Alma, Quebec


Alma is a town in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, in the Canadian province of Quebec.

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 centre during the 1920s and 1930s with the construction of a hydro-electrical power station on the Grande-Décharge River, a paper mill and an aluminum smelting plant, all of which are still in activity today.
In 2002, Alma merged with the Municipality of Delisle. Both modern day Alma and St-Joseph d'Alma are named after the Battle of the Alma.

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 largest 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.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Alma had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.
Population trend:
  • Population in 2021: 30,331
  • Population in 2016: 30,771
  • Population in 2011: 30,904
  • Population in 2006: 29,998
  • Population in 2001: 25,918
  • Population in 1996: 26,127
  • Population in 1991: 25,910
  • Population in 1986: 25,923
  • Population in 1981: 26,322
  • Population in 1976: 25,638
  • Population in 1971: 24,956
  • Population in 1966: 22,195
  • Population in 1961: 13,309
  • Population in 1956: 10,822
  • Population in 1951: 7,975
  • Population in 1941: 6,449
  • Population in 1931: 3,970
  • Population in 1921: 850
Mother tongue:
  • English as first language: 0.4%
  • French as first language: 98.5%
  • English and French as first language: 0.3%
  • Other as first language: 0.7%

    Infrastructure

Transportation

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

Sister cities

Alma has been twinned with Falaise, Calvados, France, since 1969.

Notable people