Matagami


Matagami is a small town in Quebec, Canada. It is located north of Amos, on Matagami Lake, at the northern terminus of Route 109 and the start of the James Bay Road. It is enclaved within the local municipality of Eeyou Istchee James Bay, but administratively independent of it. The town had a population of 1,526 as of the Canada 2011 Census.

History

Matagami was founded in 1963 with the development of mining in the area. Previously, it existed only as a very small prospecting camp accessible only by float plane, but after a viable mineral deposit was found in the late 1950s a permanent settlement began to be established. In 1962, the Quebec Toponomy Commission attempted to name the new community Mazenod after Charles-Joseph-Eugène de Mazenod, the founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, but after a public outcry by local residents the community was named after Matagami Lake.
The name Matagami means "the confluence of waters" in the Cree language.
The first church service in Matagami was held on 17 April 1962.

Geography

Matagami lies in a sparsely populated area several parallels north of Montreal and Quebec City. It is located in the geographic centre of Quebec quite far to the west and on similar parallels to Winnipeg and Vancouver further west in Canada – both of which have milder climates to a certain degree. Compared to other continents, Matagami is on the same parallel as the hot Rhine shift around Mannheim in Germany, whose yearly mean temperature is about hotter.
Nearby lakes include Lake Olga.

Climate

In spite of being located below the 50th parallel, Matagami has a subarctic climate. The winter season is long and cold with a January daily mean of, but summer temperatures during the short season are quite warm for subarctic climates. The cold air is dominant with 224.4 days of the year averaging air frost, while around 133 afternoons each year do not top freezing, and a full 30.5 days of the year should fall to below. Around three days in summer are warm enough to reach, indicating a very continental climate.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Matagami 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: 1,526
  • Population in 2016: 1,555
  • Population in 2011: 1,526
  • Population in 2006: 1,555
  • Population in 2001: 1,939
  • Population in 1996: 2,243
  • Population in 1991: 2,467
  • Population in 1986: 2,738
  • Population in 1981: 3,794
  • Population in 1976: 4,043
  • Population in 1971: 2,411
  • Population in 1966: 2,244
Mother tongue:
  • English as first language: 1.8%
  • French as first language: 94.6%
  • English and French as first language: 0.7%
  • Other as first language: 2.1%

    Economy

The two primary employers in the city are Xstrata and Domtar. Domtar has been in Matagami since 1988 when the company bought out Bisson & Bisson.
Xstrata entered Matagami in 2006 when it acquired Falconbridge Ltd. In 2008, Xstrata put Perseverance, a zinc-copper volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposit, into production. Perseverance has a mine life of 5.5 years. Since 1957 ten deposits, including the world class Matagami Lake deposit, have been discovered and mined out for a total of "44.4 million tonnes with a similar average grade."
Further exploration is continuing in the camp through a 50–50 joint venture agreement between Xstrata and Donner Metals. In late 2008, Donner Metals Ltd. announced that Xstrata Zinc Canada was in the process of completing a scoping study at their jointly owned Bracemac-McLeod property. It is the nearest city to the Lac Doré Vanadium Deposit.
The community is also one of the distribution points for goods and services to the James Bay Hydroelectric Project. As well, Matagami has a small tourism industry due to the popularity of fishing and hunting in northern Quebec. Hotel Matagami and motel caribou include full-service bars.

Government

Police and crime

Policing in Matagami is done by the Surete du Quebec.

Media

Matagami is served by a community radio station, CHEF-FM, as well as by a rebroadcaster of Première Chaîne's CHLM-FM.

Notable people