Port-Cartier#Jail

In 1915, Colonel Robert R. McCormick, owner of the Chicago Tribune, visited the Rochers River area to evaluate its forest potential. Soon after, a settlement was established on the west side of the mouth of this river, originally called Shelter Bay.[http://www.greatlakes-seaway.com/en/ports/portofcartier.html Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System : Port Cartier] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829153740/http://www.greatlakes-seaway.com/en/ports/portofcartier.html |date=2007-08-29}} The post office opened in 1916, followed by a sawmill in 1918 and a debarking factory of the Ontario Paper Company in 1920. Yet the exhaustion of timber led to the closure of the factory in 1955.{{cite web |url=http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/ToposWeb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=50727 |title=Port-Cartier (ville) |publisher=Commission de toponymie du Québec |access-date=2010-07-30 |language=fr}}

In 1958, the Québec Cartier Mining Company constructed an iron ore processing plant and an artificial sea port near Shelter Bay, for shipping the iron ore mined from deposits at Lake Jeannine near Fermont. Port-Cartier, named after the mining company, was incorporated as a town in 1959 and the next year, Shelter Bay was added to it.{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 22|year=1965|page=378|publisher=Americana Corp}} The original town of Shelter Bay is now the suburb known as Port-Cartier West.{{cite book|first=Ivan|last=Brookes|year=1974|title=The lower St. Lawrence: a pictorial history of shipping and industrial development|page=165|publisher=Freshwater Press}} Today, the port handles approximately {{convert|18000000|t|ST LT|sigfig=3|lk=on}} of cargo per year and ranks third in Quebec in terms of handled tonnage.

Image:Rivière-Pentecôte.jpg

In 1875, a mission called Saint-Patrice-de-la-Rivière-Pentecôte was established some 100 km south-west of Sept-Îles at the mouth of the Pentecôte River. This name is attributed to Jacques Cartier who arrived at the place on the day of Pentecost in 1535. In 1884, the "Penticost River" Post Office opened, frenchized to Rivière-Pentecôte in 1933. At the end of the 19th century, it was among the most important industrial centres along the North Shore. In 1972, the Municipality of Rivière-Pentecôte was formed out of unorganized territory.{{cite web |url=http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/ToposWeb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=53633 |title=Rivière-Pentecôte (municipalité) |publisher=Commission de toponymie du Québec |access-date=2010-07-30 |language=fr}}

On February 19, 2003, the Municipality of Rivière-Pentecôte was amalgamated into the city of Port-Cartier.

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Port-Cartier had a population of {{val|6516|fmt=commas}} living in {{val|2918|fmt=commas}} of its {{val|3307|fmt=commas}} total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:6516-6799}}|6799|1}} from its 2016 population of {{val|6799|fmt=commas}}. With a land area of {{convert|1092.75|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|6516|1092.75|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.

{{Canada census

|location = Port-Cartier

|2021_population=6,516 | 2021_pop_delta=-4.2 | 2021_land_area=1,092.75 | 2021_pop_density=6.0

|2021_median_age=45.2 | 2021_median_age_m=44.4 | 2021_median_age_f=46.4

|2021_total_pvt_dwell=3,307 |2021_occ_pvt_dwell=2,918 | 2021_mean_hh_income=82,000 |2021_geocode=2021A00052497022 | 2021_access_date=2022-04-27

|2016_population=6,799 | 2016_pop_delta=+2.2 | 2016_land_area=1102.09 | 2016_pop_density=6.2

|2016_median_age=43.7 | 2016_median_age_m=43.0 | 2016_median_age_f=44.6

|2016_total_pvt_dwell=3,336 |2016_occ_pvt_dwell=2,930 | 2016_mean_hh_income=74,816 | 2016_access_date=2024-06-06

|2011_population=6,651 | 2011_pop_delta=-1.6 | 2011_land_area=1,101.31 | 2011_pop_density=6.0

|2011_median_age=43.1 | 2011_median_age_m=42.6 | 2011_median_age_f=43.5

|2011_total_pvt_dwell=3,093 | 2011_mean_hh_income=70,897 | 2011_access_date=2014-01-29

|2006_population=6,758 | 2006_pop_delta=+5.1 | 2006_land_area=1,101.31 | 2006_pop_density=6.1

|2006_median_age=41.7 | 2006_median_age_m=41.1 | 2006_median_age_f=42.2

|2006_total_pvt_dwell=3,010 | 2006_mean_hh_income=56,801 | 2006_access_date=2012-05-07

|2001_population=6,412 | 2001_pop_delta=-9.3 | 2001_land_area=292.86 | 2001_pop_density=21.9

|2001_median_age=38.2 | 2001_median_age_m=38.2 | 2001_median_age_f=38.2

|2001_total_pvt_dwell=2,764 | 2001_mean_hh_income=54,488 | 2001_access_date=2012-05-07

|notes = Municipality of Rivière-Pentecôte amalgamated into the Town of Port-Cartier on February 19, 2003.

}}

Mother tongue (2021):

• English as first language: 1.3%
• French as first language: 97.1%
• English and French as first language: 0.6%
• Other as first language: 1.0%

The Correctional Service of Canada operates the Port-Cartier Institution, a maximum security prison, about two kilometres to the north. The institution houses male offenders and offers various programs and services to promote rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Port-Cartier Institution is known for its focus on education and vocational training, with a wide range of courses available to help inmates develop new skills and prepare for successful reentry into the workforce upon release.{{cite web | title=Information archivée dans le Web | website=Publications du gouvernement du Canada | url=https://publications.gc.ca/site/archivee-archived.html?url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/sp-ps/JS83-1-27-3-eng.pdf | language=fr | access-date=June 2, 2024}} Notable inmates have included convicted murderers Paul Bernardo, Russell Williams, Michael Rafferty, Mohammed Shafia, Robert Pickton, Luka Magnotta, and Guy Turcotte.{{Cite web |url=https://torontosun.com/2013/06/21/michael-rafferty-joining-killers-russell-williams-and-paul-bernardo-in-quebec-prison/wcm/fe1761c0-2bb7-4f6e-a715-d8397fe87b00 |title=Michael Rafferty joining killers Russell Williams and Paul Bernardo in Quebec prison |last=SUN |first=Toronto |date=2013-06-21 |language=en-CA |access-date=2019-01-03}}

List of former mayors:{{cite web |title=Répertoire des entités géopolitiques: Port-Cartier (ville) 1.7.1959 - ... |url=https://www.mairesduquebec.com/mairesduquebec/munic.php?id=2564 |website=www.mairesduquebec.com |publisher=Institut généalogique Drouin |access-date=7 June 2024}}

• Roger Labrie (1959–1964)
• Hector Maloney (1964–1966)
• Louis Dufresne (1966–1973)
• Gervais Lechasseur (1973–1975)
• Bernard Dionne (1975–1982)
• Ghislain Gagnon (1982–1983)
• Anthony Detroio (1983–2009)
• Laurence Méthot (2009–2013)
• Violaine Doyle (2013–2017)
• Alain Thibault (2017–present)

• List of cities in Quebec
• Cartier Railway
• Île aux Oeufs

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Port-Cartier}}

• {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.villeport-cartier.com/ Port-Cartier official website]
• [http://www.qcmines.com/default.aspx Québec Cartier Mining Company]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20031228115617/http://broadband.gc.ca/demographic_servlet/community_demographics/3525 Government of Canada demographic information]
• [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9060911/Port-Cartier Encyclopædia Britannica entry]

{{Geographic location

| title = Adjacent Municipal Subdivisions

| Centre = Port-Cartier

| North = Lac-Walker

| Northeast = Sept-Îles

| East = Gulf of St. Lawrence

| Southeast =

| South = Baie-Trinité

| Southwest =

| West = Lac-Walker

| Northwest =

}}

{{Sept-Rivières RCM|state=expanded}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Cities and towns in Quebec

Category:Incorporated places in Côte-Nord

Category:Port settlements in Quebec

Category:Quebec populated places on the Saint Lawrence River

Category:Sept-Rivières Regional County Municipality