Clerval, Quebec

Clerval (French pronunciation: [klɛʁval]) is a municipality in northwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality. It covers 101.6 km² and had a population of 373 as of the 2021 Canadian census.

Clerval
Municipality
Location within Abitibi-Ouest RCM
Clerval Location in western Quebec
Coordinates: 48°45′N 79°26′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Abitibi-Témiscamingue
RCM	Abitibi-Ouest
Settled	1916
Constituted	September 12, 1927
Government [2]
• Mayor	Michel Cliche
• Federal riding	Abitibi—Témiscamingue
• Prov. riding	Abitibi-Ouest
Area [2][3]
• Total	130.93 km2 (50.55 sq mi)
• Land	99.17 km2 (38.29 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	373
• Density	3.8/km2 (10/sq mi)
• Pop (2016-21)	0.5%
• Dwellings	291
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	J0Z 1R0
Area code	819
Highways	No major routes
Website	clerval.ao.ca/fr/

The municipality was incorporated on September 12, 1927, and originally called Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc-de-Clerval. Likely the current name, adopted in 1951, is a portmanteau from the French words claire vallée, meaning "clear valley".^[1]

In addition to Clerval itself, the municipality also includes the community of L'Île-Nepawa (48°41′12″N 79°27′22″W), located on Nepawa Island in Lake Abitibi. Nepawa comes from the Algonquin language meaning "where one camps in passing" or "large island".^[4][5]

Demographics

Historical census populations – Clerval, Quebec

Year Pop. ±% 1931 486 —     1941 765 +57.4% 1951 845 +10.5% 1956 852 +0.8% 1961 775 −9.0% 1966 666 −14.1%	Year Pop. ±% 1971 481 −27.8% 1976 374 −22.2% 1981 380 +1.6% 1986 365 −3.9% 1991 346 −5.2% 1996 356 +2.9%	Year Pop. ±% 2001 351 −1.4% 2006 358 +2.0% 2011 364 +1.7% 2016 371 +1.9% 2021 373 +0.5%
Source: Statistics Canada

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents (2021): 180 (total dwellings: 291)^[3]

Mother tongue (2021):^[3]

• English as first language: 1.3%
• French as first language: 96%
• English and French as first language: 1.3%
• Other as first language: 0%

Government

Municipal council (as of 2023):^[2]

• Mayor: Michel Cliche
• Councillors: Gaétan St-Jean, Claire Paquet, Mathilde Lévesque, Chantal Melançon, Nancy Gosselin, Nicole Therrien