I think those who are saying Russell and Embrun are a long drive might want to reconsider their opinion.
Back in August, we bought a 6 year old 2400 sq ft 4 BR house (plus an unfinished basement that screams "man cave") on a 65' x 125' lot in Limoges for $396,000. It's one of the largest style of homes in the area, there are lots of homes that are smaller. I drive to the Mat Campus (LStL II) in Gatineau, and it takes me 40 minutes; 50 minutes if I leave a little late. That's straight up the 417, onto Aviation Pkwy, onto Rockcliffe Pkwy, and across the Cartier Bridge. Same route home, same time. If you're working downtown,
there's a coach bus which meanders through multiple locations in Limoges, through downtown Ottawa and terminates at the Portage complex in Gatineau - cost is $245/month. There's a similar service that runs between Russell/Embrun and Ottawa/Gatineau.
Russell/Embrun/Limoges are pretty nice little communities. There's not much in Limoges (gas station, corner store, 2 pizza shops and a Chinese food joint), but Embrun is only 10 minutes away with a couple of grocery stores, drug stores, a couple of home improvement stores, and assorted smaller shops. Crappy Tire is in Casselman, about 10-15 minutes towards Montreal on the 417. If you plan your shopping trips wisely, Orleans is only 15 minutes away to the north taking the back roads, and there's everything you need there.
Moving from Orleans, the first thing that struck us was how quiet it is out this way. No traffic noise, just the few passenger trains that travel Ottawa/Montreal. We're 5 minutes from Calypso water park, and our six year old can't wait to get into it this summer. My wife is a city girl and never thought she'd like it out here, but she's fallen in love with the neighbourhood. The area is very French speaking but everyone seems happy to switch over to English for me, the anglophone. The public elementary school (JK-6) serves Limoges and Embrun, and has only 245 students - and 100 odd of them are JK or SK. Very small classes.
Let me know if you have any questions about the area.
Edit: rewording