Amos is a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
in northwestern
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, Canada, on the
Harricana River. It is the seat of
Abitibi Regional County Municipality.
Amos is the main town on the Harricana River, and the smallest of the three primary towns — after
Rouyn-Noranda
Rouyn-Noranda (; Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population 42,313) is a city on Osisko Lake in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada.
The city of Rouyn-Noranda is coextensive with a territory equivalent to a regional county municipalit ...
and
Val-d'Or — in the
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 147,082 people as of the 2021 cens ...
region of Quebec. The smaller communities of Lac-Gauvin and Saint-Maurice-de-Dalquier are also within the municipal boundaries of Amos.
History
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land (), or Prince Rupert's Land (), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The right to "sole trade and commerce" over Rupert's Land was granted to Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), based a ...
, in which Abitibi was located, was owned by the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
and was bought by Canada in 1869. Abitibi itself was then annexed to the province in Quebec on June 13, 1898, by an act of the federal Parliament.
Amos was the starting point for the colonization of the region of
Abitibi that began in 1910. The municipality was established in 1914 while the city itself was chartered in 1925. The name of the city came from the maiden name of the wife of Sir
Lomer Gouin
Sir Jean Lomer Gouin (March 19, 1861 – March 28, 1929) was a Canadian politician. He served as 13th premier of Quebec, as a Cabinet minister in the federal government of Canada, and as the 15th lieutenant governor of Quebec.
Biography
...
, then premier of Quebec.
A related municipality was created in 1917 under the name 'Municipalité de la partie ouest des cantons unis de Figuery et Dalquier' (Municipality of the western part of the united townships of Figuery and Dalquier) which changed its name to Amos-Ouest in 1949. In 1974 the municipality fused with the city of Amos proper. Another related municipality was created in 1918 under the name 'Municipalité de la partie est des cantons Figuery et Dalquier' (Municipality of the eastern part of the united townships of Figuery and Dalquier), which also changed its name later 1950 to Amos-Est. The municipality was finally integrated into the city of Amos itself in 1987. In 2025, The municipality of Saint-Félix-de-Dalquier was annexed into Amos.
Geography
Climate
Amos has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Dfb''), just above a
subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...
(''Dfc''), with warm summers, frigid winters and heavy precipitation for most of the year.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...
, Amos 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.
Mother tongue:
* English as first language: 0.7%
* French as first language: 97.3%
* English and French as first language: 0.5%
* Other as first language: 1.2%
Economy
Its main resources are spring water, gold, and
wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
products, including
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
.
In 2012, Quebec Lithium Corp. re-opened Canada's first
lithium
Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the ...
mine, which had operated as an underground mine from 1955–65. They are planning to carve an open pit mine over
pegmatite
A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic c ...
dikes. (The pegmatite is about 1% lithium carbonate.) The mine is about north of Val-d'Or, southeast of Amos, and km west of
Barraute. It is in the northeast corner of
La Corne Township. Access to the mine is via paved road from Val d'Or.
Government
The current mayor of the city is Sébastien D'Astous, who took office on February 20, 2015, after winning a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
following the death in office of former Mayor
Ulrick Chérubin in September 2014. In the by-election D'Astous, formerly a city councillor, defeated Donald Blanchet, who had served as interim mayor between Chérubin's death and the by-election.
In the
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...
, Amos is within the
electoral district
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
of
Abitibi-Ouest, represented by
Coalition Avenir Québec
The Coalition Avenir Québec (, , CAQ) is a Quebec nationalism, Quebec nationalist, Autonomism in Quebec, autonomist and conservatism, conservative MNA
Suzanne Blais. In the
House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...
, the city is in the
Abitibi—Témiscamingue district, represented by
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...
MP
Sébastien Lemire.
Amos is the seat of the judicial district of Abitibi.
Mayors
List of former mayors:
*
Hector Authier, 1914-1918
*
David Gourd, 1918-1921
["David Gourd, M.P., Long Leader in Amos and Abitibi District". ''Val-d'Or Star'', July 8, 1949.]
*Joseph Grenier, 1921-1923
*J.O. Germain, 1923-1928
*T.A. Lalonde, 1928-1929
*J.É. Montambault, 1929-1931
*Julien Beaudry, 1931-1934
*G.A. Brunet, 1934-1939
*Fridolin Simard, 1939-1943
*G.A. Brunet, 1943-1947
*Fridolin Simard, 1947-1957
*G.A. Brunet, 1957-1965
*Gérard Magny, 1965-1971
*
Jean-Hugues Boutin, 1971-1974
*Laurier St-Laurent, 1974-1982
*Marcel Lesyk, 1982-1987
*Jean-Paul Veilleux, 1987-1990
*André Brunet, 1990-1998
*Murielle Angers-Turpin, 1998-2002
*
Ulrick Chérubin, 2002-2014
*Donald Blanchet, 2014-2015
*Sébastien D'Astous, 2015–present
Infrastructure
Passenger trains no longer serve Amos, but the town once had a
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...
station.
Amos is served by Quebec highways
109,
111 and
395 and
Amos/Magny Airport.
Media
Notable people
*
Fany Britt, playwriter
*
Maxime Brinck-Croteau, olympian
*
Karol-Ann Canuel, cyclist
*
Ulrick Chérubin, first black mayor of the Province of Québec
*
Roy Dupuis, actor
*
Keven Lacombe, cyclist
*
Guillaume Lefebvre, hockey player
*
Marc Lemay, politician and lawyer
*
Martin Lemay, politician
*
Pierrick Naud, cyclist
*
Marc Ouellet, cardinal
*
Mathieu Roy, hockey player
*
Nicolas Roy, hockey player
*
Samian, rapper and actor
References
External links
*
Ville d'Amos
*
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Quebec