Fermont

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For the coaster, see MV Fermont.
Fermont
City
Fermont showing windscreen design
Fermont showing windscreen design
Coat of arms of Fermont
Coat of arms
Motto: Faire front, faire face
Country  Canada
Province  Quebec
Region Côte-Nord
RCM Caniapiscau
Settled 1971
Constituted October 15, 1974
Government[1]
 • Mayor Martin St-Laurent
 • Federal riding Manicouagan
 • Prov. riding Duplessis
Area[1][2]
 • Total 495.50 km2 (191.31 sq mi)
 • Land 476.89 km2 (184.13 sq mi)
Elevation 610 m (2,000 ft)
Population (2016)[2]
 • Total 2,474
 • Density 5.2/km2 (13/sq mi)
 • Pop 2011-2016 Decrease 13.9%
 • Dwellings 1,638
Time zone EST (UTC−5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s) G0G 1J0
Area code(s) 418 and 581
Highways Route 389
Website www.caniapiscau.net

Fermont (/ˈfɛərmɒnt/)[4] is a town in northeastern Quebec, Canada, near the Quebec-Labrador border about 23 kilometres (14 mi) from Labrador City on Route 389, which connects to the Trans-Labrador Highway (Newfoundland and Labrador Route 500). It is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Caniapiscau.

Fermont (French contraction of "Fer Mont", meaning "Iron Mountain") was founded as a company town in the early 1970s to exploit rich iron ore deposits from Mont Wright, which is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the west.

The town is notable for the huge self-contained structure containing apartments, stores, schools, bars, a hotel, restaurants, a supermarket and swimming pool; the large building shelters a community of smaller apartment buildings and homes on its leeward side. Popularly known as The Wall (Le Mur), the structure was designed to be a windscreen to the rest of the town. It permits residents (other than mine workers) to never leave the building during the long winter, which usually lasts about seven months. The town, designed by Maurice Desnoyers and Norbert Schoenauer, was inspired by similar projects in Sweden designed by Ralph Erskine, notably that of Svappavaara, an iron mining town in Sweden. The building measures 1.3 kilometres (4,300 ft) long [5] and stands 15 metres (49 ft) high.[6]

History

Following the depletion of the Jeannine Lake Mine at Gagnon in the late 1960s, the Québec Cartier Mining Company began to develop the Mont Wright Mine. This was a large-scale project that involved mining, processing, and transporting iron ore. Some 1,600 employees would be needed, and the town of Fermont was constructed to house them and their families. By the end of 1972, the first people settled there. The same year, the Fermont post office opened, and in 1974, the place was incorporated as Ville de Fermont.[3][7] The town, mine and wall were featured in the television crime drama series La Faille (2019).[8]

Demographics

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Historical Census Data - Fermont, Quebec[9]
Year Pop. ±%
1991 3,735 —    
1996 3,234 −13.4%
2001 2,918 −9.8%
2006 2,633 −9.8%
2011 2,874 +9.2%
2016 2,474 −13.9%
2021 2,256 −8.8%

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Fermont had a population of 2,256 living in 976 of its 1,538 total private dwellings, a change of −8.8% from its 2016 population of 2,474. With a land area of 451.12 km2 (174.18 sq mi), it had a population density of 5.0/km2 (13.0/sq mi) in 2021.[10]

With French being the dominant language within the community, Fermont is the world's northernmost Francophone settlement of any considerable size, being located about one degree of latitude north of Dunkirk. Although fluency in French is common in Nunavik and other points north, most in that region have adopted English as their primary language for communication outside their communities. In addition, a Franco-Yukonnais community can be found in Dawson City, Yukon, but it forms only a minority of the total population.

Fermont can also be considered the northernmost town to speak a Romance language.

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Fermont, Quebec[9]
Census Total
French
English
French & English
Other
Year Responses Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop % Count Trend Pop %
2016
2,475
 2,410 Decrease 13.9% 97.37% 30 Decrease 25.0% 1.21% 15 Increase 50.0% 0.61% 20 Steady 0.0% 0.81%
2011
2,870
 2,800 Increase 9.8% 97.56% 40 Decrease 33.3% 1.39% 10 Steady 0.0% 0.35% 20 Steady 0.0% 0.70%
2006
2,640
 2,550 Decrease 10.1% 96.59% 60 Increase 20.0% 2.27% 10 Steady 0.0% 0.38% 20 Steady 0.0% 0.76%
2001
2,915
 2,835 Decrease 7.8% 97.26% 50 Decrease 28.6% 1.72% 10 Decrease 33.3% 0.34% 20 Decrease 50.0% 0.69%
1996
3,200
 3,075 n/a 98.75% 70 n/a 0.69% 15 n/a 0.33% 40 n/a 0.23%

City council

The city council is composed of a mayor and six city councillors. As of October 2020 the mayor is Martin St-Laurent, and the councillors are Bernard Dupont, Danny Bouchard, Cindy Vignola, Marco Ouellet, Daniel Bergeron, and Shannon Power.[14]

Economy

Truck 172 from the Mont-Wright Mine, on display in Fermont

The local economy is entirely dependent on the Mont Wright and Fire Lake mines owned by ArcelorMittal.[15] Over 80% of municipal revenues come from mining operations.[3]

Average earnings for full-time workers was $63,982 in 2001, compared to $39,217 in Quebec as a whole.[16] This went up to $70,102 in 2006, whereas the provincial average dropped to $37,722.[17]

The mine product is shipped to Port-Cartier on the Cartier Railway where it is converted to pellets. In 2006 the mine was affected by a labour dispute which lasted from early April to early June. It was amicably resolved with a six-year contract renewal.[18]

Scheduled passenger airline service is available via the Wabush Airport located in Labrador West.

Because of the town's disproportionately high number of (relatively prosperous) men compared to women and the few entertainment options in Fermont's climate, the adult entertainment industry is extremely lucrative in Fermont, and strippers can make a substantial amount of money for their profession.[19]

Environment

Fermont is in an area of rounded hills and flat areas with peat bogs, wetlands and many lakes and small streams. The valleys show the influence of glacial action and contain undifferentiated glacial till and fluvioglacial deposits of sand and gravel.[20] Lake Perchard, to the north of Fermont, supplies the town with drinking water.[21] The Fermont waste water treatment plant discharges through lakes Daviault and Sans-Nom into Carheil Lake, in the Moisie River watershed.[22] In April 2011 it was reported that water management experts in Sept-Îles were concerned about cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, that had been found in Carheil Lake and had potential to further affect the Moisie River. The bloom was due to phosphorus discharge from the treatment plant, which has since been reduced.[23]

Fermont has a harsh subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) with long, severe winters and short, mild summers. Although overall not as heavy as in most other parts of the Labrador Peninsula, snowfall is still heavy at around 2.9 metres (114.2 in) and average maximum depth of 85 centimetres (33.46 in) which is actually deeper than some other North Shore locations with heavier snowfall like Sept-Îles.

Climate data for Fermont
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 6.5
(43.7)		 6.5
(43.7)		 12.5
(54.5)		 17.5
(63.5)		 26
(79)		 36.5
(97.7)		 31
(88)		 34
(93)		 26
(79)		 16
(61)		 12
(54)		 3
(37)		 36.5
(97.7)
Average high °C (°F) −17
(1)		 −13.8
(7.2)		 −7.3
(18.9)		 2
(36)		 8.7
(47.7)		 15.6
(60.1)		 19
(66)		 17.8
(64)		 10.8
(51.4)		 3.5
(38.3)		 −4.4
(24.1)		 −13.1
(8.4)		 1.8
(35.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) −23.2
(−9.8)		 −20.6
(−5.1)		 −14
(7)		 −3.9
(25)		 3.1
(37.6)		 9.6
(49.3)		 13.2
(55.8)		 12.2
(54)		 6.2
(43.2)		 −0.5
(31.1)		 −8.7
(16.3)		 −18.7
(−1.7)		 −3.8
(25.2)
Average low °C (°F) −29.4
(−20.9)		 −27.4
(−17.3)		 −20.7
(−5.3)		 −9.8
(14.4)		 −2.7
(27.1)		 3.5
(38.3)		 7.5
(45.5)		 6.7
(44.1)		 1.6
(34.9)		 −4.4
(24.1)		 −13
(9)		 −24.4
(−11.9)		 −9.4
(15.1)
Record low °C (°F) −49
(−56)		 −49.5
(−57.1)		 −46
(−51)		 −31
(−24)		 −17.5
(0.5)		 −8
(18)		 −5
(23)		 −5
(23)		 −15
(5)		 −18
(0)		 −35
(−31)		 −45
(−49)		 −49.5
(−57.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 51.2
(2.016)		 31.4
(1.236)		 42.8
(1.685)		 40.5
(1.594)		 46.6
(1.835)		 87.7
(3.453)		 118.7
(4.673)		 103.7
(4.083)		 106.0
(4.173)		 67.2
(2.646)		 58.6
(2.307)		 52.2
(2.055)		 806.5
(31.752)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 1.1
(0.043)		 0.5
(0.02)		 0.9
(0.035)		 13.8
(0.543)		 35.3
(1.39)		 86.6
(3.409)		 118.7
(4.673)		 103.7
(4.083)		 102.9
(4.051)		 43.3
(1.705)		 6.8
(0.268)		 1.5
(0.059)		 515.1
(20.279)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 50.1
(19.72)		 30.9
(12.17)		 42.0
(16.54)		 26.7
(10.51)		 11.3
(4.45)		 1.2
(0.47)		 0.0
(0)		 0.0
(0)		 3.0
(1.18)		 23.9
(9.41)		 51.8
(20.39)		 50.7
(19.96)		 291.6
(114.8)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 12.0 9.9 10.5 9.8 11.7 16.4 18.2 17.0 20.0 15.5 14.1 12.8 167.9
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) 0.11 0.06 0.35 2.7 8.7 15.9 18.2 17.0 19.0 8.8 1.5 0.12 92.44
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) 11.9 9.9 10.3 7.5 4.3 0.8 0.0 0.0 1.6 8.0 13.3 12.8 80.4
Source: Environment Canada[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l'Occupation du territoire - Répertoire des municipalités: Fermont Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named cp2016
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016 census
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Statistics Canada 2006 Census - Fermont community profile
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Sunderland, Mitchell (January 3, 2015). Life as a Stripper in a Subarctic Indoor Mining Town. Vice Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  20. ↑ Portrait diagnostique de la problématique 2015, p. 9.
  21. ↑ Luce, Ibrahim & Bourdon 2011, p. 18.
  22. ↑ Luce, Ibrahim & Bourdon 2011, p. 6.
  23. ↑ La santé du lac Carheil inquiète les spécialistes.
  24. ↑ Environment Canada Canadian Climate Normals 1971–2000, accessed 27 July 2009

Sources

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External links


Adjacent Municipal Subdivisions
Newfoundland and Labrador Div. No.10 Subd. D, NL
Rivière-Mouchalagane Newfoundland and Labrador Div. No.10 Subd. D, NL
  Fermont  
Rivière-Mouchalagane


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