History and statistics

The origin of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs dates back to the time of colonization in the 19th century, during the migration of the St. Lawrence lowland people who moved to this area, north of Montreal.

The territory of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs was essentially composed of two counties; the one on Côte Sainte-Elmire South-East (at Chemin Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs) and the other at Côte Saint-Godefroy (Chemin Godefroy).

Amongst the first families having descendants living in Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs were the Paquins, Raymonds, Héberts, Demers, Fournels, Filions, Guindons, Foisys, Saint-Amours, Paquettes, Lessards and Boisclairs.

At the turn of the century, the first tourists were for the most part, protestant anglophones descending from Montreal. Many of them moved around Lac Marois, where they erected the first church called the "Lac Marois Union Church" in 1911.

As for the practice of the catholic francophones, they had to wait until 1920 to see the construction of a chapel, which was entirely financed by the residents of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs. It was only 20 years later, on May 10th, 1940, that the Archbishop of Montreal, Mgr. Georges Gauthier, conferred to the "servicing of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs" all rights and privileges accorded to parish organizations. The Parish of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs has become, since that time, a tangible reality, confirming the facts of existence of an independent community, established long ago.

It did not take too long for the 300 permanent residents of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs to request the creation of a distinct municipality. Thus, in 1946, Quebec legislature adopted a law to create the Municipality of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs, definitively dividing the said territory from the Saint-Sauveur Parish.

A few numbers:

Population (2010): 3313 permanent residents

An amazing 154% growth of the population occurred between 1981 and 2001! This created a younger and more educated population for our area and for Quebec as a whole!

 

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