Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent () is a

regional county municipality The term regional county municipality or RCM (, , MRC) is used in Quebec, Canada to refer to one of 87 county-like political entities. In some older English translations they were called county regional municipality. Regional county municipalit ...

in the

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (Region 09) (, ; ) is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region of Quebec, on the Quebec-Labrador peninsula, Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, Canada. The region runs along the St. Lawrence River and then the Gulf of St. Lawrence, ...

region of far-eastern

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It includes all communities along the

Gulf of Saint Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence is a gulf that fringes the shores of the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, in Canada, plus the islands Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, possessions of France, in ...

between the

Natashquan River The Natashquan is a river in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. It flows south into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Geography The river has its source just south of the boundary between the Atlantic and Saint Lawrence r ...

and the

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

border. It has a total area of according to Quebec's ''

Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l'Occupation du territoire The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (, , abbr. MAMH) is a government ministry in the Canadian province of Quebec. It is responsible for overseeing the provincial government's relations with all Quebec municipalities, regional governments, ...

'' (which includes coastal, lake, and river water territory), and a land area of according to

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 ...

. The population from the

2021 Canadian 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 ...

was 3,382. Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent and the neighbouring

Minganie Regional County Municipality Minganie () is a regional county municipality on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. Its territory includes Anticosti Island. Toponymy Both the largest (128,473 km²) and the second least pop ...

are grouped into the single

census division Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic uni ...

of Minganie–Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent (known as Minganie–Basse-Côte-Nord before 2010). The combined population at the 2021 census was 9,849. Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality was created in July 2010, replacing

Basse-Côte-Nord Basse-Côte-Nord Territory (, , meaning "lower north shore") was a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) in eastern Quebec, Canada. The territory, whose geographical code was 982, was formed in 2002 when it separated from th ...

, which was a

territory equivalent to a regional county municipality An equivalent territory (, ), formally known as territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (), is a territorial unit used by Statistics Canada and the Institut de la statistique du Québec. Quebec is divided into 87 regional county m ...

. It is territorially much larger than Basse-Côte-Nord was, because at the time of its creation it received the (uninhabited) Petit-Mécatina unorganized territory in a transfer from Minganie Regional County Municipality. Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality is characterized by the absence of road connections between the villages that are spread out along its shoreline of the gulf. Except for Blanc-Sablon, all communities are only accessible by boat or plane, although

Quebec Route 138 Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the St. Lawrence River past Montreal to the temporary eastern terminus in Kegashka on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The western terminus is in E ...

is being planned to extend all along the coast. Since the early 1990s, the region's commercial fishing industry has seen a steep decline, but a tourism industry is being developed to promote hunting and fishing outfitters, among other activities.

Subdivisions

There are 6 subdivisions and one native reserve within the RCM: ;Municipalities *

Blanc-Sablon Blanc-Sablon () is a municipality located on the shore of Blanc-Sablon Bay, in the Strait of Belle-Isle, Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent RCM, Côte-Nord, Quebec, Canada. The municipality is made up of the merger of the villages Lourdes-de-Blanc- ...

: * Bonne-Espérance : *

Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent () is a municipality in the regional county municipality of Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas, both al ...

: *

Gros-Mécatina Gros-Mécatina () is a municipality on the Lower North Shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, near the border with Labrador in Quebec, Canada. Located near crab, lobster, and scallop fishing grounds, it is dependent on the fishing business, includi ...

: * Saint-Augustin ;Unorganized territories * Petit-Mécatina ;Native Reserves
(not associated with RCM) * La Romaine *

Pakuashipi Pakuashipi (Pakua Shipi, or Pakua Shipu in Innu-aimun and St-Augustin Indian Settlement) is an Innu community in the Canadian province of Quebec, located on the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in the Côte-Nord region. It is on the west ...

Demographics

Transportation

Access Routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the municipality, including external routes that start or finish at the county border: * Autoroutes ** None * Principal Highways ** * Secondary Highways ** None * External Routes **

River basins

There are a number of large rivers that flow in a generally north–south direction through Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent to enter the Gulf. Near the coast the river basins tend to narrow in towards the river mouth, and between their mouths are areas that drain into the Gulf through smaller streams. From west to east, the larger river basins, which may cover parts of

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

or Minganie, are:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Golfe-Du-Saint-Laurent Regional county municipalities in Côte-Nord States and territories established in 2010 2010 establishments in Quebec