The Coast of Arms

On an azure background crest, two golden mountains surmounted by a golden cross  over a peace pipe at their base, beside an azure lake with silver waves .Above, nine golden stars.On the sides, two stems of four stalks of golden wheat and five green apple tree leaves. Above the azure crest, two open-topped towers. Motto:

UNITE, ORGANIZE, HARMONIZE

Background

Successor to the Corporation de comté de Deux-Montagnes, the Regional County Municipality was established in 1983 through government legislation. At the time, its main mandate was, in accordance with the provisions of the Land Use Planning and Development Act, to map out and implement a development plan for its entire territory.

Since December 19, 2000, all of the MRC's municipalities, except for Saint-Placide, are an integral part of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal.

Operations

The MRC board is comprised of the mayor from each of the municipalities in the MRC's territory. Regular MRC meetings are scheduled every fourth Wednesday of each month at 8 p.m., except for the month of December when it is held on the third Tuesday at 5 p.m. These sessions are open to the public and are held at the Deux-Montagnes' Municipal Court at 400 Deux-Montagnes Blvd., Suite 101, Deux-Montagnes.

Some statistics

Legal status: Regional County Municipality	Agricultural zone area: 163 km2
Date of constitution: January 1st, 1983	Number of farms: 315
Area: 245 km2	Number of dwellings: 30,145
Population: 81,420	Average household revenue: $55,080
Density of population: 335h/ km2

Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 census

LOCATION

Located in the region of the Lower Laurentians and more specifically on the north shore of Montreal, the MRC de Deux-Montagnes regroups the municipalities of Saint-Eustache, Deux-Montagnes,
Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Pointe-Claumet, Saint-Joseph-du-Lac, Oka and Saint-Placide. The Kanesatake aboriginal territory is also part of the territory.

Situated at approximately 20 kilometres from Montreal, the MRC is open to the north on the Laurentians region and to the south on Laval and Montreal. It is delimited to the west by the MRC d’Argenteuil, to the north by the MRC de Mirabel, to the east by the MRC de Thérèse-de-Blainville and to the south by the MrC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

It is set in the forks of the Outaouais River, the lake of Deux-Montagnes and the Mille-îles River.

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TERRITORY

In a way, the MRC de Deux-Montagnes depicts the city in the country paradox. Today, the former farming vocation of the territory reconciles with the urban or in quest for urbanisation environment. Close to 70% of the territory is used for agriculture while more than 95% of its population reside within the urban area.

Saint-Eustache is the principal socio-economic, cultural and arts hub of the MRC. Approximately 50% of the MRC’s population live in Saint-Eustache.

The most important elements of the MRC’s natural scenery are the bodies of water such as the lake, the Oka hills and the Parc national d’Oka (www.sepaq.com). The latter offers a range of activities fot outdoor and nature enthusiasts.

The MRC’s population is served by the CLSC Jean-Olivier Chénier (www.monclsc.com) and the Seigneurie-des-Mille-Îles (www.cssmi.qc.ca) and Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier (www.swlauriersb.qc.ca) school boards.