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Situated in the extreme southwest corner of the Province of Quebec, in the Montérégie administrative region, the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent was incorporated on December 9th, 1981. It is bounded on the south by the State of New York, on the north by the MRC de Beauharnois-Salaberry and Ontario (the St-Lawrence River), and on the east by the MRC des Jardins-de-Napierville. The MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent is located in the Saint-Lawrence Lowlands and comprises an area of 1,150 square kilometres, with Covey Hill, at the base of the Adirondack Mountain chain, its highest peak with an altitude of 342 metres. A number of watercourses, including the Chateauguay River, wind their way through the largely agriculturally-zoned territory (93%) of the Haut-Saint-Laurent, of which 34% is forested.

A population of 22 368 inhabitants ¹ live within the thirteen (13) municipalities that make up the MRC which bear different designations : the Town of Huntingdon, Village of Howick, Parishes of Saint-Anicet, Sainte-Barbe and Très-Saint-Sacrement, Townships of Elgin, Dundee, Godmanchester, Havelock and Hinchinbrooke, and Municipalities of Franklin, Ormstown and Saint-Chrysostome.

The Haut-Saint-Laurent is a magnet for tourists to the country with its many apple orchards, sugar shacks, two vineyards and small producers (cheese-makers, butchers, bakers and micro-brewers), many of whom participate in the popular annual local agrotourism event ‘Circuit du Paysan.'

Completing the profile of this little-known area of Quebec, are the natural and historical treasures of the Haut-Saint-Laurent : the Lac-Saint-François National Wildlife Reserve, the Battle of Chateauguay National Historic Site, the Interpretation Centre for the Droulers Archaeological Site and its many churches.

¹Ministère des Affaires municipales et des Régions, 2006.