Haut-Madawaska is an incorporated rural community in Madawaska County within the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is located in the

New Brunswick Panhandle Madawaska County (2016 population 32,741), also known as the "New Brunswick Panhandle", is located in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada. Over 90% of the county's population speaks French. Its Francophone population are known as "Brayons." Fo ...

and was formed in 2017 through the amalgamation of four villages with five local service districts and a portion of a sixth local service district. On 1 January 2023, Haut-Madawaska will become part of the new town of Haut-Madawaska, joining with the village of Lac-Baker.

History

In a 2016 plebiscite, the residents of five local service districts (the parishes of Baker Brook, Clair, Lac Baker, Saint-François, and Saint-Hilaire), part of a sixth local service district (the parish of Madawaska) and four villages ( Baker Brook, Clair, Saint-François de Madawaska and Saint-Hilaire) voted 493 to 299 in favour of incorporating a new rural community under the name of Haut-Madawaska. The incorporation took effect July 1, 2017. The plebiscite was the second in as many years. In 2015, a similar plebiscite was held that also included a fifth village, Lac Baker. The residents of all communities involved voted in favour of incorporation as a rural community with the exception of Lac Baker's residents, thereby defeating the proposal. As a result of the Higgs-Allain Local Governance Reforms, Lac Baker will nonetheless be amalgamated with the rest of Haut-Madawaska on January 1, 2023.

Economy

The region's economy is focused on two industry sectors with some of the main players outlined below: 1) Food industry (Saint-François-de-Madawaska is known as the province's Chicken Capital) * Groupe Westco (an integrated poultry * Nadeau Poultry (a poultry processing plant, part of the Maple Lodge Farms company) * Sunnymel (a poultry processing plant, partnership between Groupe Westco and Olymel) * Les Industries Corriveau (a processing plant for buckwheat flour) 2) Wood products (part of the Northern New Brunswick wood products cluster) * JD Irving Hardwoods (a hardwood grading and kiln drying facility, part of the JD Irving Group) * Waska (a manufacturer of cedar shingles) * JMN Enterprises (a manufacturer of kitchen accessories, BBQ accessories, and hardwood components) * Fiready (a manufacturer of kiln dried firewood) * Canusa Cedar (a manufacturer of cedar shingles) The region is known for its hardworking labor and close to full employment with recurring periods of zero or negative unemployment.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Haut-Madawaska had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Government

The current mayor is Jean-Pierre Ouellet (a former minister in the provincial government).

References

External links