Lamèque is a former town in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Île-de-Lamèque. Of Amerindian rather than French origin, "Lamèque" comes from the Micmac Elmugwadasik, a descriptive reference to the fact that "the head of the tidal river is turned to one side". The name of the island approved by the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names in 1974, the result of a local petition replaced the earlier Shippegan.

History

A Francophone community, it is situated on Lamèque Island, off the northeastern tip of the Acadian Peninsula. Lamèque has hosted an annual baroque music festival every summer since 1975. On 1 January 2023, Lamèque amalgamated with the village of Sainte-Marie-Saint-Raphaël and annexed the local service districts making up the remainder of Lamèque Island to form the new town of Île-de-Lamèque. Lamèque's name remains in official use as a community.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Lamèque had a population of 1,301 living in 577 of its 606 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of 1,285. With a land area of 12.4 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Language

Economy

Lamèque's economy is tied to the fishing and peat industries.

Attractions

The Lamèque Eco-Parc offers numerous flora and fauna features representative of the Acadian Peninsula.

Notable people