Matane

File:Scierie Price Matane 1914.jpg

In 1603, Samuel de Champlain visited the area and considered the location as "pleasant enough". In 1616 merchants known as the Rochelais from La Rochelle were the first Europeans to spend the winter. Matane was used as a trading post for the Rochelais who were exchanging European goods for furs with the Mi'kmaq people. In 1672, the land on both sides of the Matane River was granted as a seignory to Mathieu D'Amours, which led to the first settlements shortly after. The Mi'kmaq people lived there until 1845.{{cite web |url=http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/ToposWeb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=56912 |title=Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane (Municipalité de paroisse) |publisher=Commission de toponymie du Québec |access-date=2012-01-23 |language=fr}}

In 1845, the place was first incorporated as the Municipality of Matane, but dissolved two years later. In 1855, it was reestablished as the Parish Municipality of Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane, named after the local parish. In 1893, the main population centre at the mouth of the Matane River separated from the parish municipality and was incorporated as the Village Municipality of Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane, which changed status and name to City of Matane in 1937 when city status was granted.

After World War II, Matane merchants decided to strengthen their economic and maritime bonds with the North side of the Saint Lawrence River. They ran a service of a regular ferry in 1962. In 1978 a train ferry system was in place.

On September 26, 2001, the neighbouring municipalities of Petit-Matane, Saint-Luc-de-Matane, and Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane were amalgamated into the Town of Matane.

The town is divided in 4 districts that match the former municipalities before amalgamation in 2001:

• District 1 - Matane
• District 2 - Saint-Jérome-de-Matane
• District 3 - Petit-Matane
• District 4 - Saint-Luc-de-Matane

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Matane had a population of {{val|13987|fmt=commas}} living in {{val|6996|fmt=commas}} of its {{val|7482|fmt=commas}} total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:13987-14311}}|14311|1}} from its 2016 population of {{val|14311|fmt=commas}}. With a land area of {{convert|195.49|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|13987|195.49|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.

{{Canada census

|location = Matane

|2021_population=13,987 | 2021_pop_delta=-2.3 | 2021_land_area=195.49 | 2021_pop_density=71.5

|2021_median_age=52.4 | 2021_median_age_m=50.0 | 2021_median_age_f=54.4

|2021_total_pvt_dwell=7,482 |2021_occ_pvt_dwell=6,996 |2021_mean_hh_income=56,000

|2021_geocode=2021A00052408053 | 2021_access_date=2023-10-19

|2016_population=14,311 | 2016_pop_delta=-1.0 | 2016_land_area=196.08 | 2016_pop_density=73

|2016_median_age=52.3 | 2016_median_age_m=50.5 | 2016_median_age_f=53.7

|2016_total_pvt_dwell=7,421 |2016_mean_hh_income=48,094| 2016_access_date=2022-10-04

|2011_population=14,462 |2011_pop_delta=-1.9 |2011_land_area=195.47 |2011_pop_density=74.0

|2011_median_age=49.7 |2011_median_age_m=48.2 |2011_median_age_f=50.9

|2011_total_pvt_dwell=7,293 |2011_mean_hh_income=42,906 |2011_access_date=2013-05-18

|2006_population=14,742 | 2006_pop_delta=+26.7 | 2006_land_area=195.47 | 2006_pop_density=75.4

|2006_median_age=46.2 | 2006_median_age_m=44.7 | 2006_median_age_f=47.4

|2006_total_pvt_dwell=7073 | 2006_mean_hh_income=37,718 | 2006_access_date=2012-01-23

|2001_population=11,635 | 2001_pop_delta=-5.9 | 2001_land_area=24.80 | 2001_pop_density=469.2

|2001_median_age=43.4 | 2001_median_age_m=42.0 | 2001_median_age_f=44.7

|2001_total_pvt_dwell=5573 | 2001_mean_hh_income=29,595 | 2001_access_date=2012-01-23

|notes=

}}

{{Historical populations

|title = {{Nowrap|Historical census populations –}} Matane

|align = none

|cols = 3

|percentages =

|footnote = Population counts are not adjusted for boundary changes and amalgamations.

|source = Statistics Canada{{cite journal |title=1971 Census of Canada - Population Census Subdivisions (Historical) |journal=Catalogue 92-702 Vol I, Part 1 (Bulletin 1.1-2) |date=July 1973 |pages=76, 139 |publisher=Statistics Canada}}1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021 census

| 1901 |1176

| 1911 |2056

| 1921 |3050

| 1931 |4757

| 1941 |4633

| 1951 |6345

| 1956 |8069

| 1961 |9190

| 1966 |11109

| 1971 |11841

| 1976 |12726

| 1981 |13612

| 1986 |13243

| 1991 |12756

| 1996 |12364

| 2001 |11635

| 2006 |14742

| 2011 |14462

| 2016 |14311

| 2021 |13987

}}

Counting both single and multiple responses, the most commonly identified ethnocultural ancestries were (2021):

{{Div col}}

• Canadian: 37.6%
• French: 25.4%
• Québécois: 13.8%
• French Canadian: 13.5%
• Scottish: 2.8%
• Irish: 2.7%
• Caucasian: 1.7%
• "Christian": 1.7%
• First Nations: 1.7%
• English: 1.6%
• Gaspesian: 1.5%
• Acadian: 1.2%
• Métis: 1.0%

{{Div col end}}

(Percentages may total more than 100% due to rounding and multiple responses).

Mother tongue (2021):

• English as first language: 0.5%
• French as first language: 98.5%
• English and French as first language: 0.4%
• Other as first language: 0.5%

File:NM Georges-Alexandre-Lebel.jpg train ferry of the COGEMA in Matane[https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/GEORGES-A-LEBEL-IMO-7401021-MMSI-316005786 MV Georges-Alexandre-Lebe]]]

Matane has a diversified economy. The city is known for its shrimp, which are processed there: the northern prawn (known locally as crevettes de Matane) are renowned throughout the world for their high quality. Recent advances in wind power have also helped raise awareness of the region. Matane has the largest wind farm in Quebec in addition to having two windmill manufacturing plants: Marmen and Enercon.

The city also has a Sappi factory in the field of pulp and paper (separated thermochemical pulp). There is also a pork product processing plant: Les Cuisines gaspésiennes, which exports to the United States and China. Matane also has a shipyard and a large concrete pipe factory, Béton Provincial, and a sawmill.

Matane was also home of the first Dollarama which opened in April 1992. The former Larry Rossy chain decided to transform its banner into Dollarama and, with the success of the Matane store, the management decided to change all the Larry Rossy banners into Dolloramas.{{Cite web |url=https://www.dollarama.com/en-CA/corp/about-us |title=About Us |publisher=Dollarama |access-date=16 May 2025}}

List of former mayors:{{cite web |title=Répertoire des entités géopolitiques: Matane (ville) 1.4.1893 - ... |url=https://www.mairesduquebec.com/mairesduquebec/munic.php?id=2285 |website=www.mairesduquebec.com |publisher=Institut généalogique Drouin |access-date=29 August 2024}}

{{Div col}}

• François Dionne (1893–1895)
• Alexander Fraser (1895–1896)
• L. J. Levasseur (1896–1897, 1907–1910)
• Johnny Joncas (1897–1898)
• Georges L. Pelletier (1898)
• Louis Durette (1898–1899)
• Georges Santerre (1899–1900)
• L. Horace Chouinard (1900–1904, 1905–1906)
• Gustave A. Côté (1904–1905)
• Alfred Bouillon (1906–1907, 1911–1913)
• J. B. E. Bergeron (1910–1911)
• Pierre Langlois (1913–1914)
• Octave Dionne (1914–1915)
• C. E. Bernier (1915–1917, 1923)
• Joseph Eugène Arthur Bergeron (1917–1921, 1925–1936)
• J. E. Heppel (1921–1922)
• J. A. Lavoie (1922–1923)
• Hector Gagnon (1923–1925)
• Raoul Fafard (1936–1939, 1941–1948)
• J. A. Rouleau (1939–1941)
• J. Charles Gagnon (1948–1951)
• Léandre Thibault (1951–1954)
• J. Arthur Desjardins (1954–1960)
• Félix-Adrien Gauthier (1960–1963)
• Roger Dion (1963–1985)
• Maurice Gauthier (1985–1993, 1997–2001)
• Denise Gentil (1993–1997)
• Linda Cormier (2001–2009)
• Claude Canuel (2009–2013)
• Jérôme Landry (2013–2021)
• Eddy Métivier (2021–present)

{{Div col end}}

Image:Matane bridge-panorama.jpg

Since Matane is the first step to Gaspé's tourist circuit it receives and accommodates many passing tourists. The old lighthouse of Matane was transformed into a tourist information centre with a panoramic view of its surroundings. There are a number of art galleries in Matane that support local talent.

The Matane River is known as the "River-School" in Quebec because so many people learn to fish there. The river itself is {{convert|101|km|abbr=on}} in length and is the only place in Quebec where you can fish in the town square.{{cite web|title=Matane...Passion et savoir faire|url=http://www.ville.matane.qc.ca/ville-attractive/pour-la-decouvrir/tourisme.html|publisher=Conception Kaleidos Multimédia|access-date=19 November 2012|page=Tourism}}

In 2000, Matane was named East Quebec's industrial capital.

A number of people from Matane and the area are well known locally or internationally, including artist {{Ill|Claude Picher|fr|Claude Picher (peintre)}} and NHL player Yves Racine.

Other notable people born in Matane:

• Pascal Bérubé, politician
• Nancy Charest, politician
• Alain Côté (ice hockey, born 1957)
• Georges Dionne, politician
• Bruno Langlois, cyclist
• Sonia LeBel, politician
• Jacques Lemieux, NHL ice hockey player
• Joseph Rouleau, opera singer
• Ève Salvail, model
• Richard Z. Sirois, comedian
• Rodrigue Tremblay, economist

• COGEMA
• List of cities in Quebec
• Société des traversiers du Québec

{{Reflist|refs=

{{mamrot |{{#property:P3856}} |access-date=2024-08-28}}

{{SCref |year=2021 |unit=csd |code={{#property:P3012}} |access-date=2024-08-28}}

}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Matane}}
• {{wikivoyage inline|Matane}}
• {{Official website}}

{{Geographic location

| title = Adjacent Municipal Subdivisions

| Centre = Matane

| North = St. Lawrence River

| Northeast =

| East = Sainte-Félicité

| Southeast = Saint-Adelme

| South = Ste-Paule, St-René-de-Matane

| Southwest = Saint-Léandre

| West = Saint-Ulric

| Northwest =

}}

{{La Matanie RCM|state=expanded}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities and towns in Quebec