Alma (2021 Town population: 30,331; UA Population 20,274) 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 (Price) and an aluminum smelting plant (Alcan), 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 30,331 living in 13,815 of its 14,493 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of 30,771. With a land area of 194.92 km2, it had a population density of in 2021. Population trend: Mother tongue:

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