Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent

Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent is a municipality in Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent, in the North Shore region of Quebec.

It includes several villages scattered along the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, namely the Basse-Côte-Nord: Kegaska, La Romaine, Chevery, Harrington Harbour and Tête-à-la-Baleine. The distance between these villages is variable, i.e., 80.5 km between La Romaine and Chevery; and 10.4 km between Chevery and Harrinton Harbour. The village of Chevery serves as the capital of the municipality.

Understand
The population of the Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent municipality is 787 inhabitants in 2021. The main economic activity is fishing.

Interestingly, the municipality does not have an elected municipal council, it is run by an administrator appointed by the Government of Quebec.

This page also contains tourist information about the First Nations reserve of La Romaine.


 * Kegaska – The village of Kegaska is a crab fishing centre, which is the gateway to the Lower North Shore. It has about 130 inhabitants, mostly English-speaking; they call themselves the Coasters. Generally, these inhabitants are descendants of fishing families who settled there thanks to the fishing resources. It is built on a strip of land between two bays and on Kegaska Island. Since the arrival of route 138 in 2013, these inhabitants welcome tourists who want to add to their life course a self-portrait next to the sign indicating the end of route 138; the end of the road fascinates. Tourists also come to Kegaska to fully live an adventure of remoteness at the "end of the world", the wild immensity and immersion in coastal life in a territory that is not marked out for mass tourism.


 * La Romaine – Laid out near the mouth of the Olomane River, the village of La Romaine is made up of a large Innu reserve (known as Unamen Shipu) and a small Francophone community. In the spring, runoff water is red ocher in colour. Today, many residents of La Romaine work in the lobster fishing industry and in private sport fishing camps.


 * Chevery – Built on a point of sand, the village of Chevery has approximately 240 inhabitants. This village is the capital of the MRC Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent. Trout sport fishing is popular on the Nétagamiou and La Croix rivers, near the village. Moose hunting is recognized in season. Its marina is well located against heavy seas, being 2 km upstream from the mouth of the Nétagamiou River. From the marina, a 4-km hiking trail leads up along the Nétagamiou River. 500 m away from the village, visitors have access to waterfalls that allow them to be in symbiosis with nature.


 * Harrington Harbour – recognized among the most beautiful villages in Quebec, the island village of Harrington Harbour has a network of boardwalks winding through the community to access homes, businesses and sites of interest including the 200-ft (61-m) summit of Harrington Island. This network of walks was built from 1960, in winter, at the same time when electricity, telephones and snowmobiles arrived. These walks provide bucolic views of the Harrington Islands and the Petit Mécatina archipelago; visitors take an immersion walk (or mountain bike) in the life of a magnificent fishing village in the hinterland. This locality of about 300 inhabitants (spread over four islands) is a relaxing destination, animated by fishing activities, the stopovers of the cargo-passenger ship Le Bella Desgagnés, as well as by the mood of the sky and the sea. In Harrington Harbour, you should know the legend of Marguerite de la Roque, a young relative of Jean-François Roberval, who was abandoned in Harrington Harbour in 1542 for having had a forbidden relationship with a crew member. She took refuge in "Margaret's Cave"; according to legend, she gave birth to the first French Canadian baby. The film La Grande Séduction was shot in the village of Harrington Harbour whose name is replaced by "Sainte-Marie-la-Mauderne" in the film. The three languages spoken in Harrington Harbour are English, French and Innu. The local fishing industry has been centred on snow crab since 1992. Nevertheless, other species are fished such as lobster, halibut, turbot, cod and scallops.


 * Tête-à-la-Baleine – Sometimes referred to as Whale Head by its few residents of English-speaking ancestry, this isolated village is one of three French-speaking communities on the Lower North Shore. Many residents spend their summers on the islands and winters on the mainland to be close to timber and game. A road is being built to link the village of La Tabatière and Tête-à-la-Baleine.

By boat

 * Bella Desgagnés (Maritime service Anticosti Island-Basse-Côte-Nord) - Departing from Rimouski, the vessel Bella Desgagnés offers weekly maritime service to the ports of Port-Menier (L'Île-d'Anticosti), Sept-Iles, Havre-Saint-Pierre and Natashquan, reaching as far as Blanc-Sablon. Operated by the Government of Quebec, this ship makes the connection between the localities of the MRC Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent (formerly called "Basse-Côte-Nord") which is part of the municipality of Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent: Saint-Augustin, La Tabatière (Gros-Mécatina), Tête-à-la-Baleine, Harrington Harbour, La Romaine, Kegaska and Blanc-Sablon. This cargo-passenger ship has eight decks and can accommodate 420 passengers, including around 40 crew members. It has 63 cabins with private bathrooms to accommodate passengers, a cafeteria, a dining room, a bistro and seascape observation lounges. Internet site: -.

By snowmobile
The municipality of Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent is also accessible in winter by snowmobile via the route Blanche from Natashquan. This 525-km snow road passes through the villages of Kegaska, La Romaine, Chevery, Harrington Harbour, Tête-à-la-Baleine, Mutton Bay, La Tabatière, Saint-Augustin, Rivière-Saint-Paul (Bonne-Espérance) and Blanc-Sablon. Trail layout and conditions may vary from winter to winter. Users of this trail should have enough fuel, geolocation instruments, a satellite telephone system, spare parts in case of breakage, mechanical repair tools, a gun, a map and survival gear. Group travel is recommended.

By car

 * From Montreal (, 14 hr 55 min (non-stop)). From Downtown Montreal, take the Jacques-Cartier bridge (south); take Route 132 (east); take Autoroute 20 (east) to Lévis; cross Quebec City via Autoroute 73 (north) and Autoroute 440 (east); take Route 138 to Kegaska.

Since 2013, Kegaska has been the end of Route 138, which runs along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River and Gulf. Kegaska is the only village in the municipality of Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent accessible by the Quebec road network. Route 138 has been paved to Kegaska since summer 2023. However, the Middle Bay area (in the township of Phelypeaux, in the far east of the municipality) is served by a segment of Route 138 between Vieux-Fort and Blanc-Sablon. Kegaska is the westernmost village of the Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent municipality. To go further east, travelers can embark at the wharf of Natashquan or Kegaska on the cargo-passenger boat Le Bella Desgagnés of the Relais-Nordik for one night and two days to go to Blanc-Sablon.

In 2021, the Government of Quebec announced the extension of Route 138 eastward, from Kegaska to the village of La Romaine. A 350- to 400-km stretch of road is missing (depending on the route that will be retained by the government) between Kegaska and the village of Old Fort (in the municipality of Bonne-Espérance, Quebec). Then the 71-km section of Route 138 (Quebec) continues between the Old Fort and the Labrador border. Once Route 138 is fully completed to the east, residents of Bonne-Espérance will be able to access Baie-Comeau on a journey of approximately 1,000 km (approximately 11 hours non-stop), or approximately 700 km less (equivalent to saving 9 hours non-stop) compared to taking the detour via the Trans-Labrador Highway (routes 510 and 500) to reach Baie-Comeau, via Wabush/Labrador City, Fermont, Mont-Wright, Gagnon and Manic 5.

Talk
In 2011, 33% of the population of the municipality were French-speaking and 65% are Anglophones. There were also Innu-speaking Innu-aimun.

Connect
The villages of the municipality are served by various services including cellular networks and community radio.