The city of Rouyn appeared after copper was discovered in 1917. Noranda was created later around the Horne mine and foundry. Both were officially constituted as cities in 1926, then merged in 1986. Since 1966, Rouyn and Noranda constitute the capital of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region. It is also the seat of Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue since 1983. The population tends to increase or decrease dramatically depending on the economic situation. The city's population dropped by 5 per cent between the 1996 and 2001 census, before increasing slightly by 0.8 per cent for the 2006 census. This more closely parallels the demographic patterns of Northern Ontario than those of Quebec during this period. Rouyn-Noranda also has other cultural affiliations with Northern Ontario, being the only municipality in Quebec that holds a membership in the Francophone Association of Municipalities of Ontario. The Roman Catholic diocese of Rouyn-Noranda was established on February 9, 1974, by Pope Paul VI, with Mgr. Jean-Guy Hamelin as its first bishop. It is part of the Metropolitan Province of Gatineau. Mgr. Dorylas Moreau was appointed as bishop on November 30, 2001, replacing Mgr. Hamelin. On September 15, 2003, a decree moved the cathedral from Saint-Michel-Archange Church to Saint-Joseph Church.
Communities
As part of the 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec, on January 1, 2002 the municipalities of the former Rouyn-Noranda Regional County Municipality amalgamated into the new City of Rouyn-Noranda. These were: Arntfield, Bellecombe, Beaudry, Cadillac, Cléricy, Cloutier, D'Alembert, Destor, Évain, Lac-Montanier, Lac-Surimau, McWatters, Mont-Brun, Montbeillard, Rapides-des-Cèdres, Rollet, and the former Rouyn-Noranda.
The unemployment rate of the region was 6.6% in 2016. Propair has its headquarters on the property of Rouyn-Noranda Airport. Glencore Copper Canada currently operates the Horne smelter. The smelter is the world's largest processor of electronic scrap containing copper and precious metals. It opened in 1927 at the site of the Horne copper mine. The mine was closed in 1976, but the smelter remained in production. Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue is based in Rouyn-Noranda, with campuses elsewhere.
Culture
Since 1982, the city has been host to the International Cinema Festival of Abitibi-Témiscamingue and since 2003, the host of the Emerging Music Festival in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. Notable cultural figures from Rouyn-Noranda include singer-songwriter Richard Desjardins, actors Paule Baillargeon, Anne Dorval and Bruce Greenwood, and science fiction writerÉric Gauthier. Rouyn-Noranda is known as "La Capitale Nationale du Cuivre" for its extensive copper deposits and mining/smelting activities.
Transportation
The city is served by the Rouyn-Noranda Airport and has a small public transit system of four bus routes serving the urban area. The primary highways through the city are the north–south Route 101 and the east–west Route 117, which is part of the Trans-Canada Highway system.
Media
Almost all media in Rouyn-Noranda and the nearby city of Val-d'Or serves both cities. Although the cities are far enough apart that radio and television stations in the area serve the cities from separate transmitters, almost every broadcast station in either city has a rebroadcaster in the other city. The only nominal exceptions are the cities' separate NRJ stations, although at present even these stations share the majority of their broadcast schedule.
This Russian Orthodox church, with its traditional architecture, was erected between 1955 and 1957 by the Russian community, at the time about twenty families. A guided tour explains the celebration of Mass and the history of immigrant communities and their role in local history. This distinctive church paints a vivid picture of the lives of the people who suffered through the First and Second World Wars and finally came to live in Canada. Discover the cultural wealth and special characteristics of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec's second-most cosmopolitan city after Montreal in the 1930s.
