In Québec, cheese has an illustrious history. From the early days of the colony, artisans made cheese using the recipes and traditions of their homeland. The oldest is the cheese from Île d 'Orléans,which was produced from the very beginning but that disappeared in the early 1970s. Starting in 1885, cheddar exported to England was made in Lac-Saint-Jean by the Perron family. This cheese is still being produced at the same place and by the same family.
Monks from France settled in Oka and introduced a cheese of the same name 
in 1893. Other monks undertook a similar endeavor in Saint-Benoît-du Lac in 1943 and continue to diversify to produce interesting varieties. Chief among them are high-quality blue cheeses.
In the Laurentians, Benedictine monks were at the forefront of goat cheese production, which has continued to make great strides, spurring other producers to do likewise.
Other cheeses began to appear in the 1970s and cheddar suddenly had competition. In the beginning, producers tended to imitate popular cheeses such as brie, camembert, gruyere and gouda. Now, cheeses with their own personalities and names are entering the market, e.g. Migneron, Cantonnier, Pied-de-Vent, Sir Laurier, Chèvre noir. There are more and more of these new cheeses and the craze for them is winning over producers. Originally made using cow 's milk, fine cheeses now feature sheep's and goat's milk, and the reputation of imported cheeses of this kind pales in comparison!
Every region of Québec boasts excellent cheeses and there are more with each passing year; in fact, enough to warrant the creation of a "Route du fromage", or cheese appreciation circuit, that winds through Québec, from the Gaspé region to Abitibi, and from Charlevoix to the Eastern Townships.
Warwick hosts an annual festival that brings together cheese producers and cheese lovers from across Québec. The Salon des fromages fins, a gourmet cheese trade show, and the Sélection Caseus contest, organized by the Institut de technologie agroalimentaire de Saint-Hyacinthe, are the high points of this event.