Senneterre, a town nestled in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of northwestern Quebec, Canada, is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered. Located in La Vallée-de-l'Or Regional County Municipality, Senneterre is a town that thrives on forestry and offers a unique blend of history, culture, and natural beauty.
The history of Senneterre dates back to the early 1900s when it first served as a trading post. The real colonization began in 1904 when the first permanent settlers arrived. Initially identified as Rivière-Nottaway, then Rivière-Bell, the area was surveyed and the geographic township of Senneterre was formed between 1911 and 1913 during the construction of the National Transcontinental Railway. The township was named in honour of a captain of the Régiment de Languedoc that fought in the Battle of Sainte-Foy.
The completion of the railway accelerated the development of the place. In 1914, the Parish of Saint-Paul-de-Senneterre was founded, and in 1919, the place was incorporated as the Township Municipality of Senneterre-Partie-Ouest. It developed into a center for forestry, commerce, and tourism. In 1948, it shortened its name to Senneterre and changed status to village municipality, while gaining town status in 1956.
The town's territory includes a vast undeveloped area stretching from the Bell River to the Mauricie region. The town centre itself covers just over 3 km2 of its 16,457 km2 total area, and is about 60 kilometres northeast of Val-d'Or on the banks of the Bell River, at the intersection of the Canadian National Railway and Quebec Route 113.
In addition to Senneterre centre, the town's territory includes the following hamlets or rail stops, all located along the Canadian National Railway: Forsyth, Gagnon-Siding, Langlade, Monet, Paradis, and Press.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Senneterre had a population of 2,782 living in 1,390 of its 1,534 total private dwellings, a change of -3% from its 2016 population of 2,868. With a land area of 14,718.51 km2, it had a population density of 0.2/km2 in 2021. The mother tongue of the population is predominantly French (95.3%), followed by English (2.0%), and a small percentage of residents speak both English and French as their first language (0.9%).
The town is served by Via Rail Canada’s Montreal–Senneterre route, with Senneterre station being the terminal. The train leaves Montreal Central Station toward Senneterre every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and returns to Montreal on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Two highways, Route 113 and Route 386, connect the town with the rest of Quebec, with the former connecting to the Trans-Canada Highway (Route 117 in Quebec).
