky and rugged.
The plain offers favourable conditions for agriculture, infrastructure and urban development. Rigaud Mountain, due to its slope and the poor quality of its soil, has kept its forest cover, although it has had extensive residential and recreational development. More than a third of the territory of Rigaud is forest.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Rigaud had a population of 7,854 living in 3,311 of its 3,496 total private dwellings, a change of 1% from its 2016 population of 7,777. With a land area of 99.2 km2, it had a population density of 79.2/km2 in 2021.
The main attraction is Mont-Rigaud, a hill with downhill ski runs at Ski Mont Rigaud, a private school (Collège Bourget), a monastery, and a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes). The mountain is also home to an unusual, natural rock garden known as the "champs de patates".
Other attractions include its maple and blueberry products, and the local microbrewery Le Castor. A training center for the Canada Border Services Agency is located in Rigaud.
Nearly a hundred mobile homes are located at the south-eastern end of the territory along the Rivière à la Raquette near the Choisy campsite. This campground and Camping Trans-Canadien, located northwest on Lac des Deux Montagnes, have 746 sites, which increase the population in the summer.
The Rigaud station was the former terminus of the AMT commuter train to downtown Montreal. On 1 July 2010, service to Rigaud was discontinued, as the town was unable to pay the $300,000 annual fee to the AMT to allow service to continue to the town. After that date, the rail line ends at Hudson. The town is served by the 61 bus from Exo La Presqu’Île.
