Alma, Quebec

Alma
Town
Coat of arms
Motto: La ville de l'hospitalité
Location within Lac-Saint-Jean-Est RCM.
Alma Location in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Quebec.
Coordinates: 48°33′N 71°39′W / 48.550°N 71.650°WCoordinates: 48°33′N 71°39′W / 48.550°N 71.650°W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
RCM	Lac-Saint-Jean-Est
Amalgamation	1962 (of Isle-Maligne, Naudville, Riverbend and St-Joseph d'Alma.)
Constituted	February 21, 2001 (amalgamation with Delisle)
Government[2]
• Mayor	Marc Asselin
• Federal riding	Lac-Saint-Jean
• Prov. riding	Lac-Saint-Jean
Area[2][3]
• Town	230.30 km^2 (88.92 sq mi)
• Land	195.59 km^2 (75.52 sq mi)
• Urban[4]	41.10 km^2 (15.87 sq mi)
• Metro[5]	340.35 km^2 (131.41 sq mi)
Population (2011)[3]
• Town	30,904
• Density	158.0/km^2 (409/sq mi)
• Urban[4]	26,016
• Urban density	633.0/km^2 (1,639/sq mi)
• Metro[5]	33,018
• Metro density	97.0/km^2 (251/sq mi)
• Pop 2006-2011	3.0%
• Dwellings	13,884
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s)	G8B, G8C
Area code(s)	418 and 581
Highways	Route 169 Route 170 Route 172
Telephone Exchanges	212, 321, 480-2, 487, 662, 668-9, 719, 720, 769
GNBC Code	EFHQD
NTS Map	022D12
Website	www.ville.alma.qc.ca

Alma (2011 Town population: 30,904; CA Population 33,018; UA Population 26,016) is a town in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Geography

Alma is located on the southeast coast of Lac Saint-Jean where it flows into the Saguenay River, in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada, approximately 175 km north of Quebec City. Alma is the seat of Lac-Saint-Jean-Est Regional County Municipality. Alma is the second city in population in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region after the city of Saguenay.

Alma is the seat of the judicial district of Alma.^[6]

History

The present town of Alma was formed in 1962 from the merging of four villages: Isle-Maligne, Naudville, Riverbend and St-Joseph d'Alma. The oldest of the villages, St-Joseph-d'Alma, was founded in 1867 by Damase Boulanger. The area became an important industrial center during the 1920s and 1930s with the construction of a hydro-electrical dam on the Grande-Décharge River, a paper mill (Price) and an aluminum smelting plant (Alcan), all of which are still in activity today.

In 2002, Alma merged with the Municipality of Delisle.

Demographics

Population trend:^[7]

• Population in 2011: 30,904 (2006 to 2011 population change: 3%)
• Population in 2006: 29,998
• Population total in 2001: 30,126
  • Alma (ville): 25,918
  • Delisle (municipality): 4,208
• Population in 1996:
  • Alma (ville): 26,127
  • Delisle (municipality): 4,256
• Population in 1991:
  • Alma (ville): 25,910
  • Delisle (municipality): 4,281

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 13324 (total dwellings: 13884)

Mother tongue:^[8]

• English as first language: 0.5%
• French as first language: 98.5%
• English and French as first language: 0.1%
• Other as first language: 0.9%

Visible minority and Aboriginal population (Canada 2006 Census)
Population group		Population	% of total population
White		29,025	97.7%
Visible minority group Source:[9]	South Asian	0	0%
	Chinese	45	0.2%
	Black	40	0.1%
	Filipino	0	0%
	Latin American	20	0.1%
	Arab	15	0.1%
	Southeast Asian	60	0.2%
	West Asian	0	0%
	Korean	0	0%
	Japanese	10	0%
	Visible minority, n.i.e.	0	0%
	Multiple visible minority	0	0%
Total visible minority population		200	0.7%
Aboriginal group Source:[10]	First Nations	125	0.4%
	Métis	335	1.1%
	Inuit	0	0%
	Aboriginal, n.i.e.	10	0%
	Multiple Aboriginal identity	0	0%
Total Aboriginal population		480	1.6%
Total population		29,705	100%

Transportation

Alma is serviced by the Alma Airport, located 4.1 km to the south of the town.

Image gallery

• 

  Petite-Décharge

• 

  Downtown Alma

• 

  Former Isle-Maligne town hall

• 

  Rio Tinto Alcan aluminum smelter in Alma

Notable people

• Émilie Fortin Tremblay (1872-1949), one of the first white women to cross the Chilkoot on the way to the Yukon gold fields
• Mario Tremblay , hockey player and former coach of the Montreal Canadiens
• Marie-Lise Pilote, comedian
• Michel Côté, comedian
• Guy Cloutier, producer and artist manager
• Lucien Bouchard, former prime minister of Québec
• Guillaume Desbiens, hockey player
• Charles Hudon, hockey player

See also

• List of cities in Quebec

References

1. Reference number 1013 of the Commission de toponymie du Québec (French)
2. Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l'Occupation du territoire - Répertoire des municipalités: Alma
3. "Alma census profile". 2011 Census data. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
4. "Alma (Population centre) community profile". 2011 Census data. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
5. "Alma (Census agglomeration) community profile". 2011 Census data. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2012-05-24. The census agglomeration consists of Alma and Saint-Nazaire. In the 2006 census, the census agglomeration had also included Saint-Henri-de-Taillon.
6. Territorial Division Act. Revised Statutes of Quebec D-11.
7. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census
8. "Alma community profile". 2006 Census data. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
9. , Community Profiles from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada - Census Subdivision
10. , Aboriginal Population Profile from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada - Census Subdivision

External links

Media related to Alma, Québec at Wikimedia Commons

• (French) Ville d'Alma