Percé () is a
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
located on the shores of the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, near the tip of the
Gaspé Peninsula
The Gaspé Peninsula, also known as Gaspesia (, ; ), is a peninsula along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec, Canada, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick on it ...
, in
Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine,
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.
Percé, member of the association of
Most Beautiful Villages of Quebec, is mainly a tourist location particularly well known for the attractions of
Percé Rock and
Bonaventure Island. UNESCO Global Geoparks accredited Percé Geopark in 2018.
In addition to Percé itself, the town's territory also includes the communities of Barachois, Belle-Anse, Bougainville, Bridgeville, Cap-d'Espoir, Cannes-de-Roches, Coin-du-Banc, L'Anse-à -Beaufils, Pointe-Saint-Pierre, Rameau, Saint-Georges-de-Malbaie, and Val-d'Espoir.
Percé is the seat of the
judicial district
A judicial district or legal district denotes the territorial area for which a legal court (usually a district court) has jurisdiction.
By continent Europe Austria
In texts concerning Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Aus ...
of Gaspé. Within the territory of the city, the Railway station is also called Percé.
History
The area was within the traditional homelands of the
Mi'kmaq people
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...
, who called the place ''Sigsôg'' ("steep rocks" or "crags") and ''Pelseg'' ("fishing place"). In 1603,
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...
visited the area and named the famous rock ''Isle Percée'' ("Pierced Island"). During the 17th century, the place was used primarily as a stop-over for ships travelling to Quebec.

Used as a seasonal fishing centre during the
New France
New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
era, permanent settlement began in the early 19th century with the arrival of Irish, French Canadian, and
Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
natives. In 1801 the Parish of Saint-Michel-de-Percé was founded.
[ Percé became the most important fishing location on the ]Gaspé Peninsula
The Gaspé Peninsula, also known as Gaspesia (, ; ), is a peninsula along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec, Canada, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick on it ...
after Charles Robin, a native of Jersey, began his fishing establishment. Old buildings of the Charles Robin Company can still be seen there.
In 1842, the geographic township of Percé was formed, and 3 years later, the place was incorporated as a township municipality.[ In 1847, it was abolished, but on July 1, 1855, it was reestablished. On February 24, 1868, the Township Municipality of Percé was dissolved and split into the Municipality of Anse-du-Cap and the Municipality of Percé.]
In 1942, the Royal Canadian Navy made a decision to expand Direction Finding and wireless intercept at Cap D'Espoir to a 24-hour basis in order to provide more bearings on German U-boats and to intercept enemy radio traffic. The Department of Transport placed its facilities at the disposal of the RCN. On May 21/45, the Canadian Naval Service approved the closing down and disposal of Harbour Grace and Cap D'Espoir intercept stations.
In 1971, Percé was greatly expanded and gained ''ville'' (town) status when it amalgamated with these 5 surrounding municipalities (with year of original incorporation):[
* Municipality of Barachois (1953)
* Municipality of Bridgeville (1933)
* Municipality of Cap-d'Espoir (1935)
* Municipality of Saint-Pierre-de-la-Malbaie N°1 (1876)
* Municipality of Saint-Pierre-de-la-Malbaie N°2 (1876)
]
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 ...
, Percé 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.[
]
Economy
The main sector of economic activity is tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
due to the presence of Percé Rock as well as Bonaventure Island and its northern gannets. It was calculated that 60,000 visitors per year walked at the foot of the rock. However, it is now not recommended for visitors to approach within 500 meters of it due to the risk of landslides.
The two main attractions of the city of Percé are:
* The Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé National Park
* The Percé UNESCO Global Geopark
Percé has a strong tourist positioning in Quebec and internationally and is a driving force in the tourism industry for the Gaspé Peninsula. It is an icon of the tourism industry in Quebec and Canada. The efforts made in recent years have helped stimulate and diversify its economy through tourism, the city's main economic activity niche.
With more than 500,000 visitors per year, the town of Percé plays an important role in the Quebec tourist economy, and has been rewarded for its undeniable quality of life.
Arts and culture
Les Percéides, an annual film festival in Percé, screens a weeklong series of films at various venues in the town, climaxing in an outdoor gala screening on the public beach.
Attractions
Percé Rock is a natural rock formation located close to the shore facing the town. It is a natural tourist attraction for its size, colour, and unusual door-like hole at one end of the rock. It can be seen from any of the belvederes in the area including Mont Joli, Mont Sainte-Anne and Pic de l'Aurore. Tourists can walk up to the hole in the rock at low tide.
Bonaventure Island occupies an area of 4.16 square km facing the 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 ...
of Percé. It is populated by one of the most important gannet
Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus ''Morus'' in the family Sulidae, closely related to boobies. They are known as 'solan' or 'solan goose' in Scotland. A common misconception is that the Scottish name is 'guga' but this is the Gaelic n ...
colonies in the world and many other species of birds
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
such as puffins, cormorant
Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...
s and murre
''Uria'' is a genus of seabirds in the auk family known in Europe as guillemots, in most of North America as murres, and in Newfoundland and Labrador as turr. These are medium-sized birds with mainly brown or black plumage in the breeding s ...
s also use the island as a home and breeding
Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant.
Breeding may refer to:
* Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...
ground.
Whale watching
Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. ...
is also a popular attraction in local area, and most notably, North Atlantic right whale
The North Atlantic right whale (''Eubalaena glacialis'') is a baleen whale, one of three right whale species belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena'', all of which were formerly classified as a single species. Because of their docile nature, their sl ...
s, one of the rarest whales, had begun to concentrate off Percé in 1995 (this species was used to be regarded as sporadic visitors into the Gulf of St. Lawrence until 1994, and gradual increases have been confirmed in the entire St. Lawrence since 1998), and Gaspe Peninsula has become the centre of sightings in St. Lawrence region.
Further inland from Percé lies Mount Blanc which has a deep crevasse
A crevasse is a deep crack that forms in a glacier or ice sheet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pieces above a plastic substrate have different rate ...
, as well as many other belvederes that overlook Cannes-de-Roches. Mount Sainte-Anne, with a height of 375 metres, provides views of the sea and, during times of good visibility, Miscou Island in New Brunswick
New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
can be seen.
Government
List of former mayors:
* Georges Mamelonet (2003–2008)
* Denis Cain (2009–2009)
* Bruno Cloutier (2009–2013)
* André Boudreau (2013–2017)
* Cathy Poirier (2017–present)
Infrastructure
Percé can be accessed via Route 132, coming either from the north or the south. It is also reachable by air from the nearby Du Rocher-Percé Airport via private or charter aircraft - there is no scheduled air service to this airport. There was a rail link to Montreal, but that service was suspended in 2013, and there has been no indication of a resumption.
Behind the St. Michael's Church of Percé, walking trails lead up past lookouts to the summit of Mont Saint-Anne of , the Grotto of Mother Mary with a waterfall and Crevasse. Another high hill, Mont-Blanc, has views of the region.
In the coastal waters, visitors can observe various species of marine mammals, such as seals and whales. The region is home to thousands of marine birds, which crowd the rocks of the Parc national de l'Ile-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé facing of the town, just 3.2 kilometres off the coast of Percé.
See also
* List of anglophone communities in Quebec
This is a list of anglophone communities in the Canadian province of Quebec. Municipalities with a high percentage of English-speakers in Quebec are listed.
The provincial average of Quebecers whose mother tongue is English is 7.6%, with a tot ...
* List of cities in Quebec
This is the list of municipalities that have the Classification of municipalities in Quebec, Quebec municipality type of city (Quebec), city (''ville'', code=V), an Administrative divisions of Quebec, administrative division defined by the Minist ...
References
External links
*
Official tourism site of Percé
*
Towns and villages of the Gaspé peninsula
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perce, Quebec
Populated coastal places in Canada
Incorporated places in Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Cities and towns in Quebec
Articles containing video clips