Thurso, Quebec

Thurso
City
Coat of arms
Location within Papineau RCM.
Thurso Location in western Quebec.
Coordinates: 45°36′N 75°15′W / 45.600°N 75.250°WCoordinates: 45°36′N 75°15′W / 45.600°N 75.250°W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Outaouais
RCM	Papineau
Constituted	January 16, 1886
Government[2]
• Mayor	Benoit Lauzon
• Federal riding	Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation
• Prov. riding	Papineau
Area[2][3]
• Total	7.40 km^2 (2.86 sq mi)
• Land	6.27 km^2 (2.42 sq mi)
Population (2011)[3]
• Total	2,455
• Density	391.8/km^2 (1,015/sq mi)
• Pop 2006-2011	6.8%
• Dwellings	1,075
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s)	J0X 3B0
Area code(s)	819
Highways	Route 148 Route 317
Website	www.ville.thurso.qc.ca

Thurso is a city in Papineau Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of western Quebec. It is located on the Ottawa River, and is within Canada's National Capital Region. Its population was 2,455 as of the Canada 2011 Census.

Demographics

Population trend:^[4]

• Population in 2011: 2455 (2006 to 2011 population change: 6.8%)
• Population in 2006: 2299
• Population in 2001: 2446
  • 2001 to 2006 population change: -6.0 %
• Population in 1996: 2498
• Population in 1991: 2507

Private dwellings (occupied by usual residents): 1042

Languages:^[5]

• English as first language: 3%
• French as first language: 96%
• English and French as first language: 1%

Transportation

Thurso's main access roads are currently Route 148 (running west-east) and Route 317 (running south-north). Autoroute 50, approximately 3 km north of Thurso along Route 317 complements Route 148 as Thurso's second connection to Gatineau and Ottawa. Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines provides service to Ottawa and to Montreal. The Quebec Gatineau Railway provides rail freight transport.

Industry

Thurso is known for the unpleasant odour emanating from its paper mill, which originates from the burning of chemical residue when the pulp is manufactured and the smell was there well before the retaining basin was built. Fortress Paper employs 335 people in Thurso to produce 250,000 tonnes hardwood kraft market pulp. However, the company had financial difficulties and led to its operations temporarily being shut down in 2006 and again for an eight-week period in 2009.

The Lauzon sawmill was another major employer for the community, but its building was destroyed by a fire on March 8, 2007, putting 100 workers temporarily out of work. However, plans for relaunching the production activity started shortly after the event.

Thurso's only bar/hotel, Hotel Lafontaine, burned twice in 2009; once in February and again a month later, with the latter fire resulting in complete destruction. In 2010, Hotel Lafontaine reopened just beside its previous location.

Earthquake

An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.5 was centered north in Thurso at 8:39 pm, on February 24, 2006. an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.1 was centered in Thurso at 3;39pm on September 18, 2006

Famous people from Thurso

Hockey legend Guy Lafleur was born in Thurso and has an arena and street named after him.

Bill Clement, another NHL player who went on to become a well-known hockey commentator, also came from Thurso during the same time period as Lafleur.

References and notes

1. Reference number 62600 of the Commission de toponymie du Québec (French)
2. Geographic code 80050 in the official Répertoire des municipalités (French)
3. "(Code 2480050) Census Profile". 2011 census. Statistics Canada. 2012.
4. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census
5. Canada 2006 Census

External links

• City web site