Hudson, Quebec


Hudson is an off-island suburb of Montreal, with a population of 5,411 as of 2021. It is located on the south-west bank of the lower Ottawa River, in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. Situated about west of downtown Montreal, many residents commute to work on the Island of Montreal.
Hudson is a municipality within Greater Montreal. An informal rural agglomeration since the early part of the 19th century, the Town of Hudson was formally created in June 1969 by merging the villages of Hudson, Hudson Heights and Como. A relatively wealthy town, Hudson is known for its large, turn-of-the century houses, many of which border the Lake of Two Mountains. A ferry from Hudson takes cars across the lake to the village of Oka.
Hudson has been compared to culturally and demographically similar Quebec towns such as the Eastern Townships villages of North Hatley and Brome Lake as well as nearby Senneville. All four municipalities border a body of water and include a blend of French and English residents.
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Geography

Hudson is near the edge of suburban Montreal to the east, but also surrounded by substantial farming and forest areas to the west. Large lot sizes, enforced by town bylaws, contribute to the relatively large number of trees in the residential areas. Zoning, infrastructure and building development are occasionally controversial subjects, such as when town residents voted against permitting Gheorghe Zamfir to build a concert hall near the edge of town in the 1980s. In 2001, the town won a victory in Canada's Supreme Court, upholding its by-law 207, which bans pesticide use on public and private property for cosmetic purposes.
The municipal territory of Hudson is delimited as follows:
Thus, the northern limit of Hudson stretches over in the middle of Lac-des-Deux-Montagnes, i.e. between Pointe Graham facing Saint-Placide and Pointe Cavagnal facing Oka. This shoreline strip of land is of a width varying between up to a maximum of to the west.

Physical environment

The bedrock under Hudson is Cambrian Period sandstone. This is overlain by marine clay or stony sandy loam glacial till. On the surface are sands which were deposited by air or water. Most of Hudson is built on the Ste-Sophie loamy fine sand, which is well drained and drought-prone despite its clay base; undisturbed areas have classic podzol development. Several blocks away from the river the sands become deeper, coarser and even more xeric; they are mapped as Upland sand which is also a podzol.

History

The local post office opened in 1841, originally named Pointe-à-Cavagnol in honour of Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial. In 1845, a glass factory was established there by George Matthews, whose wife was called Elisa Hudson. Her name was adopted by the post office in 1865.
In 1877, the Village Municipality of Como was formed when it separated from Vaudreuil. This village was named after Lake Como in Italy due to its scenic location on Lake of Two Mountains. It was renamed to Hudson in 1921.
4 years later, in 1925, the new Village Municipality of McNaughton was split off from Hudson. The following year, Hudson was renamed to Hudson Heights, and McNaughton took the name Hudson.
In June 1969, the Town of Hudson was formed by amalgamating the village municipalities of Hudson, Hudson Heights, and Como.
In April 2023, 2898 Hudson residents lost power when an historic ice storm swept through southern Quebec.

Pesticide ban

The town gained notoriety in 1991 by becoming the first in Quebec, Canada to ban several forms of lawn and garden pesticides used to kill insects and weeds. The town was sued by two pesticide companies and on June 28, 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the town's favour. The Hudson example spurred many other municipalities and provinces in Canada to enact similar bans of pesticides. The Hudson case is the subject of a 2009 American documentary movie titled A Chemical Reaction by filmmaker Brett Plymale.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Hudson had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.
Unlike the surrounding mainly French-speaking municipalities, Hudson has a predominantly English-speaking population, although many residents speak both languages.
Ethnic originPopulationPercentage
English1,46535%
Canadian1,24029%
Scottish94522%
French92522%
Irish83520%
German45511%
British Isles, n.i.e.1854%
Polish1754%
Italian1504%
Ukrainian1353%

Events and tourist attractions

Tourist attractions of Hudson include:
  • Artistes Hudson Artists, Quebec's oldest continuing English language art club
  • Hudson & Region Studio Tour
  • The Hudson Players Club, Quebec's oldest continually operating theatre company, English or French, professional or amateur
  • The Village Theatre
  • The Hudson Film Society
  • Greenwood Centre for Living History
  • St. James', St. Mary's, Wyman Memorial United and St. Thomas Aquinas churches
  • Chateau du Lac
  • The Hudson Music Fest
Notable annual events in Hudson include the Hudson Street Fair, the Hudson Yacht Club Labour Day Regatta, the FruitBowl Regatta, Canada Day festivities, Shiver Fest, the Turn on the Lights Festival, the Hudson & Region Studio Tour, the Home & Gardens Tour, the Hudson Festival of Canadian Film, the Santa Claus Parade and the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Hudson Yacht Club

The Hudson Yacht Club is a private boating and social club founded in 1909 on the shores of Lake of Two Mountains.
The club annually hosts the "FruitBowl" regatta, often attended by 100+ young sailors from the Optimist class, ILCA, and Club 420 class.
The yacht club is also famous for its annual Labour Day Regatta, held since 1947, attended by larger monohull sailboats. The competition is characterized by the long-distance leg, starting at the Île aux Tourtes Bridge and sailing up the Ottawa River to the Pointe aux Anglais lighthouse. The finish line is at the T-pier at HYC, where the race committee boat is anchored.
In 2023, the Hudson Yacht Club was selected to host the 2024 Canadian Optimist Championship, where 129 athletes attended.
The HYC has published two retrospectives: Hudson Yacht Club: Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Year in 1984 and Our Spirit Lives On: A Celebration of Hudson Yacht Club's First 100 Years, 1909-2009 in 2009.

Government

Municipal council

The Quebec Cities and Towns Act requires all towns the size of Hudson to have a municipal council of six councillors and one mayor, elected by the local population every four years. The mayor is elected by all Hudson residents, while the town is divided into six wards to elect the councillors. Given the small size of the town, council seats are often won by acclamation. Council meets once per month in the Stephen Shaar Community Centre, named after the mayor who served until 2004. Municipal administrators work in the Town Hall. Town council is responsible for things such as water supply, local road maintenance, zoning, construction permits, and administration of parks. Some responsibilities, such as regional planning, is shared with the county. Council receives its revenues through property taxes, which it establishes. The town maintains its own volunteer fire department and a local patrol to enforce municipal by-laws.

Former mayors

List of former mayors:
  • George N. Armstrong
  • Job Taylor Bradbury
  • Gilbert Michael Elliott
  • Stephen F. Shaar
  • Elizabeth Corker
  • Diane Paciente
  • Ed Prévost
  • Jamie Nicholls
  • Chloe Hutchison

Economy

Hudson's local economy is based on trade and services. Catering establishments and places to socialize include for example the Café Carambola. The problem of parking is slowing down the development of new activities. The Hudson Business Development Corporation comprises 108 companies. Agricultural activity, which is rather limited, includes apple cultivation at Hudson's Orchards. The main commercial buildings are the Manoir Cavagnal, the IGA Plaza, the Whitlock Golf Club and Country Club and the Burnet Plus Medicentre.

Infrastructure

Transportation

A single street, Main Road, traverses Hudson east to west, while the southern border of the town mainly runs along Quebec Route 342. Although many residents commute by automobile, a commuter train to Montreal stops in Hudson once per weekday in either direction.
The town is also served by the 21 bus from the Exo La Presqu'Île, terminating at the Vaudreuil train station.

Ferry to Oka

Since 1909, a ferry across the Lake of Two Mountains has run from Hudson to Oka during the spring, summer and fall. Ferries are self-propelled and take ten to fifteen minutes to carry multiple automobiles, bike passengers, and foot passengers for a fee. Prior to the change to self-propelled ferries, a system of barges were towed across the lake by ropes attached to diesel powered tugboats.
During the winter months, a tolled ice bridge allows vehicular traffic between the two towns.

Water and sewage

Hudson has a municipal water and sewage system. The sewage system was built in the first decade of the 21st century and serves the central area of town. It is relatively common for houses outside the central area to use well water and/or a septic tank.

Municipal facilities

The town operates the Stephen Shaar Community Centre, teen centre and a municipal outdoor swimming pool. The town also has a number of parks, including St. Thomas Park, Thompson park, Benson Park, Jack Layton Park and Sandy Beach.

Education

The town has three schools, of which two are English and one French, as well as six churches: one Baptist, one Catholic, two Anglican, one United, and one Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
Commission Scolaire des Trois-Lacs operates Francophone schools.
  • École Saint-Thomas
Lester B. Pearson School Board operates Anglophone schools.

Notable people