[2] The major industries within the town are the logging mill, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) (formerly Tembec), and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) rail yards.

It was named in honour of Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, a lawyer, journalist, businessman, politician, and most notably the 5th Premier of Quebec.

Around 1887, the Hudson's Bay Company established a fur trade post and store in Chapleau near the Canadian Pacific Railway line.

[6] Louis Hémon, author of the French novel Maria Chapdelaine, was struck and killed by a train in Chapleau on 8 July 1913.

[7] After a fire in 1948, the government was prompted to construct a road to Chapleau to enable logging contractors to truck timber before it rotted.

Protected wildlife include moose, black bears, pygmy shrews, bald eagles and loons.

Chapleau experiences a humid continental climate (Dfb) with warm, rainy summers and long, cold, and snowy winters.

Resolution 28-371, passed by the Chapleau Town Council on September 24, 2012, established the existing agreement between the Township and the CEDC.

This service was designed and implemented by Bell Canada Enterprises, Nortel Networks, and the Township of Chapleau.

An analysis of the impact of high-speed internet on the residents and town of Chapleau was published in 2010 by Jessica Collins and Barry Wellman.

The township's only purely local media service is CFJW-FM 93.7, a special station which airs information from the municipal government in the event of a weather or industrial emergency.