Thurso is a  town in the Papineau County in the Outaouais region of Quebec. Thurso is located on the Ottawa River. Its population is of arond 2,500.

First settlers come here in 1807. They are immigrants from Scottland. Mr. Sutherland opens a first post office and names it Thurso in honor of a Scottisch town he came from.

The village of Thurso grows very fast thanks to the development of the naval industry in Canada and thus the need of lumber. During the XIX century almost all résidents of the village work in forestry..

Today, Thurso is known for its paper mill Fraser Papers which employs about 300 people in Thurso to produce more than 250,000 tonnes of hardwood kraft market pulp. However, due to the crisis in the lumber industry, the company had financial difficulties and led to its operations temporarily being shut down in 2006 and in 2009.

Almost all residents of Thurso speak French as their first language. English is the first language of only 3 %.

Thurso’s main access roads are Highway (Autoroute) 50, Route 148 (running west-east) and Route 317 (running south-north). Highway 50 is partially open and it is still undr construction, it complements Route 148 and it is Thurso’s second connection to Gatineau and Ottawa.

Address of the City Hall of Thurso:

161, rue Galipeau
Thurso
J0X 3B0

Phone: 819 985-2701

Site Internet: www.ville.thurso.qc.ca

See also:

• Outauouais Region
• Ottawa River