Saint-Alexis-des-Monts is a parish municipality in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada. It is located in the Laurentian Mountains, having a topography that is characterized by valleys and rounded hills, with an altitude varying between 150 m to 560 m. There are more than 600 lakes, 400 named and another 200 unnamed minor lakes. The majority (65%) of its territory is part of the Matawin Wildlife Reserve. The town depends on outdoor tourism that increases its seasonal population to between 8000 and 10,000 persons.

History

The first settlers were originally from Saint-Paulin and established the community on the banks of the Du Loup River, north-west of Saint-Paulin, around 1865. On October 30 of that year, Alexis Lefebvre Boulanger (1812-1885), pioneer and farmer, donated the land on which the village's chapel was built in 1867, and the church in 1884. Saint-Alexis was named after him. Its post office, identified as Saint-Alexis-des-Monts, opened in 1876. In 1877, the Parish Municipality of Saint-Alexis-des-Monts was formed. In 1973, a portion of Saint-Alexis-des-Monts separated and formed the Municipality of Belleau, named in honour of Sir Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau (1808-1894), former lieutenant-governor of Quebec. On April 21, 1984, Belleau rejoined Saint-Alexis-des-Monts again, and the parish municipality had a surface area of more than 500 km2. On December 9, 1995, 763 km2 was added following the annexation of the Lac-Marcotte and Lac-au-Sorcier unorganized territories.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Alexis-des-Monts had a population of 2,999 living in 1,593 of its 2,136 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of 2,981. With a land area of 1035.74 km2, it had a population density of in 2021. Population trend: Mother tongue: