Cantley is a rural municipality in Quebec, Canada, north of the city of Gatineau, east of the Gatineau River, located within Canada's National Capital Region approximately from Parliament Hill. Cantley is one of six municipalities within the Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality. Its roots are in farmland and mining, but recent housing projects since its creation in 1989 have resulted in a high rate of population growth. The population at the 2021 Canadian Census was 11,449, an increase of 7.0% from the 2016 population of 10,699. French is the first language of 86.7% of Cantley's residents.
History
The town of Cantley was founded in the early 1830s by Colonel Cantley, a subordinate of Colonel John By during the period that included the birth of the city of Bytown (now Ottawa). During this time, Colonel Cantley went north and set foot in land several kilometres from Bytown where he remained until his death. Andrew Blackburn and his 2 sons arrived in 1829. Others were to follow, but a large contingent of Irish Catholics in the 1840s was to give the area its distinctly Irish, or Hibernian, character. In the 1850s, the area started to develop with the construction of its post office in honour of Cantley and a mass arrival of Irish descendants. Education started to play a role in the same period when a Roman Catholic chapel and school were built as a result of the increasing number of residents in the area. Another school was built on a farmer's land in 1858. Farming, logging and lumber milling were early industries. Later developments, especially mica and phosphate mines after 1885 and the influx of cottagers and city dwellers to the sprawling suburbia, were to change the demographic characteristics of the area. French Canadians are now the dominant ethnic group.
In 1925, two hydroelectric dams were constructed along the Gatineau River, making them the biggest economic and industrial project of the town's history. These are now known today as the Chelsea and Rapides-Farmers Hydroelectric Stations (Centrale Chelsea and Centrale Rapides-Farmers). The latter station is now within the city of Gatineau limits.
The Mont Cascades resort opened in 1976 and represents a major part of the town's recreational and touristic assets.
Previously, Cantley was a rural village within Touraine, previously Hull-Est, until the merger that created the original city of Gatineau in 1975. This move proved highly unpopular with Cantley's rural residents who worked to petition the provincial government to recreate an independent municipality. In 1989, Cantley became an independent rural community.
Cantley is also the home of the Gatineau Landsat satellite tracking station for Natural Resources Canada.
Demographics
Mother tongue: English as first language: 10.6% French as first language: 84.5% English and French as first language: 1.6% Other as first language: 2.9%
Government
Cantley is governed by a seven member council consisting of six councillors, each representing a district, and the mayor. The districts and current councillors are as follows:
Transportation
Cantley's main artery is Route 307 also known as Montée de la Source (formerly known as la rue Principale) which is the extension of Rue Saint-Louis in Gatineau. Major collector roads include Chemin du Mont-Cascades, Chemin Ste-Élisabeth, Montée des Érables and Montée St-Amour. Most of the roads in the town connect to Route 307 and most of them are dead-ends. There are very few that connect to secondary roads.
Beginning June 15, 2015, Transcollines provides public transportation services in Cantley. Routes 931 and 933 replace the previous Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) routes 15 and 16 between Cantley and the De La Gappe Rapibus station with connections to Ottawa and the Hull and Gatineau sectors of Gatineau. Route 931 provides weekday and weekend service while Route 933 provides weekday service only. Route 934 provides reverse service during peak periods. Route 932 provides peak period service between Cantley and the Cégep de l'Outaouais' Gabrielle-Roy campus via the STO Galéries de Hull Rapibus station. Park and Ride lots are available on rue Hogan (at Montée de la Source), at the Town Hall (rue River), on rue Mont-Joel (at rue Marsolais) and on rue Denis (at Parc Denis).