Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Canada

🇨🇦 Baie-Comeau is a city located approximately 420 km (260 mi) north-east of Quebec City in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River near the mouth of the Manicouagan River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality.

There are two urban area population centres within the city limits: Baie-Comeau proper, and Hauterive.

The city is named after the adjacent Comeau Bay, which is named in honour of Napoléon-Alexandre Comeau, a Québécois naturalist.

History The oldest part of Baie-Comeau is the area known as Vieux-Poste (Old Post) near the mouth of the Amédée River where in 1889, the Saint-Eugène-de-Manicouagan Mission was founded by Eudists. In 1898, the first sawmill in the Côte-Nord region was built there by the brothers Damase and Henri Jalbert, but it closed in 1907 after their timber stock was swept into the St. Lawrence. In 1916, Route 138 was extended to Saint-Eugène-de-Manicouagan and in 1929, its post office opened with the English name of Comeau Bay (Gallicized in 1936).

Baie-Comeau itself (the eastern part of the current town) was founded in 1936 when a paper mill was constructed by Colonel Robert R. McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune. Arthur A. Schmon oversaw the project, which included a power station and housing. Experiencing remarkable growth, the Town of Baie-Comeau was incorporated the following year. The area continued to see economic development with the establishment of the hydro-electric power stations on the Manicouagan and Outardes Rivers beginning with the Chutes-aux-Outardes Station in 1952, an aluminum smelter in 1958, and grain warehouses (the largest in Canada) in 1959.

In 1950, the village of Saint-Eugène-de-Manicouagan was incorporated as the Municipality of Hauterive. In June 1982, Hauterive was merged into Baie-Comeau, taking effect on January 1, 1983.

Baie-Comeau is the seat of the judicial district of Baie-Comeau.

Economy The region is a major forestry centre for the pulp and paper industry, owned by Abitibi Consolidated as of October 2006. Alongside hydro-electricity and the paper industry, an aluminum plant has fed employment for decades. Cargill has a large elevator there that is used to transfer grain from Great Lakes boats to ocean-going ships.

Transport The town is along Route 138 about 100 km (62 mi) east of Forestville and about 230 km (140 mi) west of Sept-Îles. A ferry service of the Société des traversiers du Québec and rail ferry service of the COGEMA also links the town to Matane on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The town is the southern terminus of Route 389, which leads to the Daniel-Johnson Dam, the town of Fermont, and the Labrador region of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Baie-Comeau Airport, located in neighbouring Pointe-Lebel, has scheduled flights from Air Liaison and Pascan Aviation.

Education Baie-Comeau is home to several French-language public elementary schools, two French-language public high schools and one English-language public school that includes both the elementary and high school levels of education.

The town is also home to one French-language CEGEP called the Cégep de Baie-Comeau.

Sport The 1993 Quebec Winter Games were played in Baie-Comeau.

Many different sports are played in Baie-Comeau:

Hockey Baie-Comeau is home to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, an ice hockey team playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League since 1997. The team plays in the Centre Henry-Leonard located in the eastern sector of the town.

Skiing The Centre de ski du Mont-Tibasse is an alpine ski centre located a few km north of the town where it offers twelve slopes. Cross-country skiing is also popular. Students often frequent Mont-Tibasse as part of their school programs.

Golf An 18-hole golf course is available in the western sector of the town. It is a semi-private golf club and is open for most of the summer.

Swimming The two major high schools of the city each offer an indoor swimming pool and are open to the public year-round. Two outdoor swimming pools are also available to the public. These are open from the end of June until the middle of August each summer.

Some beaches are also available in the summer. There are other beaches are along the shore of the St. Lawrence river such as the Plage Champlain and the Plage Pointe-Lebel, among others.

Tennis Several outdoor tennis courts are available to the public in the different parks across town. They are open for most of the summer.

Sport: Football The Baie-Comeau Vikings represent the Polyvalente des Baies in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean League. The team won championships in the eastern Quebec circuit in 2003, 2004 and 2006, and were finalists in 2005.