Baie-des-Sables

Baie-des-Sables (French pronunciation: [bɛ de sabl]) is a municipality in La Matanie Regional County Municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada.

Baie-des-Sables
Municipality
Location within La Matanie RCM
Baie-des-Sables Location in eastern Quebec
Coordinates: 48°43′N 67°51′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Bas-Saint-Laurent
RCM	La Matanie
Constituted	January 1, 1859
Government [2]
• Mayor	Gérald Beaulieu
• Federal riding	Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj
• Prov. riding	Matane-Matapédia
Area [2][3]
• Total	65.37 km2 (25.24 sq mi)
• Land	65.07 km2 (25.12 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	613
• Density	9.4/km2 (24/sq mi)
• Pop (2016-21)	2.4%
• Dwellings	336
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	G0J 1C0
Area codes	418 and 581
Highways	R-132 R-297
Website	www.municipalite.baiedessables.ca

Its elevation is 176 metres (577 ft).^{[citation needed]}

History

The area was originally part of the Mitis seignory, purchased by Mathew MacNider in 1802, and acquired by his brother John MacNider in 1807. MacNider encouraged settlement of Scottish families there. Upon John Macnider's death in 1829, the seignory was inherited by the 2 sons of Adam Lymburner Macnider, nephew of John. In 1842, the geographic township of MacNider was created.^[4]

In 1853, the Mission of L'Assomption-de-Notre-Dame was established, and in 1859, the Township Municipality of MacNider was formed when it ceded from the Municipality of Métis. In 1864, the MacNider Post Office opened.^[1][5]

The Scottish settlers began to call the place Sandy Bay, or also Sandy Beach, in reference to a prominent sandbank on the western edge of the municipality. In 1902, the post office was renamed to Sandy Bay, and renamed to the French equivalent, Baie-des-Sables, in 1925. In 1932, the township municipality followed suit and changed name and statutes from Township Municipality of MacNider to the Municipality of Baie-des-Sables.^[1][5]

Demographics

Canada census – Baie-des-Sables community profile

	2021	2016	2011
Population	613 (-2.4% from 2016)	628 (3.1% from 2011)	609 (-0.8% from 2006)
Land area	65.07 km2 (25.12 sq mi)	65.19 km2 (25.17 sq mi)	65.48 km2 (25.28 sq mi)
Population density	9.4/km2 (24/sq mi)	9.6/km2 (25/sq mi)	9.3/km2 (24/sq mi)
Median age	56.0 (M: 56.4, F: 56.0)	51.9 (M: 51.7, F: 52.5)	48.5 (M: 47.5, F: 48.96)
Private dwellings	336 (total)  281 (occupied)	328 (total)	277 (total)
Median household income	$58,000	$51,840	$48,415

References: 2021^[6] 2016^[7] 2011^[8]

Historical census populations – Baie-des-Sables

Year Pop. ±% 1861 1,235 —     1871 2,265 +83.4% 1881 2,364 +4.4% 1891 1,881 −20.4% 1901 1,908 +1.4% 1911 1,769 −7.3% 1921 1,703 −3.7% 1931 1,965 +15.4%	Year Pop. ±% 1941 2,001 +1.8% 1951 1,793 −10.4% 1956 1,279 −28.7% 1961 1,394 +9.0% 1966 1,207 −13.4% 1971 1,068 −11.5% 1976 910 −14.8% 1981 895 −1.6%	Year Pop. ±% 1986 763 −14.7% 1991 698 −8.5% 1996 657 −5.9% 2001 654 −0.5% 2006 614 −6.1% 2011 609 −0.8% 2016 628 +3.1% 2021 613 −2.4%
Population counts are not adjusted for boundary changes. Source: Statistics Canada[9]

Language

Mother tongue language (2021)^[10]

Language	Population	Pct (%)
French only	605	98.4%
English only	0	0.0%
Both English and French	5	0.8%
Other languages	0	0.0%

Government

Local government

List of former mayors:^[5]

• Olivier Côté (1859–1862)
• Alexis Caron (1862–1864)
• Auguste Lamontagne (1864–1867)
• Georges Bélanger (1867–1868, 1889–1892)
• Louis Saucier (1868–1883)
• Achille Chouinard (1883–1886)
• Louis Martial Raymond (1886–1889)
• François Parent (1892–1893)
• Jean-Baptiste Pinault (1893–1894)
• Théophile Fournier (1894–1898)
• Georges Boucher (1898–1904)
• François St-Laurent (1904–1905)
• Thomas Santerre (1905–1910)
• Israël Michaud (1910–1919, 1923–1931, 1933–1935)
• Michel Crispo (1919–1920)
• Joseph Thibault (1920–1923)
• Octave Massé (1931–1933)
• J. Honoré Desrosiers (1935–1936)
• J. Antoine Santerre (1936–1951)
• Donald Mac Donald (1951–1955)
• Philippe Morin (1955–1963)
• Roland Massé (1963–...)
• Jacques Couillard (...–2009)
• Denis Santerre
• Gérald Beaulieu (2021–present)

See also

• List of municipalities in Quebec