Macamic is a ''

ville ''Ville'' or "town", but its meaning in the Middle Ages was "farm" (from Gallo-Romance VILLA < Latin ''

'') and ...

'' in northwestern

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, in the Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality. It covers 202.34 km² and had a population of 2,734 in the Canada 2011 Census. In addition to Macamic itself, the town's territory also includes the community of Colombourg.

History

Colonization began at the time when the National Transcontinental Railway running through the Abitibi region was completed. The first pioneers, arriving circa 1913, were originally from Saint-Ignace-du-Lac, Pierreville, Stanfold, Nicolet, and Shawinigan. They settled south of Lake Macamic and the new settlement took the lake's name, often written also as Makamik. In the Algonquin language, the name ''Makamik'' means "limping beaver", from ''makis'' (crippled or disabled) and ''amik'' (beaver). In 1914, Makamik had 100 residents. In 1915, the year the post office opened, it had grown to 300, and the following year, when the Parish of Saint-Jean-l'Évangéliste-de-Macamic was formed, there were 500 persons. By 1918, the population had jumped to 1750 and the area was incorporated as the United Township Municipality of Royal-Roussillon-et-Poularies, named after the Royal-Roussillon Regiment of Montcalm's army and after lieutenant-colonel François-Médard de Poularies, commander of this regiment. In 1919, the village itself separated from the united township and was incorporated as Village Municipality of Macamic, having a population of 2300 persons by 1920. In 1924, Poularies Township also separated from Royal-Roussillon-et-Poularies, which became the Parish Municipality of Royal-Roussillon-de-Macamic in 1952, and officially shortened to just Macamic in 1961. In 1955, the Village Municipality of Macamic changed its status to town (''ville''), and was regrouped with the Parish Municipality of Macamic on June 13, 2001, to form the new Town of Macamic. On March 2, 2002, the Municipality of Colombourg (incorporated in 1926) was merged into Macamic.

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, Macamic 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. Population trend:Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census * Population in 2011: 2734 (2006 to 2011 population change: 0.3%) * Population in 2006: 2726 * Population total in 2001: 2838 ** Town of Macamic: 1519 ** Parish Municipality of Macamic: 570 ** Municipality of Colombourg: 749 * Population in 1996: ** Town of Macamic: 1711 ** Parish Municipality of Macamic: 549 ** Municipality of Colombourg: 780 * Population in 1991: ** Town of Macamic: 1833 ** Parish Municipality of Macamic: 584 ** Municipality of Colombourg: 799 Mother tongue: * English as first language: 0% * French as first language: 99.6% * English and French as first language: 0.4% * Other as first language: 0%

Municipal council

* Mayor: Daniel Rancourt * Councillors: Denise Dubois, Dianne Duchesne, Marc Frappier, Rock Morin, Éric Poiré, Yvan Verville

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Incorporated places in Abitibi-Témiscamingue Populated places established in 1913 1913 establishments in Quebec