Val-d'Or

Centrale Street in Val-d'Or in 1959

Gold was discovered in the area in 1923. The name of the town is French for "Valley of Gold." While gold is still mined in the area today, base metals, such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb) have become increasingly important resources. The ore is usually found in volcanic rocks that were deposited on the sea floor over 2.7 billion years ago. They are referred to as volcanic-hosted (or volcanogenic) massive sulphide deposits (VMS).[3]

The city is known for its vast parks, cycle tracks, and forests. Some other attractions include the City of Gold and the mining village of Bourlamaque, which were officially proclaimed historic sites in 1979.

The city hosted the Quebec Games in 1987. The local hockey team, the Val-d'Or Foreurs, have played in the QMJHL since 1993, winning the league championship in 1998, 2001 and 2014 to claim a spot in the Memorial Cup. They play at Centre Air Creebec. The Foreurs' mascot is called Dynamit, named after dynamite which was extensively used by the mining industry of Val-d'Or.

Val-d'Or was once home to CFS Val-d'Or, a Canadian Forces Station.

In the municipal reorganizations of January 1, 2002, Val-d'Or was merged with the neighbouring municipalities of Dubuisson, Sullivan, Val-Senneville and Vassan.[3]

The Radio-Canada investigative television program, Enquête, revealed in October 2015 numerous allegations of assault and sexual abuse of local aboriginal women by members of the provincial police, the Sûreté du Québec.[8] The news propelled the town into the national spotlight, causing Québec's Public Safety Minister, Lise Thériault, to suspend the officers and launch an independent investigation led by the Montréal police force.[9]

Val-d’Or is situated on the Canadian Shield at an elevation of 1100 feet (330m) above sea level. Although its name refers to a valley (“Val”), the city is actually situated on a vast, slightly undulating plain.

Val-d’Or is at the heart of a vast hydrographic network which includes to the north Lake Blouin, the head water of the Harricana River and to the south Baie Carrière, a reservoir which feeds the Ottawa River.[10]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Val-d'Or had a population of 32,752 living in 15,033 of its 15,884 total private dwellings, a change of 0.8% from its 2016 population of 32,491. With a land area of 3,536.84 km² (1,365.58 sq mi), it had a population density of 9.3/km² (24.0/sq mi) in 2021.[12]

Population trend:[13] Census Population Change (%) 2021 32,752 0.8% 2016 32,491 2% 2011 31,862 2.4% 2006 31,123 1% 2001 31,430 29.4% 1996 24,285 1.9% 1991 23,842 7.1% 1986 22,252 3.8% 1981 21,430 7.6% 1976 19,915 14.1% 1971 17,451 43.7% 1966 12,147 10.6% 1961 10,983 11.2% 1956 9,876 13.7% 1951 8,685 98.1% 1941 4,385 N/A

Mother Tongue (2021):

• English: 2.6%
• French: 93.3%
• English and French: 1.1%
• Other only: 2.4%

Air Creebec, a regional airline, has its headquarters in Val-d'Or and the Val-d'Or Airport serves as its hub.[14]

Val-d'Or's proximity to the Abitibi gold belt has made it a large gold producer, being part of a region that produced 45 million ounces of gold since the 1930s.[15][16]

In 2012, Quebec Lithium Corp. re-opened a lithium mine which had operated as an underground mine from 1955–65, planning to carve an open pit mine over pegmatite dikes. the mine is about 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Val d'Or, 38 kilometres (24 mi) southeast of Amos, and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) km west of Barraute. Access to the mine is via paved road from Val d'Or.[17]

City council (as of 2022):[18]

• Mayor: Céline Brindamour
• Councillors: Maxime Gagné, Benjamin Turcotte, Èveline Laverdière, Martin Lavoie, Jean St-Jules, Sylvie Hébert, Lisyane Morin, Yvon Rodrigue

The Centre de services scolaire de l'Or-et-des-Bois operates French-language public schools, while the Western Quebec School Board operates English-language public schools.

The city also hosts campuses of Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue and of UQAT.

Almost all media in Val-d'Or and the nearby city of Rouyn-Noranda serves both cities. Although the cities are far enough apart that radio and television stations in the area serve the cities from separate transmitters, almost every broadcast station in either city has a rebroadcaster in the other city. The only nominal exceptions are the cities' separate NRJ stations, although at present even these stations share the majority of their broadcast schedule.

• Yolette Lévy (1938-2018), Haitian-born Canadian politician and activist

• Parc Roland-Veillet, a public park
• List of towns in Quebec

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Val-d'Or.

• Municipal website (in French)