Saint-Paulin, Quebec

For the community of Saint-Paulin-Dalibaire, see Les Méchins, Quebec.

Saint-Paulin (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ polɛ̃] ^ⓘ) is a municipality in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada.

Saint-Paulin
Municipality
Saint-Paulin Church
Motto(s):  Fierté et Amitié ("Pride and Friendship")
Location within Maskinongé RCM
St-Paulin Location in central Quebec
Coordinates: 46°25′N 73°02′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Mauricie
RCM	Maskinongé
Settled	1824[1]
Constituted	February 27, 1988
Government [2]
• Mayor	Claude Frappier
• Federal riding	Berthier—Maskinongé
• Prov. riding	Maskinongé
Area [2][3]
• Total	98.25 km2 (37.93 sq mi)
• Land	95.41 km2 (36.84 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	1,541
• Density	16.2/km2 (42/sq mi)
• Pop (2016-21)	2.9%
• Dwellings	794
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	J0K 3G0
Area code	819
Highways	R-349 R-350
Website	www.st-paulin.qc.ca

In addition to the namesake main population centre, the municipality also include the village of Hunterstown (46°26′47″N 73°0′58″W,^[4] named after Peter Hunter^[1]), and the hamlet of Renversy (46°23′50″N 73°0′55″W)^[5]

History

Settlement began in 1824 with the construction of a sawmill in Hunterstown Township, that was already drawn up by 1795 on the Gale and Duberger map. In 1847, the parish of Saint-Paulin was formed when it split off from Saint-Léon-le-Grand. In 1855, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Paulin was established. In 1860, its post office opened. The village itself separated from the parish municipality in 1924 to form the Village Municipality of Saint-Paulin.^[1]

In 1988, the parish and village municipalities, together with the Township Municipality of Hunterstown (formed in 1861), merged to form the current Municipality of Saint-Paulin.^[1]

Demographics

Historical census populations – Saint-Paulin, Quebec

Year Pop. ±% 1986 1,615 —     1991 1,556 −3.7% 1996 1,599 +2.8% 2001 1,576 −1.4%	Year Pop. ±% 2006 1,622 +2.9% 2011 1,534 −5.4% 2016 1,497 −2.4% 2021 1,541 +2.9%
Source: Statistics Canada[3][6]

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents (2021): 717 (total dwellings: 794)^[3]

Mother tongue (2021):^[3]

• English as first language: 0.7%
• French as first language: 98.7%
• English and French as first language: 0.3%
• Other as first language: 0.3%

Government

List of former mayors:^[7]

• Paul Boulanger (1988–1991, 1995–1999)
• Firmin St-Yves (1991)
• Jules Duhaime (1991–1995)
• Jacques Dupuis (1999)
• Marc-André Lessard (1999–2002)
• Brigitte Gagnon (2003–2013)
• Serge Dubé (2013–2020)
• Claude Frappier (2020–present)