ForestvilleQuebec
The town has 2,835 residents and lies in Quebec. Its census division is La Haute-Côte-Nord.
Is Forestville a good place to live?
Cheap to live in, with trade-offs. Cost of living is its strong suit (A). The drawback is jobs & income (C). Overall, that makes an A−, good for #207 of 499 in Quebec. Set against the rest, it does better than nearly four fifths of Canadian towns. The rest of its grades are middling: C+ for safety and B for hazard risk.
This town's rent is the 2021 census rent scaled to 2025 by its province's ratio of surveyed to census rents: no rental survey covers it, so its Cost Grade is less sure. Safety is the Sûreté du Québec unit's figure for the whole MRC. No School Grade: this province doesn't publish comparable results school by school. Health is graded on the health region's survey figures and life expectancy, with the distance to hospital giving the town its own spread.
How Forestville grades
Each subject compares Forestville with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
What makes Forestville stand out
The 3 things Forestville does most differently from other towns.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Forestville.
Renting in Forestville costs 14% of household income, less than in Quebec’s towns and across Canadian towns
Owners make up just over two thirds of households, about level with Quebec’s towns (70%) and below Canadian towns (74%). Just over one in ten households spent 30% or more of their income on shelter, below both Quebec’s towns (13%) and Canadian towns (18%).
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | Forestville | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent as a share of income | 14% | 18% | 20% |
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 12% | 13% | 18% |
| Households owning their home | 68% | 70% | 74% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · The 2021 census asked owners what their home was worth; those values, and 2020 incomes, are what this compares.
Forestville has cooler summers than Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: July highs of 23.5°C
Rain and snow peak in October, at 96 mm. Some 279 cm of snow falls in a typical year, above Quebec’s towns (217 cm) and Canadian towns (141 cm) alike. Most of the snow comes in December, about 66 cm.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | Forestville | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| July afternoon high | 23.5°C | 26.5°C | 25.5°C |
| Snowfall a year | 279 cm | 217 cm | 141 cm |
| Precipitation a year | 965 mm | 1,041 mm | 883 mm |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Rimouski)
Trips to work from Forestville are shorter than from Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: 19 min on average
The car took 89% of commuters, in line with Quebec’s towns (90%) and Canadian towns (89%).
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | Forestville | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 19 min | 27 min | 26 min |
| Car or van | 89% | 90% | 89% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · The 2021 census was taken in May 2021, during COVID-19 restrictions: more people than usual worked from home or were off work.
Forestville’s health region reports 61% in very good or excellent health, ahead of the typical Canadian town’s 52%
Measured across the Région de la Côte-Nord: health survey and life expectancy
For Forestville itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 0.9 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. Lives here run to 79.4 years on average, below both Quebec’s towns (82.5) and Canadian towns (81.5). The region has more smokers than Quebec, 15% of adults to 12%.
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | Forestville | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very good or excellent health | 61% | 56% | 52% |
| Life expectancy at birth | 79.4 | 82.5 | 81.5 |
| Smokers | 15% | 12% | 12% |
| Chronic conditions (average share) | 15% | 15% | 17% |
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities
Forestville is ringed by protected land: 26% within 10 km
39 km from town is Bic National Park (Québec), the nearest provincial park. National parks are all over 100 km off. Within 10 km, the count of public protected areas is 22, higher than both Quebec’s towns (10) and Canadian towns (4). For a swim, Battures aux Gibiers is the nearest of 3 beaches within 5 km.
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | Forestville | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 26% | 4.9% | 2.3% |
| Public protected areas within 10 km | 22 | 10 | 4 |
Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches
More of Forestville’s residents have an Indigenous identity than in Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: 9.7%
0.7% of residents belong to a visible minority, below both Quebec’s towns (3.5%) and Canadian towns (15%). Both official languages: 11% of residents, below Quebec’s towns (44%) but above Canadian towns (7.5%).
Ages · Share of residents in each age group, Census 2021
Schooling · Highest qualification, residents 15 and over
Women and men · all residents
50.3% of Forestville’s residents are women
In 2021 there were 1,455 women to 1,435 men; Canada as a whole is 50.9% women.
| Forestville | Quebec | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 17% | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 61% | 62% | 64% |
| 65+ | 27% | 20% | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 32% | 19% | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 46% | 59% | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; Quebec and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
Violent crime weighs more where Forestville is policed than in Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: a violent severity index of 128
Shared with the rest of Haute-Côte-Nord MRC: Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000
Its police area recorded 20.1 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, above Quebec’s towns (12.4) and Canadian towns (12) alike. Across its police area, there are 14.5 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
Year by year · Crime Severity Index for each year
| 2023–2025 | Forestville | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 20.1 | 12.4 | 12 |
| Violent Crime Severity Index | 128 | 88 | 86 |
| Property crime per 1,000 | 14.5 | 16.6 | 31.2 |
| Crime Severity Index | 73 | 56 | 67 |
Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2023–2025 average
Wildfire moderate, radon 4.7%: how Forestville stands on hazards
Fire reaches the land around Forestville now and then: 3% within 25 km since 1986 (0.08% a year), below the high band. Flood mapping: none on the national inventory of the town. Nobody publishes radon tests for Forestville alone, so this card uses the figure for the Cote-Nord health region.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | Forestville | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radon tests above the guideline | 4.7% | 8.2% | 6.6% |
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.087 | $0.14 | $0.030 |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory
2 schools serve Forestville, 1 secondary school and 1 school for every grade
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| École Saint-LucIn ForestvilleAll grades | All grades | – | French public |
Provincial school lists and results, 2025-26 · Source note: the ministry publishes its success rates by school service centre, not school by school, so there’s no schools grade in Quebec.
Forestville in November: highs near 4°C, lows near −2°C
Over the year, July is warmest at 24°C by day and January coldest at −15°C by night. By December, a normal day reaches −3°C and a night falls to −9°C. About 21 cm of snow falls in a normal November. A normal November brings 78 mm of rain and snow.
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | −5°C | −12°C | 226 mm |
| Spring | 8°C | −1°C | 219 mm |
| Summer | 22°C | 13°C | 255 mm |
| Autumn | 11°C | 4°C | 265 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (Rimouski); the forecast is on the Weather page
Micheline Anctil heads the council of Forestville as mayor
From Quebec come 78 MPs, 44 of them with the Liberal Party of Canada.
Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada
Forestville has one public library, Bibliothèque De Forestville
The library is 0.7 km from the centre of Forestville.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
Forestville: 2 historic places on Canada’s heritage registers
Arboriduc de Forestville, begun in 1942, is the oldest by its record. Before 1961 is when 31% of the homes went up, above Quebec’s towns (21%) and Canadian towns (18%) alike.
Historic places by designation · inside the town
Among them
| Heritage | Forestville | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1961 | 31% | 21% | 18% |
Canadian Register of Historic Places, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel, Wikidata; Census 2021 homes by period
Everything we know about Forestville
Famous people from Forestville
4 notable people were born in Forestville.
About Forestville
Town in Quebec
Every figure TownRatings gives for Forestville covers the municipality as Statistics Canada maps it, one census subdivision in Quebec.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 2,835 (people, 2025 estimate)
- Province or territory
- Quebec
- Census division
- La Haute-Côte-Nord
- Census subdivision
- 2495045
Questions about Forestville
Who are the people of Forestville?
Visible minorities are 1% of the population, where the middle of Canadian towns is 15%. Immigrants make up 1%, and Indigenous people 10%.
Is Forestville a young town or an old one?
The typical resident is 54 (Canadian towns: 45.2), with seniors at 27% of the population and under-15s at 12%.
Do people in Forestville speak French?
French comes first: 88.5% speak it alone, while 11% manage both languages (Canadian towns: 8%).
Is Forestville growing?
No: the census counted 3,081 in 2016 and 2,892 in 2021, 6.1% fewer, against growth of 4.1% for the median of Canadian towns. The 2025 estimate is 2,835.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155) and 2021 census boundaries · Uniform Crime Reporting Survey 2023–25 (35-10-0026, 35-10-0183 to 35-10-0190) · CMHC rents as published by Statistics Canada (34-10-0133) · grades by TownRatings. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).