Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean

Population

The population of the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region was 275,552 at the Canada 2021 Census, representing 3.2% of Quebec's population. It is concentrated primarily in three clusters: the city of Saguenay (pop. 144,723), the city of Alma (pop. 30,331) and the agglomeration of Roberval (pop. 9,840), Saint-Félicien (pop. 10,089) and Dolbeau-Mistassini (pop. 13,718). Saguenay, the region's largest city, is located slightly west of the fjord, mostly south of the river. It makes up 52.5% of the region's population.

Flag

The flag was incorporated in 1938 on the centenary of the first settlers' arrival in 1838 and was created by Mgr. Victor Tremblay, a local historian. The four colours represent the four elements of the richness of Saguenay: the grey cross represents aluminum, which is an important product of local industry; the red border represents the inhabitants' labour; green, at the top represents the forest; and yellow, at the bottom, represents agriculture.

Administrative divisions

Following the Saguenay municipal reorganization in 2002, the region now counts 49 municipalities (including unorganized territories).

Regional county municipalities

• Le Fjord-du-Saguenay Regional County Municipality (pop. 21,600)
• Lac-Saint-Jean-Est Regional County Municipality (pop. 52,741)
• Le Domaine-du-Roy Regional County Municipality (pop. 31,285)
• Maria-Chapdelaine Regional County Municipality (pop. 24,793)

Equivalent territory

• Saguenay (pop. 144,746)

Native reserve

• Mashteuiatsh within Le Domaine-du-Roy, (pop. 2,213 Montagnais)

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region had a population of 275,552 living in 126,404 of its 138,331 total private dwellings, a change of -0.4% from its 2016 population of 276,368. With a land area of 95,542.70 km² (36,889.24 sq mi), it had a population density of 2.9/km² (7.5/sq mi) in 2021.

The median age is 47.2, as opposed to 41.6 for all of Canada. French was the mother tongue of 98.0% of residents in 2021. The next most common mother tongues were English at 0.6%, followed by Spanish at 0.4% and the related languages of Atikamekw and Innu at 0.3% total. 0.4% reported both English and French as their first language. Additionally there were 0.1% who reported both French and a non-official language as their mother tongue.

As of 2021, Indigenous peoples comprised 5.1% of the population and visible minorities contributed 1.5%. The largest visible minority groups in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean are Black (0.7%), Arab (0.2%), and Latin American (0.2%). The region is home to 555 recent immigrants (i.e. those arriving between 2016 and 2021). 190 of them come from France, and 180 come from various African countries, with Cameroon leading at 75 recent immigrants.

In 2021, 73.4% of the population identified as Catholic, while 19.2% said they had no religious affiliation. Muslims were the largest religious minority, making up 0.3% of the population.

Counting both single and multiple responses, the most commonly identified ethnocultural ancestries were:

(Percentages may total more than 100% due to rounding and multiple responses).

Major communities

• Albanel
• Alma
• Dolbeau-Mistassini
• Hébertville
• Métabetchouan-Lac-à-la-Croix
• Normandin
• Roberval

• Saguenay
• Saint-Ambroise
• Saint-Bruno
• Saint-David-de-Falardeau
• Saint-Félicien
• Saint-Honoré
• Saint-Prime

School districts

Each school service centre (French: centre de services scolaire) give services to five school distincts of 20 in the region:

• Centre de services scolaire de la Jonquière
• Centre de services scolaire du Lac-Saint-Jean
• Centre de services scolaire du Pays-des-Bleuets (Maria-Chapdelaine, Le Domaine-du-Roy, Mashteuiatsh and Saint-Ludger-de-Milot)
• Centre de services scolaire des Rives-du-Saguenay (Le Fjord-du-Saguenay Regional County Municipality (except Larouche, Saint-Ambroise, Bégin), Sagard and Saguenay (except Jonquière)

The whole region is part of the anglophone district Central Quebec School Board.