Havre-Saint-Pierre

Havre-Saint-Pierre (population 3337, 2021) is a tiny seaside village in a remote corner of Quebec's North Shore, in the region of Minganie. The town is also noted for the excellent fishing, being made up largely of snow crab, scallops, and lobster, with excellent salmon and trout to be found in the numerous rivers and lakes.

Understand
Havre-Saint-Pierre is on Pointe-aux-Esquimaux on the Quebec North Shore (Côte-Nord). It began as a fishing and lumbering town when settlers arrived from the Magdalen Islands in the 19th century. The dialect spoken is more closely related to Acadian French than to Quebec French.

It is part of the regional of Minganie, on the Route des Baleines and the Route Nature aux mille délices (gourmet route).

The city hospital is the major employer in the region. Tourism contributes significantly to the local economy due to the town's position near the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, a park encompassing a large number of islands in Mingan Archipelago of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is noted for the unique variety of flora and fauna to be found there, such as puffins and the rare Mingan Thistle, and for the unique geological features on many of the islands referred to as "monoliths".

The town is a seaport handling ilmenite, an iron-titanium ore brought by rail from a Quebec Iron and Titanium Company mine 40 km (25 miles) northwest on the Romaine River.

Its many rivers and lakes include the Romaine River to the northwest and Manitou Falls on the Manitou River to the west.
 * Tourisme Havre-Saint-Pierre Facebook page
 * Tourisme Havre-Saint-Pierre Facebook page

History
In 1857, a group of Acadian families from the Magdalen Islands, who had been deported from Savannah (Georgia, USA), settled on Eskimo Point (Pointe aux Esquimaux). The first mass was held on in 1857, on the day of the feast of Saint Peter (Saint Pierre).

Climate
In spite of its maritime position just above the 50th parallel, Havre-Saint-Pierre has a relatively harsh subarctic climate, with cold winters and cool summers. It has high precipitation with a lot of snowfall in winter.

Get in
Havre-Saint-Pierre is 218 km (120 mi) east of Sept-Îles on Route 138.

In the territory of Havre-Saint-Pierre, the shortest distance (in a direct line) between the continental Côte-Nord (La Grande Pointe) and Anticosti Island (point jutting north in Anse Girard, near the mouth of the Nugg River) is 41 km. La Grande Pointe is 12 km southeast of downtown Havre-Saint-Pierre.

By car
Havre-Saint-Pierre is located on Route 138 east of Sept-Îles.

Route 138 from Sept-Îles is the only road in the region; it continues through Havre-Saint-Pierre east to Natashquan (154 km) and Kegaska (an additional 48 km), where it reaches an abrupt dead end. The route re-appears about 400 km later at Vieux-Fort, near Blanc Sablon.

Do

 * Cross-country skiing
 * Cycling
 * Quad - ATV. Snowmobiling

Connect
All three major cellphone/mobile networks provide coverage in the town and the surrounding area; however, there are large areas along the roads to Sept-Îles and Keshaga (Dec 2018) not served.