The creation of regional county municipalities stems from the adoption by the Quebec government of the Act respecting land use planning and development on November 6, 1979. Two years later, on November 25, 1981, the MRC des Maskoutains was born later.
Located in the administrative region of Montérégie (16), the MRC des Maskoutains covers an area of 1,310 km2. Its territory was defined following a popular consultation. The number of local municipalities in the RCM has gone from 24 to 17 following amalgamations that occurred mainly in the agglomeration of Saint-Hyacinthe. For more details on local municipalities, see the Territorial Profile section.
