Saint-Bruno-de-Guigues, often referred to as Guigues, is a charming municipality nestled in the northwestern region of Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Témiscamingue Regional County Municipality. The municipality is not just home to the main population centre, but also houses the quaint hamlet of Pointe-Piché, situated on the picturesque shores of Lake Timiskaming.
The history of Saint-Bruno-de-Guigues, Quebec, dates back to the time when the area was inhabited by the Algonquin people. They discovered a lead mine as early as the 17th century. However, the mine was not exploited until around 1850 when it was rediscovered and recognized for its high silver content. The Wright mine, which operated between 1885 and 1903, and again from 1915 to 1952, holds the distinction of being Canada's first silver mine.
The first settler, Édouard Piché, arrived in 1863. A year later, he relocated to the place that eventually became known as Pointe Piché. In 1881, the geographic township of Guigues was proclaimed, named in honour of Joseph-Bruno Guigues. The parish of Saint-Bruno-de-Guigues was established in 1886. By 1897, the township had grown from 20 families to 300, leading to its incorporation as the Township Municipality of Guigues.
In 1912, the Township Municipality of Guigues was divided into the Parish Municipality of Saint-Bruno-de-Guigues and the Municipality of Saint-Eugène-de-Guigues. On May 6, 1995, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Bruno-de-Guigues changed its status to become a regular municipality.
The linguistic diversity of Saint-Bruno-de-Guigues, Quebec, is quite fascinating. As per the 2021 data, French is the first language for 95.4% of the population, while English is the first language for 1.7%. A small percentage of the population, 1.3%, is bilingual with English and French as their first languages. Other languages make up the first language for 1.7% of the population.
