Bonaventure Regional County Municipality

Bonaventure (French pronunciation: [bɔnavɑ̃tyʁ]) is a regional county municipality in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec, Canada, on the Gaspé Peninsula. Its seat is New Carlisle.^[2]

Bonaventure
Regional county municipality
Coordinates: 48°03′N 65°29′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Effective	April 8, 1981
County seat	New Carlisle
Government [2]
• Type	Prefecture
• Prefect	Éric Dubé
Area [2][3]
• Total	4,423.664 km2 (1,707.986 sq mi)
• Land	4,379.46 km2 (1,690.92 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	17,557
• Density	4.0/km2 (10/sq mi)
• Change (2016-21)	0.6%
• Dwellings	8,831
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Area codes	418 and 581
Website	mrcbonaventure.com

Subdivisions

There are 14 subdivisions within the RCM:^[2]

Cities & Towns (3) Bonaventure New Richmond Paspébiac

Municipalities (7) Caplan Cascapédia–Saint-Jules Hope Town New Carlisle Saint-Alphonse Saint-Elzéar Shigawake

Parishes (1) Saint-Siméon

Townships (2) Hope Saint-Godefroi

Unorganized Territory (1)

• Rivière-Bonaventure

Demographics

Population

Canada census – Bonaventure community profile

	2021	2016	2011
Population	17,557 (-0.6% from 2016)	17,660 (-1.9% from 2011)	18,000 (+0.3% from 2006)
Land area	4,379.46 km2 (1,690.92 sq mi)	4,379.40 km2 (1,690.90 sq mi)	4,375.27 km2 (1,689.30 sq mi)
Population density	4.0/km2 (10/sq mi)	4.0/km2 (10/sq mi)	4.1/km2 (11/sq mi)
Median age	53.6 (M: 52.4, F: 54.4)	52.3 (M: 51.5, F: 52.9)	50.1 (M: 49.4, F: 50.7)
Private dwellings	8,831 (total)  8,194 (occupied)	8,744 (total)	8,525 (total)
Median household income	$62,400	$53,346	$47,827

References: 2021^[4] 2016^[5] 2011^[6]

Historical Census Data - Bonaventure Regional County Municipality, Quebec

Year Pop. ±% 1991 19,848 —     1996 19,550 −1.5% 2001 18,267 −6.6% 2006 17,948 −1.7%	Year Pop. ±% 2011 18,000 +0.3% 2016 17,660 −1.9% 2021 17,557 −0.6%
Source: Statistics Canada[7][8]

Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Bonaventure Regional County Municipality, Quebec[7][9]
Census		Total		French				English				French & English				Other
Year		Responses		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %
2016		17,445		14,700	1.4%	84.3%		2,515	4.9%	14.4%		160	10.3%	0.82%		70	40.0%	0.4%
2011		17,755		14,915	1.7%	84.00%		2,645	5.4%	14.90%		145	107.1%	0.82%		50	75.0%	0.28%
2006		17,730		14,665	3.3%	82.71%		2,795	10.7%	15.76%		70	74.1%	0.40%		200	566.7%	1.13%
2001		17,995		15,170	7.9%	84.30%		2,525	10.5%	14.03%		270	157.1%	1.50%		30	100.0%	0.17%
1996		19,410		16,470	n/a	84.85%		2,820	n/a	14.53%		105	n/a	0.54%		15	n/a	0.08%

Transportation

Access Routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the municipality, including external routes that start or finish at the county border:^[10]

Autoroutes None

Principal Highways R-132

Secondary Highways R-299

External Routes None

Attractions

Banc-de-Paspébiac Historical Site

• Banc-de-Paspébiac Historical Site (Paspébiac)
• Bonaventure Airport (Bonaventure)
• Canomore Hydro (Saint-Elzéar)
• Gaspésie Biopark/Acadian Museum of Quebec (Bonaventure)
• Gaspésie British Heritage Centre (New Richmond)
• Hamilton House (1852) (New Carlisle)
• Pin-Rouge Ski Area (New Richmond)
• Saint-Elzéar Cave (Saint-Elzéar)
• St-Edgar Covered Bridge (1938) (New Richmond)

Protected Areas

• Petite-Cascapédia Wildlife Reserve
• Port-Daniel Wildlife Reserve
  • MLPC Campaign Post
• Rivière-Bonaventure ZEC
• Rivière-Cascapédia Wildlife Reserve
• Rivière-Port-Daniel Wildlife Reserve

See also

• List of regional county municipalities and equivalent territories in Quebec