Alma, Quebec

Alma (French pronunciation: [alma] ^ⓘ; 2021 Town population: 30,331; UA Population 20,274) is a town in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Alma
Town
Seal Coat of arms
Motto:  Crescit eundo
Alma Location in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Quebec
Coordinates: 48°33′N 71°39′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
RCM	Lac-Saint-Jean-Est
Amalgamation	1962 (of Isle-Maligne, Naudville, Riverbend and St-Joseph d'Alma.)
Constituted	February 21, 2001 (amalgamation with Delisle)
Government [2]
• Mayor	Sylvie Beaumont
• Federal riding	Lac-Saint-Jean
• Prov. riding	Lac-Saint-Jean
Area [2][3]
• Town	230.30 km2 (88.92 sq mi)
• Land	194.92 km2 (75.26 sq mi)
• Urban [4]	15.94 km2 (6.15 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Town	30,331
• Density	155.6/km2 (403/sq mi)
• Urban [4]	20,274
• Urban density	1,272.2/km2 (3,295/sq mi)
• Pop 2016-2021	1.4%
• Dwellings	14,493
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	G8B, G8C & G8E
Area codes	418 and 581
Highways	R-169 R-170 R-172
Telephone Exchanges	212, 321, 480-2, 487, 662, 668-9, 719, 720, 769
NTS Map	22D12 Alma
GNBC Code	EFHQD[5]
Website	www.ville.alma.qc.ca

History

The present town of Alma was formed in 1962 from the merging of four villages: Isle-Maligne, Naudville, Riverbend and St-Joseph d'Alma. The oldest of the villages, St-Joseph-d'Alma, was founded in 1867 by Damase Boulanger. The area became an important industrial centre during the 1920s and 1930s with the construction of a hydro-electrical power station on the Grande-Décharge River, a paper mill (Price) and an aluminum smelting plant (Alcan), all of which are still in activity today.

In 2002, Alma merged with the Municipality of Delisle. Both modern day Alma and St-Joseph d'Alma are named after the Battle of the Alma.

Geography

Alma is located on the southeast coast of Lac Saint-Jean where it flows into the Saguenay River, in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada, approximately 175 km north of Quebec City. Alma is the seat of Lac-Saint-Jean-Est Regional County Municipality. Alma is the second largest city in population in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region after the city of Saguenay.

Alma is the seat of the judicial district of Alma.^[6]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Alma had a population of 30,331 living in 13,815 of its 14,493 total private dwellings, a change of -1.4% from its 2016 population of 30,771. With a land area of 194.92 km² (75.26 sq mi), it had a population density of 155.6/km² (403.0/sq mi) in 2021.^[7]

Population trend:^[8]

• Population in 2021: 30,331
• Population in 2016: 30,771
• Population in 2011: 30,904
• Population in 2006: 29,998
• Population in 2001: 25,918
• Population in 1996: 26,127
• Population in 1991: 25,910
• Population in 1986: 25,923
• Population in 1981: 26,322
• Population in 1976: 25,638
• Population in 1971: 24,956
• Population in 1966: 22,195
• Population in 1961: 13,309
• Population in 1956: 10,822
• Population in 1951: 7,975
• Population in 1941: 6,449
• Population in 1931: 3,970
• Population in 1921: 850

Mother tongue:^[9]

• English as first language: 0.4%
• French as first language: 98.5%
• English and French as first language: 0.3%
• Other as first language: 0.7%

Visible minority and Aboriginal population (Canada 2021 Census)
Population group		Population	% of total population
White		28,015	95.5%
Visible minority group Source:[10]	South Asian	0	0%
	Chinese	55	0.2%
	Black	185	0.6%
	Filipino	15	0.1%
	Arab	35	0.1%
	Latin American	30	0.1%
	Southeast Asian	35	0.1%
	West Asian	0	0%
	Korean	0	0%
	Japanese	0	0%
	Visible minority, n.i.e.	0	0%
	Multiple visible minority	10	0%
Total visible minority population		375	1.3%
Aboriginal group Source:[11]	First Nations	350	1.2%
	Métis	500	1.7%
	Inuk	10	0%
	Aboriginal, n.i.e.	65	0.2%
	Multiple Aboriginal identity	10	0%
Total Aboriginal population		935	3.2%
Total population		29,325	100%

Infrastructure

Petite-Décharge

Transportation

Alma is serviced by the Alma Airport, located 4.1 km to the south of the town.

Sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Canada

Alma has been twinned with Falaise, Calvados, France, since 1969.^[12]

Notable people

• Camille Bedard, hockey player
• Chris Boucher, basketball player for the Toronto Raptors
• Lucien Bouchard, former premier of Québec
• Guy Cloutier, producer and artist manager
• Guillaume Desbiens, hockey player
• Charles Hudon, hockey player for the Ontario Reign
• Pierre Lapointe, singer
• Émilie Fortin Tremblay (1872–1949), one of the first white women to cross the Chilkoot on the way to the Yukon gold fields
• François-Louis Tremblay, Olympic gold medallist short-track speed skater
• Mario Tremblay, hockey player and former coach of the Montreal Canadiens

See also

• List of cities in Quebec