Until July 6, 1996, Matchi-Manitou was a vast unorganized territory encompassing a land area of 16,760 km2 (6,470 sq mi). On that day, most of it was added to the City of Senneterre and a smaller portion to the City of Val-d'Or. It retained only two small non-contiguous areas, of which its eastern part is a section of land straddling both banks of the Chochocouane River and mostly part of the La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve.