Laurentian Hills is a municipality in Eastern Ontario, Canada, on the Ottawa River in Renfrew County. It surrounds (by land) Deep River on the Ontario side of the river. The town is home to the Nuclear Power Demonstration nuclear power plant. The prototype nuclear power plant was operational from 1962 to 1987 and has since then been shut down for over 30 years, awaiting permanent disposal of its radioactive nuclear components. The municipality was formed on January 1, 2000, when the United Townships of Rolph, Buchanan, Wylie and McKay and the Village of Chalk River were merged.
Communities
Main Street in Chalk River.
The town comprises the communities of Chalk River, Meilleurs Bay, Moor Lake, Point Alexander, Rolphton, and Wylie.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Laurentian Hills had a population of 2,885 living in 1,251 of its 1,393 total private dwellings, a change of -2.6% from its 2016 population of 2,961. With a land area of 634.31 km (244.91 sq mi), it had a population density of 4.5/km (11.8/sq mi) in 2021.
Population trend:
Population in 2016: 2961
Population in 2011: 2811
Population in 2006: 2789
Population in 2001: 2750
Population in 1996:
Chalk River: 974
Rolphton, Buchanan, Wylie and McKay: 1810
Population in 1991:
Chalk River: 874
Rolphton, Buchanan, Wylie and McKay: 1656
Trivia
An Ontario Historical Plaque in front of the School House Museum was erected by the province to commemorate the role of Steamboating on the Upper Ottawa in Ontario's heritage.