Prior to its foundation, parts of Aylmer, like most surrounding areas of the Ottawa region, were often occupied as summer camps by the Algonquin First Nations population.

It was only during the early 19th century that colonization began in the region; during the same period the foundations of the communities of Hull and Bytown were being established.

[3] Almost 40,000 acres of land in the Township of Hull were granted to Philemon Wright, an American ex-pat from Woburn, Massachusetts who was the pioneer and founder of the first permanent settlement of the Ottawa Valley.

In that same year of 1818, Philemon's oldest son, Philemon Junior, founded the village when he cleared 30 acres of the Chaudière Lake Farm (a supply farm for the timber industry) at Turnpike End, improved the Chaudière Lake Landing, and built the Wright Hotel, a tavern and two stores, laying down the infrastructure of the village.

[4] The landing at Turnpike End had become a busy stopping-off point so the hotel, tavern, and stores were built to accommodate all the travelers who journeyed to and from the Upper Ottawa River.

[10] With the important shipbuilding yards on the banks of the Ottawa and its significant growth as one of the region's economic powerhouses of that time,[11] The Aylmer Boating Club was founded in 1890.

Numerous businesses and shopping malls were built along the Main Street including les Galeries Aylmer and the Glenwood Plaza, the latter being destroyed by a fire in 2005 and rebuilt.

[2] Aylmer also saw many power outages and very dangerous driving conditions throughout the North American ice storm of 1998, which left more than 4 million people without electricity, most of them in southern Quebec, western New Brunswick and Eastern Ontario, some of them for an entire month.

Before the amalgamation of the Urban Community Region of the Outaouais, Aylmer had a population exceeding 40,000 with additional growth after 2002 stemming from development in several areas of the sector, including the expansion of the Plateau de la Capitale neighbourhood which started in the former city of Hull in the early 1990s.

In recent years, efforts have been made to create the Boucher Forest protected area, in light of increasing suburban sprawl and housing development.

The forest is a reservoir of biodiversity in the region; at-risk and endangered species such as Panax quinquefolium (American ginseng), and Juglans cinerea (butternut) exist in this threatened ecosystem.

Aylmer is served by provincial Route 148, known as the boulevard des Allumettières within the city of Gatineau, which extends from the Ontario border near Pembroke, to Montreal, about two hours away.

Other main roads include the Chemin d'Aylmer/rue Principale and Lucerne Blvd (running east and west)., Vanier, Eardley, Broad/Klock, Wilfrid-Lavigne, Mountain Rd., Pink Rd.

The STO is planning a bus rapid transit system known as Rapibus that would connect the Hull and Gatineau sectors, with the possibility of an expansion to Aylmer.

This could be due to a perception among residents that the Ducharme administration was more focused on the urban core of the new city, as opposed to the periphery, as well as the rapid development of green-spaces into residential subdivisions.

Recently, the City of Gatineau administration had plans to reuse a former landfill site on Cook Road in the north end of the sector to build a new composting plant.

Residents of Aylmer were particularly against the amalgamation, citing fears of reduced municipal services, more suburban development, and a loss of cultural identity, as well as geographic differences (Hull and Gatineau arguably constitute a region of conurbation, whereas Aylmer was at the time separated by an expanse of sparsely inhabited green space).

When the Quebec Liberal Party won the 2003 provincial election, the newly amalgamated former cities were given the opportunity to demerge.

A referendum was held to decide the fate of the City of Gatineau which required a double vote: at least 35% of eligible voters from a given sector had to cast ballots, and more than 50% of these had to be in favour of de-amalgamation.

This meant that the sector of Aylmer would receive no support from the administration that determined what was built where, but would still have to contribute 100% to the costs of the changes voted by the city of Gatineau.

Prior to the merger, Aylmer's residents and municipal laws had strongly opposed extensive construction programs.

Sources:[18][19] The Western Québec School Board provides English and French immersion education to primary and secondary students.

The Commission scolaire des portages de l'Outaouais provides French education to primary and secondary students.