Hawkesbury, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Hawkesbury is a town in the Eastern
portion of Southern
Ontario
, Canada
, on the Ottawa River
, near the Quebec
-Ontario border
.
It lies on the south shore of the Ottawa River
about halfway between Downtown
Ottawa
and Downtown
Montreal
in Prescott and Russell Counties
. The Long-Sault Bridge
(replacing the Perley Bridge) links it to Grenville, Quebec
, to the north. It is located 25 km west of Lachute, Quebec
.
Hawkesbury is touted as the third most bilingual town in Ontario
, with about 70% of its inhabitants being fluent in English
and French
, the two official languages of Canada
. (West Nipissing is first with 73.4% followed by Hearst
at 71%.) 89% of the population is made up of French speaking Franco-Ontarian
s. Development on the outskirts has hurt some of the business and the Main Street is slowly recovering.
.
Thomas Mears
and David Pattee
, two Americans, entered into a partnership in 1805 to harness the power of the lower Ottawa River and built the first sawmill
on the Upper Canada
side of the river. The town of Hawkesbury developed around this mill. Mears also built the Union, the Ottawa River's first steamer. Demand for timber during the Napoleonic Wars
created a boom.
Timber and pulp-and-paper industries have been supplanted by textiles, synthetic fibres, metal extrusions, steel, glass and plastics. Hawkesbury has also become the business and service centre of the county of Prescott-Russell, although recently Rockland
has become the largest community. The Grenville Canal on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River opposite Hawkesbury is an important link in the river's transportation system. The only interprovincial bridge between Ontario and Quebec east of Ottawa is located here. Part of Hawkesbury was submerged by a Hydro-Québec
dam built between 1950 and 1962. New developments today are happening due to baby boomers from Ottawa, Montreal and area purchasing some of the many new condos in towers.
, and to a lesser extent by media from Ottawa
. The town does, however, have two radio stations which broadcast at least partially from local studios in Hawkesbury.
, a 17-kilometre spur route which connects the community to Highway 417
. South of the Highway 417 interchange, a former portion of Highway 34 continues southerly to South Lancaster as Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry County Road 34. Hawkesbury is also located along Prescott and Russell County Road 17, a former routing of Highway 17
and the Trans-Canada Highway
.
The town is served by three small airports:
According to the 2006 Statistics Canada
Census:
was the mother tongue of 77% of the population, while English
was the mother tongue of 16%. A very high percentage (2.7%) claim both French and English as their mother tongues. This is the highest proportion in Canada.
Single responses: 42.4% of respondents gave a single response of 'Canadian', while a further 25.3% identified with both 'Canadian', and one or more other ancestries. 13.4% of respondents gave a single response of French
, 1.9% gave a single response of Irish
, 1.9% gave a single response of English
and 1.1% gave a single response of North American Indian
.
Multiple responses: Counting both single and multiple responses, the most commonly identified ethnocultural ancestries were:
Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents and may total more than 100% due to dual responses.
All ethnocultural ancestries of more than 1% are listed in the table above according to the exact terminology used by Statistics Canada
.
Elementary Schools:
Paul VI
Marguerite Bourgeois
Nouvel Horizon
St-Jean Bosco(closed)
Secondary Schools:
E.S.C.R.H.
Le Sommet
Post-secondary Establishements:
La Cité collégiale
elearnnetwork.ca
And other educational-based establishements:
Adult Campus of Hawkesbury
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...
portion of Southern
Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...
Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, on the Ottawa River
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
, near the Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
-Ontario border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
.
It lies on the south shore of the Ottawa River
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
about halfway between Downtown
Downtown Ottawa
Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Like other downtowns it is the commercial and economic centre of the city. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the...
Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
and Downtown
Downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is nearly enitirely located at the southern most slope of Mount Royal and is approximately bounded by Sherbrooke Street to the north, Papineau Avenue to the east, Guy Street or until Shaughnessy Village to the west,...
Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
in Prescott and Russell Counties
Prescott and Russell United Counties, Ontario
The United Counties of Prescott and Russell are consolidated counties located in the Canadian province of Ontario. As of 2006, the population is 80,184. Its county seat is L'Orignal, Ontario. It was created as a result of a merger between Russell County and Prescott County in 1820...
. The Long-Sault Bridge
Long-Sault Bridge
The Long-Sault Bridge is a bridge connecting Hawkesbury, Ontario and Grenville, Quebec. It connects Quebec Route 344 and Ontario Highway 34.The bridge was built to replace the original Perley Bridge built in 1931....
(replacing the Perley Bridge) links it to Grenville, Quebec
Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Quebec
Grenville-sur-la-Rouge is a municipality in the Argenteuil Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. It is a predominantly Francophone municipality situated along the southern border of Quebec between Montreal and Ottawa...
, to the north. It is located 25 km west of Lachute, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Hawkesbury is touted as the third most bilingual town in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, with about 70% of its inhabitants being fluent in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, the two official languages of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. (West Nipissing is first with 73.4% followed by Hearst
Hearst, Ontario
Hearst is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in Northern Ontario, approximately west of Kapuskasing, approximately north of Toronto and east of Thunder Bay on Highway 11...
at 71%.) 89% of the population is made up of French speaking Franco-Ontarian
Franco-Ontarian
Franco-Ontarians are French Canadian or francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario. They are sometimes known as "Ontarois"....
s. Development on the outskirts has hurt some of the business and the Main Street is slowly recovering.
History
Founded in 1798, Hawkesbury was named after Charles Jenkinson, Baron HawkesburyCharles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool
Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool PC , known as the Lord Hawkesbury between 1786 and 1796, was a British statesman. He was the father of Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool....
.
Thomas Mears
Thomas Mears
Thomas Mears was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in the Thirteen Colonies in 1775. He settled in West Hawkesbury Township. He set up a sawmill and gristmill on the Ottawa River in that area with David Pattee, which later became the basis for the town of Hawkesbury...
and David Pattee
David Pattee
David Pattee was a businessman, judge and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in Goffstown, New Hampshire in 1778. He studied medicine but never practiced. In 1803, he left New Hampshire for the lower Ottawa River in Upper Canada because he was in debt and accused of forgery...
, two Americans, entered into a partnership in 1805 to harness the power of the lower Ottawa River and built the first sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
on the Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
side of the river. The town of Hawkesbury developed around this mill. Mears also built the Union, the Ottawa River's first steamer. Demand for timber during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
created a boom.
Timber and pulp-and-paper industries have been supplanted by textiles, synthetic fibres, metal extrusions, steel, glass and plastics. Hawkesbury has also become the business and service centre of the county of Prescott-Russell, although recently Rockland
Rockland, Ontario
Rockland is a bilingual community located about east of downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Clarence–Rockland. Rockland has a population of 9,210.-History:...
has become the largest community. The Grenville Canal on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River opposite Hawkesbury is an important link in the river's transportation system. The only interprovincial bridge between Ontario and Quebec east of Ottawa is located here. Part of Hawkesbury was submerged by a Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
dam built between 1950 and 1962. New developments today are happening due to baby boomers from Ottawa, Montreal and area purchasing some of the many new condos in towers.
Climate
Media
Hawkesbury and area are served primarily by media from MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and to a lesser extent by media from Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
. The town does, however, have two radio stations which broadcast at least partially from local studios in Hawkesbury.
Newspaper
The Review is an English-language weekly newspaper that covers the Glengarry-Prescott-Russell area, which includes Hawkesbury.Radio
- FM 88.9 - CIMF-1CIMF-FMCIMF-FM is a French-language Canadian radio station located in Gatineau, Quebec, near Ottawa, Ontario.Owned and operated by Astral Media, it broadcasts on 94.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 84,000 watts using an omnidirectional antenna....
- FM 102.1 - CHPRCHPR-FMCHPR-FM is a Canadian radio station, which airs at 102.1 FM in Hawkesbury, Ontario. Owned by RNC Media, the station airs a francophone adult contemporary format branded as Planète Lov' 102.1...
- FM 107.7 - CKHKCKHK-FMCKHK-FM is a Canadian radio station that broadcasts a bilingual English / French combined pop standards/instrumental easy listening format at 107.7 FM in Hawkesbury, Ontario...
Television
- Channel 39: CHLF-TV-2, TFOTFOTFO is a Canadian French language educational public television network in the province of Ontario. It is the only French-language television network in Canada whose operations are based entirely outside of Quebec....
- Channel 48: CICO-TV-96, TVOntarioTVOntarioTVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
- CogecoCogecoCogeco Inc. is a Canadian media and communications company. The name is an acronym for Compagnie Générale de Communication .-History:...
cable 11: TVCogecoTVCogecoTVCogeco is the brand of community channels owned by Cogeco Cable, many of which share common programs. TVCogeco broadcasts into the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Some channels broadcast in both the English and French languages, often on separate channels.Programming on the channels are...
(community channel)
Transportation
Hawkesbury is served primarily by Highway 34Highway 34 (Ontario)
King's Highway 34, commonly referred to as Highway 34, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route connects Hawkesbury with Highway 417 south of Vankleek Hill. It is long....
, a 17-kilometre spur route which connects the community to Highway 417
Highway 417 (Ontario)
King's Highway 417, also known as Highway 417 and the Queensway through Ottawa is a 400-series highways in the Canadian province of Ontario which connects Montreal with Ottawa. It is the backbone of the transportation system in the Ottawa region, where it forms part of the Queensway along with...
. South of the Highway 417 interchange, a former portion of Highway 34 continues southerly to South Lancaster as Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry County Road 34. Hawkesbury is also located along Prescott and Russell County Road 17, a former routing of Highway 17
Highway 17 (Ontario)
King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba border west of Kenora and ends south of Arnprior at the western terminus of Highway 417, ...
and the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
.
The town is served by three small airports:
- Hawkesbury AirportHawkesbury AirportHawkesbury Airport, , is located west of Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada, near the Ottawa River and the border with Quebec....
- Hawkesbury (East) AirportHawkesbury (East) AirportHawkesbury Airport, , located east of Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada, is one of three small airports between Ottawa and Montreal on the south shore of the Ottawa River....
- Hawkesbury (Windover Field) AirportHawkesbury (Windover Field) AirportHawkesbury Airport, , located west of Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada, is one of three small airports between Ottawa and Montreal....
Demographics
| Census | Population |
|---|---|
| 1841 | 250 |
| 1871 | 1,671 |
| 1881 | 1,920 |
| 1891 | 2,042 |
| 1901 | 4,150 |
| 1911 | 4,400 |
| 1921 | 5,544 |
| 1931 | 5,177 |
| 1941 | 6,249 |
| 1951 | 7,194 |
| 1961 | 8,661 |
| 1971 | 9,276 |
| 1981 | 9,877 |
| 1991 | 9,706 |
| 2001 | 10,314 |
| 2006 | 10,869 |
According to the 2006 Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....
Census:
- Population: 10,869
- % Change (2001–2006): 5.3
- Dwellings: 4,974
- Area (km².): 9.46
- Density (persons per km².): 1149.3
Languages
The 2006 census found that FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
was the mother tongue of 77% of the population, while English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
was the mother tongue of 16%. A very high percentage (2.7%) claim both French and English as their mother tongues. This is the highest proportion in Canada.
| Primary language | Population | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
9,305 | 86.0% |
| English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
1,170 | 11.0% |
| Sindhi Sindhi language Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division... |
95 | 0.9% |
| Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;... |
65 | 0.6% |
Ethnocultural ancestries
In parallel to the responses to the census question about ethnocultural ancestries, which are shown below, 1.0% of the population also reported having an Aboriginal identity, while 3.1% reported having a visible minority status (including 2.0% who identified as South Asian).Single responses: 42.4% of respondents gave a single response of 'Canadian', while a further 25.3% identified with both 'Canadian', and one or more other ancestries. 13.4% of respondents gave a single response of French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, 1.9% gave a single response of Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, 1.9% gave a single response of English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
and 1.1% gave a single response of North American Indian
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
.
Multiple responses: Counting both single and multiple responses, the most commonly identified ethnocultural ancestries were:
| Canadian | 67.8% |
| French French Canadian French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries... |
38.7% |
| English | 7.9% |
| Irish Irish Canadian Irish Canadian are immigrants and descendants of immigrants who originated in Ireland. 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived, 1825 to 1970, at least half of those in the period from 1831-1850. By 1867, they were the second largest ethnic group , and comprised 24% of Canada's population... |
6.7% |
| Scottish | 4.8% |
| North American Indian First Nations First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The... |
3.3% |
| German German-Canadian German Canadians are Canadians of ethnic German ancestry. The 2006 Canadian census put the number of Canadians of German ethnicity at 3,179,425. Only a small fraction of German Canadians are descendants of immigrants from what is today Germany... |
1.7% |
| Italian | 1.3% |
| Greek Greek Canadians Greek Canadians are Canadian citizens of Greek origin, also known as Hellenic origin. According to the 2006 Canadian census, there were 242,685 Canadians who claimed Greek ethnicity.- Authors :... |
1.0% |
Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents and may total more than 100% due to dual responses.
All ethnocultural ancestries of more than 1% are listed in the table above according to the exact terminology used by Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....
.
Education
Hawkesbury hosts many establishements in the field of education, from elementary schools to colleges and an adult campus.Elementary Schools:
Paul VI
Marguerite Bourgeois
Nouvel Horizon
St-Jean Bosco(closed)
Secondary Schools:
E.S.C.R.H.
Le Sommet
Post-secondary Establishements:
La Cité collégiale
La Cité collégiale
La Cité collégiale is the largest French-language applied arts and technology college in Ontario, Canada’s most populated province. Created in 1989, it is situated in Ottawa and now offers more than 90 programs to some 4 700 full-time students from Ontario, other parts of Canada and many foreign...
elearnnetwork.ca
Elearnnetwork.ca
elearnnetwork.ca provides access to learning and training opportunities through distance education in communities across Eastern and Southern Ontario. elearnnetwork.ca is funded by the Government of Ontario and works in partnership with 18 colleges and 14 universities to help residents gain quality...
And other educational-based establishements:
Adult Campus of Hawkesbury
Notable individuals
- Birth town of Bob HartleyBob HartleyRobert Hartley is a former head coach in the National Hockey League. He coached the Colorado Avalanche from 1998–2002, period during which he won the Stanley Cup . He also coached the Atlanta Thrashers from the 2003 up until the beginning of the 2007, when he was fired after the Thrashers got off...
, former head coach of the Atlanta ThrashersAtlanta ThrashersThe Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League on June 25, 1997, and became the league's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL season...
and Colorado AvalancheColorado AvalancheThe Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...
. The municipal arena bears his name.