Hawkesbury, a charming town nestled in Prescott-Russell county in Eastern Ontario, Canada, is home to over 10,000 inhabitants, a majority of whom are francophone. The town is strategically located halfway between Ottawa and Montréal, and is linked to Grenville, Quebec to the north via the Long-Sault Bridge. This bridge, crossing Chenail Island, is the only interprovincial bridge between Ontario and Quebec east of Ottawa.
Founded in 1798, Hawkesbury was named after Charles Jenkinson, Baron Hawkesbury. The town's development began in 1805 when Thomas Mears and David Pattee, two Americans, built the first sawmill on the Upper Canada side of the Ottawa River. The town of Hawkesbury grew around this mill, which saw a boom during the Napoleonic Wars due to the high demand for timber. By 1870, the mill complex had grown to include 145 different saws, producing over 35 million board feet of lumber per year.
Over the years, Hawkesbury's economy has evolved from timber and pulp-and-paper industries to textiles, synthetic fibres, metal extrusions, steel, glass, and plastics. Today, Hawkesbury serves as the business and service centre of the county of Prescott-Russell.
According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Hawkesbury had a population of 10,194 living in 5,080 of its 5,308 total private dwellings. With a land area of 10.1 km2, it had a population density of 1,009.3/km2 in 2021.
The 2006 census found that French was the mother tongue of 77% of the population, while English was the mother tongue of 16%. A very high percentage (2.7%) claim both French and English as their mother tongues. In 2006, this was the highest proportion in Canada.
In terms of ethnocultural ancestries, 42.4% of respondents identified as 'Canadian', while a further 25.3% identified with both 'Canadian', and one or more other ancestries. 13.4% of respondents identified as French, 1.9% as Irish, 1.9% as English and 1.1% as North American Indian.
Hawkesbury is located along Prescott and Russell County Road 17, a former routing of Highway 17 and the Trans-Canada Highway. The town is also within minutes of Autoroute 50 and Route 148 in Quebec, thanks to the Long-Sault Interprovincial Bridge. Hawkesbury is served by two small airports: Hawkesbury Airport and Hawkesbury (East) Airport.
