Caniapiscau () is a vast unorganized territory in the

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadous ...

region of Quebec, Canada, part of

Caniapiscau Regional County Municipality Caniapiscau is a regional county municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is Fermont. The census groups Caniapiscau RCM with neighbouring Sept-Rivières into the single census division of Sept-Rivières—Caniapiscau. ...

. The territory is home to the huge

Caniapiscau Reservoir The Caniapiscau Reservoir () is a reservoir on the upper Caniapiscau River in the Côte-Nord administrative region of the Canadian province of Quebec. It is the largest body of water in Quebec and the second largest reservoir in Canada. The C ...

, the largest body of water in Quebec. The reservoir was named after Lake Caniapiscau that was flooded in 1981 during the formation of the reservoir. The name comes from the

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

Innu The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period ( French for "mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in the ...

term ''kaniapiskau'' or ''kaneapiskak'' which means "rocky point" or "place where there is a rocky point".

Albert Peter Low Albert Peter Low (May 24, 1861 – October 9, 1942) was a Canadian geologist, explorer and athlete. His explorations of 1893–1895 were important in declaring Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic, and eventually defining the border between Quebec ...

had noted in 1895 that "a high rocky headland jutts into the lake." He probably referred to the northwest facing peninsula that gives the reservoir the shape of an arc as we know it now. In the 19th century, Lake Caniapiscau was frequented by hunters and fur traders. In 1834, the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

opened there an outpost to link its facilities in the

James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost par ...

region with those of

Ungava Bay Ungava Bay (french: baie d'Ungava, ; iu, ᐅᖓᕙ ᑲᖏᖅᓗᒃ/) is a bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik (far northern Quebec) from Baffin Island. Although not geographically apparent, it is considered to be a marginal sea of the ...

. The Kaniapiskau Post closed in 1870.

Community

Caniapiscau () is a small community without a permanent population, just north of the

. It was formed as a temporary worksite in 1974 for workers involved in the construction of the dams and floodgates of this reservoir. The reservoir was built as part of the

James Bay Project The James Bay Project (french: projet de la Baie-James) refers to the construction of a series of hydroelectric power stations on the La Grande River in northwestern Quebec, Canada by state-owned utility Hydro-Québec, and the diversion of neigh ...

that gave rise to the La Grande hydroelectric complex. Accessible only by air from 1974 to 1976, when a temporary landing strip was cleared on a nearby frozen lake, by an ice road from James Bay from 1977 to 1979 and, since late 1979, by the long gravel

Trans-Taiga Road The Trans-Taiga Road (french: Route Transtaïga) is an extremely remote wilderness road in northern Quebec, Canada. It is long to Centrale Brisay and another along the Caniapiscau Reservoir, all of it unpaved. Description The road's northeast ...

(French: ''Route Transtaïga'') which branches off the

James Bay Road The James Bay Road (french: Route de la Baie James), officially the Route Billy-Diamond Highway, is a remote wilderness highway winding its way through the Canadian Shield in northwestern Quebec and reaches into the James Bay region. It starts in ...

(French: ''Route de la Baie James''). The worksite was closed after construction ended towards 1984. The between Caniapiscau and Brisay is not recommended for vehicles other than four-wheel drive due to large rocks on the coarse-gravel surface. The site is now used by an outfitter (

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

) and there is also a commercial

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

base.

Demographics

Population trend: * Population in 2011: 0 * Population in 2006: 0 * Population in 2001: 0 * Population in 1996: 0 * Population in 1991: 0

Transport

Caniapiscau is accessible by car via the

. Located approximately 75 km south of Radisson, the Trans-Taiga highway is an unpaved gravel road. Along the road there are several campgrounds where users are able to spend the night. Donations are accepted, but not required. There are also several outfitters located along the way. Some are only open during certain times of the year, however Pourvoirie Mirage is open all year round and can be found at km 358. Food and gas may be purchased at this location. There is also an aerodrome in this region.

References

External links

Caniapiscau
( Hydro-Québec)
Caniapiscau Reservoir
{{authority control Unorganized territories in Côte-Nord Communities in Côte-Nord Hudson's Bay Company trading posts James Bay Project