Bois-Franc is a municipality in the La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality, Quebec

La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality, Quebec

La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau is a Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of western Quebec, Canada. The seat is in Gracefield. It is named for its location straddling the Gatineau River north of Low. It was incorporated on January 1, 1983.It consists of two cities, fifteen...

, Canada, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of Maniwaki

Maniwaki, Quebec

Maniwaki is a town north of Gatineau and located north-west of Montreal, in the province of Quebec, Canada. The town is situated on the Gatineau River, at the crossroads of Route 105 and Route 107, not far south of Route 117...

. Its territory is along the western shores of the upper Gatineau River

Gatineau River

The Gatineau River is a river in western Quebec, Canada, which rises in lakes north of the Baskatong Reservoir and flows south to join the Ottawa River at the city of Gatineau, Quebec...

.

The adjective franc has its origin in the western regions of France and means excellent, good, strong, solid, hard. Therefore the name Bois-Franc can be translated as "hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

" and is a reference to magnificent stands of hardwoods found within the municipality, including beech, ash, maple and birch.

History

Its first European settlers came in 1870. Its post office, named Bois-Franc, opened in 1886. In 1920, the Municipality of Bois-Franc was founded when it separated from the Egan Municipality Township.

Economy

Its primary industry is logging and forestry. Industrial Park "Réjean Lafrenière" is home to the oriented strand board

Oriented strand board

Oriented strand board, also known as OSB and SmartPly , is an engineered wood product formed by layering strands of wood in specific orientations. In appearance, it may have a rough and variegated surface with the individual strips Oriented strand board, also known as OSB (UK) and SmartPly (UK &...

 factory Louisiana-Pacific

Louisiana-Pacific

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation , commonly known as "LP", is a United States building materials manufacturer. It was founded in 1973 and is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. LP pioneered the U.S. production of oriented strand board panels. Today, LP is the world’s largest producer of OSB, and...

Canada ltd. Division Quebec; one of the largest plants of its kind in North America.

Demographics

Population:

• Population in 2006: 449
• Population in 2001: 422
  • 2001 to 2006 population change: 6.4 %
• Population in 1996: 425
• Population in 1991: 437

Total private dwellings (excluding seasonal cottages): 194

Languages:

• French as first language: 96 %
• English as first language: 2 %
• Other as first language: 2 %