Lac-au-Saumon () is a municipality in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

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, ...

, located in La Matapédia Regional Council Municipality in the Matapédia Valley. The municipality had a population of 1,488 as of the

Canada 2021 Census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, 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%, whic ...

. The village is located on the shores of the eponymous ''Lac au Saumon'' (French for "Salmon Lake") that is an enlargement of the Matapédia River. It was known as a spawning ground for salmon, but major pollution from mills made this a thing of the past.

History

The area opened up to colonization in 1863, and the Mission of Saint-Edmond-du-Lac-au-Saumon was founded in 1876. But it was not until 1896 that real settlement began with the arrival of a group of

Acadians The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French colonial empire, French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern Americ ...

from the

Magdalen Islands The Magdalen Islands (, ) are a Canadian archipelago in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Since 2005, the 12-island archipelago is divided into two municipalities: the majority-francophone Municipality of Îles-de-la-Madeleine and the majority-angloph ...

. The following year the Lac-au-Saumon post office opened. In 1904, the Municipality of Saint-Edmond was incorporated when it separated from the Parish Municipality of Saint-Benoît-Joseph-Labre (now

Amqui Amqui (; ) is a town in eastern Quebec, Canada, at the base of the Gaspé peninsula in Bas-Saint-Laurent. Located at the confluence of the Humqui and Matapédia Rivers, it is the seat of La Matapédia Regional County Municipality. The main acce ...

). The following year, the Village Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon was established. On December 17, 1997, the Village Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon and the Municipality of Saint-Edmond were amalgamated to form the new Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon.

Geography

Lac-au-Saumon is located approximately 10 kilometers between the two main towns of La Matapédia,

and

Causapscal Causapscal (; ) is a city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, located in La Matapédia Regional County Municipality. It is located at the confluence of the Matapédia River, Matapédia and Causapscal Rivers, al ...

, on Route 132 which is the main communication axis of

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (, 'Lower Saint-Lawrence) is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlan ...

and Gaspésie. The latter passes on the north side of the lake although the bulk of the village is located to the south. North of the lake, we find the

Notre Dame Mountains The Notre Dame Mountains are a portion of the Appalachian Mountains, extending from the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec to the Green Mountains (Vermont), Green Mountains of Vermont. The range runs from northeast to southwest, forming the southern ed ...

which are part of the Chic-Chocs mountains.

Demographics

Canada Census data before 2001 (pre-merger): * Combined population in 1996: 1,553 (+0.06% from 1991) ** Lac-au-Saumon (village): 1,314 (+0.3% from 1991) ** Saint-Edmond (municipality): 239 (-1.2% from 1991) * Combined population in 1991: 1,552 ** Lac-au-Saumon (village): 1,310 ** Saint-Edmond (municipality): 242

Economy

Lac-au-Saumon's economic development is linked to agriculture and forestry, particularly wood processing.

Sports

Lac-au-Saumon currently host two

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

teams from the local league.

Government

Municipal council

* Mayor: Gérard Grenier * Councillors: Gérald Ruel, Patrick Bacon, Jocelyne Bérubé, Chantal Gagné, Alain Fradette, Valérie Simard
Mayors of the Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon
(following the merger with Saint-Edmond) *Gérard Grenier 2017- *Michel Chevarie 2009-2017 *Jean-Claude Dumoulin 2005-2009 *Aurélien Beaulieu 1998-2005 *Jean-Claude Dumoulin 1997-1998
Mayors of the former Village Municipality of Lac-au-Saumon *Joseph Gaudreau 1905-1909 *Hector Fournier 1909-1910 *Zénon Routhier 1910-1912 *J.-A. Burton 1912-1913 *Alphonse Landry 1913-1915 *M.-E. Castonguay 1915-1917 *P.-A. St-Laurent 1917-1921 *Ernest Deschênes 1921-1928 *Ferdinand Paradis 1928-1933 *Léo Marmen 1933-1937 *Ludger Leblanc 1937-1945 *Charles Lavoie 1945-1947 *Florian Drouin 1947-1949 *Ferdinand Dupont 1949-1960 *Adrien Ferlatte 1960-1963 *Joseph-Marie St-Amand 1963-1965 *Alphonse Richard 1965-1967 *Ghislain Roy 1967-1973 *Guy Garon 1973-1976 *Joseph O. Bérubé 1976-1978 *Alphonse Richard 1978-1982 *Jean-Guy Gagnon 1982-1983 *Roland Poitras 1983-1987 *Daniel Lamarre 1987-1993 *Jean-Claude Dumoulin 1993-1997

References

{{authority control Municipalities in Quebec Incorporated places in Bas-Saint-Laurent La Matapédia Regional County Municipality