Matane is a town on the

Gaspé Peninsula The Gaspé Peninsula, also known as Gaspesia (; ), is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec, Canada, into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick o ...

in Quebec, Canada, on the south shore of the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

at the mouth of the

Matane River The Matane River is a river flowing in La Matanie Regional County Municipality, in administrative region of Bas-Saint-Laurent, on the Gaspé Peninsula, in the province of Quebec, Canada, which empties into the Saint Lawrence River at the city of ...

. The town is the seat for the

La Matanie Regional County Municipality La Matanie is a regional county municipality, located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, in Canada. From January 1, 1982 to March 9, 2013, it was known as Matane. The county seat is the city of Matane. Subdivisions There are 12 subdivi ...

. In addition to Matane itself, the town's territory also includes the communities of Petit-Matane and Saint-Luc-de-Matane. There is a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

service which crosses the river to

Baie-Comeau Baie-Comeau (; 2021 city population 20,687; CA population 26,643) is a city located approximately north-east of Quebec City in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River nea ...

and

Godbout Godbout is a village municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the mouth of the Godbout River on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Godbout is accessible via Quebec Route 138 and by ferry from Matane. E ...

on the north shore as well as a

rail ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ...

service to Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles.

Etymology

The name Matane was first assigned to the river by

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...

as "''Mantanne''" in 1603. Its meaning is open to different interpretations, with the most common one being that it comes from the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...

word ''mtctan'' meaning "beaver pond", since the region had an abundant beaver population. It could also be a

Maliseet The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (, also spelled Malecite), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territory ...

word for "spinal cord", referring to the course of the Matane River; or from the word ''Mattawa''/''Matawin'', meaning "meeting of the waters". Finally, it could be an abbreviation of the word ''matandipives'', meaning "shipwreck".

History

In 1603,

visited the area and considered the location as "pleasant enough". In 1616 merchants known as the Rochelais from

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

were the first Europeans to spend the winter. Matane was used as a trading post for the Rochelais who were exchanging European goods for furs with the

Mi'kmaq people The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations in Canada, First Nations people of the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's ...

. In 1672, the land on both sides of the Matane River was granted as a seignory to Mathieu D'Amours, which led to the first settlements shortly after. The

lived there until 1845. In 1845, the place was first incorporated as the Municipality of Matane, but dissolved two years later. In 1855, it was reestablished as the Parish Municipality of Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane, named after the local parish. In 1893, the main population centre at the mouth of the Matane River separated from the parish municipality and was incorporated as the Village Municipality of Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane, which changed status and name to City of Matane in 1937 when city status was granted. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Matane merchants decided to strengthen their economic and maritime bonds with the North side of the Saint Lawrence River. They ran a service of a regular ferry in 1962. In 1978 a

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train f ...

system was in place. On September 26, 2001, the neighbouring municipalities of Petit-Matane, Saint-Luc-de-Matane, and Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane were amalgamated into the Town of Matane.

Tourism

Since Matane is the first step to Gaspé's tourist circuit it receives and accommodates many passing tourists. The old lighthouse of Matane was transformed into a tourist information centre with a panoramic view of its surroundings. The Matane River is known as the "River-School" in Quebec because so many people learn to fish there. The river itself is 101 km in length and is the only place in Quebec where you can fish in the town square. A number of people from Matane and the area are well known locally or internationally, including artist Claude Picher and

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

players such as

Yves Racine Yves Racine (born February 7, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Biography As a youth, Racine played in the 1981 and 1982 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments ...

. There are a number of art galleries in Matane that support local talent. In 2000 Matane was named East Quebec's industrial capital.

Districts

The town is divided in 4 districts that match the former municipalities before amalgamation in 2001: *District 1 - Matane *District 2 - Saint-Jérome-de-Matane *District 3 - Petit-Matane *District 4 - Saint-Luc-de-Matane

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population 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 ...

, Matane 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: * Population total in 2001: 14,948 ** Matane (''ville''): 11,635 ** Petit-Matane (municipality): 1365 ** Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane (parish municipality): 1154 ** Saint-Luc-de-Matane (municipality): 839 * Population in 1996: ** Matane (''ville''): 12,364 ** Petit-Matane (municipality): 1360 ** Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane (parish municipality): 1165 ** Saint-Luc-de-Matane (municipality): 899 Mother tongue: * English as first language: 0.5% * French as first language: 98.5% * English and French as first language: 0.4% * Other as first language: 0.5%

Industry

Matane has a diversified economy. The city is known for its shrimp, which are processed there: the

northern prawn ''Pandalus borealis'' is a species of caridean shrimp found in cold parts of the northern Atlantic and northern Pacific Oceans, although the latter population now often is regarded as a separate species, ''P. eous''. The Food and Agriculture Orga ...

(known locally as ''crevettes de Matane'') are renowned throughout the world for their high quality. Recent advances in

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

have also helped raise awareness of the region. Matane has the largest wind farm in Quebec in addition to having two windmill manufacturing plants: Marmen and

Enercon Enercon GmbH is a wind turbine manufacturer based in Aurich, Lower Saxony, Germany. It has been the market leader in Germany since the mid-1990s. Enercon has production facilities in Germany (Aurich, Emden and Magdeburg), Brazil, India, Canada, ...

. The city also has a

Sappi Sappi Limited, originally incorporated as ''South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limited'' in 1936, is a South African pulp and paper company with global operations. Products and operation South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limite ...

factory in the field of pulp and paper (separated thermochemical pulp). There is also a

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

product processing plant: ''Les Cuisines gaspésiennes'', which exports to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Matane also has a

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

and a large concrete pipe factory, Béton Provincial, and a sawmill. Matane was also home of the first

Dollarama Dollarama is a Canadian dollar store retail chain headquartered in Montreal. Since 2009 it is Canada's largest retailer of items for five dollars or less. Dollarama has over 1400 stores and has a presence in every province of Canada; Ontario has ...

wich open in April 1992. The former Larry Rossy chain decided to transform its banner into Dollarama and, with the success of the Matane store, the management decided to change all the Larry Rossy banners into Dolloramas.https://www.dollarama.com/en-CA/corp/about-us

References

External links

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{{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec