Portneuf-sur-Mer

Portneuf-sur-Mer (French pronunciation: [pɔʁnœf syʁ mɛʁ]) is a municipality in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec in Canada. The municipality is located at the mouth of the Portneuf River on the St. Lawrence River.

Portneuf-sur-Mer
Municipality
Flag Coat of arms
Location within La Haute-Côte-Nord RCM
Portneuf-sur-Mer Location in Côte-Nord region of Quebec
Coordinates: 48°37′N 69°06′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Côte-Nord
RCM	La Haute-Côte-Nord
Constituted	September 12, 1902
Government [2]
• Mayor	Jean-Maurice Tremblay
• Federal riding	Montmorency—Charlevoix —Haute-Côte-Nord
• Prov. riding	René-Lévesque
Area [2][3]
• Total	210.12 km2 (81.13 sq mi)
• Land	181.90 km2 (70.23 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	612
• Density	3.4/km2 (9/sq mi)
• Pop (2016-21)	4.5%
• Dwellings	357
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	G0T 1P0
Area code(s)	418 and 581
Highways	R-138
Website	portneuf-sur-mer.ca

The municipality was known as Sainte-Anne-de-Portneuf prior to January 31, 2004.^[4]

History

Around 1500, this place was already visited by Basques whalers and sealers, who may have named it after Port-Neuf near Bayonne in Basque Country. It was mentioned by Samuel de Champlain in 1626 as "Port neuf", and François de Crespieul held his first mass there in 1683. A trading post existed there at the end of the 17th century. In 1788, a chapel was built at the mouth of the Portneuf River and dedicated to Saint Anne.^[1]

Permanent settlement began in around 1845, and the community had several names over time: Saint-Georges in 1848 (after the surveyor Georges Duberger), Portneuf Mills in 1882 (due to the presence of a mill), and Hamilton Cove in 1883 (named after a forestry company). This last name was also chosen for the post office. The Innu called the location Mitinekapitsh or Mitinakup.^[1]

In 1875, the parish of Sainte-Anne-de-Portneuf was founded. In 1902, the place was incorporated as the United Township Municipality of Sainte-Anne de Portneuf, when it split off from the Township of Saint-Paul de Mille-Vaches (now part of Longue-Rive). In 1949, the post office was renamed to Portneuf-sur-Mer.^[1]

On January 1, 1950, it lost part of its territory when the Municipality of Saint-Luc-de-Laval was created (which was annexed into Forestville in 1980).^[5] On July 16, 1955, the united township municipality changed statutes and became a regular municipality. On January 31, 2004, it was renamed to Portneuf-sur-Mer.^[6]

Demographics

Population

Historical Census Data - Portneuf-sur-Mer, Quebec

Year Pop. ±% 1921 428 —     1931 903 +111.0% 1941 2,011 +122.7% 1951 1,051 −47.7% 1956 1,386 +31.9% 1961 1,521 +9.7%	Year Pop. ±% 1966 1,496 −1.6% 1971 1,393 −6.9% 1976 1,303 −6.5% 1981 1,255 −3.7% 1986 1,115 −11.2% 1991 1,032 −7.4%	Year Pop. ±% 1996 990 −4.1% 2001 922 −6.9% 2006 835 −9.4% 2011 761 −8.9% 2016 641 −15.8% 2021 612 −4.5%
2016 Population figure based on revised count. Population counts are not adjusted for boundary changes. Source: Statistics Canada[3][7][8]

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents (2021): 321 (total dwellings: 357)^[3]

Mother tongue (2021):^[3]

• English as first language: 0%
• French as first language: 100%
• English and French as first language: 0%
• Other as first language: 0%

Local government

List of former mayors:

• Alcide Tremblay (1940–1941)
• Albertus Bouchard (1941–1943)
• Alcide Tremblay (1943–1957)
• Gilles Tremblay (1957–1958)
• Alcide Tremblay (1959–1961)
• Jules Ouellet (1961–1963)
• Alcide Tremblay (1963–1964)
• Benoit Gagnon (1964–1966)
• Adélard Maltais (1966–1967)
• Alcide Tremblay (1967–1973)
• Clarisse Miller Gagnon (1973–1977)
• Renaud Desmeules (1977–1985)
• Jean-Marie Delaunay (1985–2013)
• Gontran Tremblay (2013–2021)
• Jean-Maurice Tremblay (2021–present)

Notable people

• Hugo Girard, strongman

See also

• List of municipalities in Quebec