Lac-au-SaumonQuebec
It is a town of 1,485 residents in Quebec. Statistics Canada places it in the La Matapédia census division.
Is Lac-au-Saumon a good place to live?
Lac-au-Saumon’s strongest subject is cost of living (A). Natural hazards weigh more here (C). Walkability is weaker too (C+).
With fewer than 2,500 residents, Lac-au-Saumon gets subject grades but no overall one among Canadian towns.
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.
What makes Lac-au-Saumon stand out
The 3 things Lac-au-Saumon does most differently from other towns.
How Lac-au-Saumon grades
Each subject compares Lac-au-Saumon with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
With fewer than 2,500 residents, Lac-au-Saumon gets subject grades but no overall one among Canadian towns.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lac-au-Saumon.
Rent takes less of local pay in Lac-au-Saumon than in Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: 15% of household income
Shelter took 30% or more of income for 7% of households, below both Quebec’s towns (13%) and Canadian towns (18%). 73% of households own their home.
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | Lac-au-Saumon | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 7% | 13% | 18% |
| Rent as a share of income | 15% | 18% | 20% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · These are 2021 census values, as owners judged them, set against household income in 2020.
Around Lac-au-Saumon, 60% rate their health very good or excellent, against 52% for the typical Canadian town
Women in the region live to 83.1 and men to 80.3, 81.7 years taken together (2022/2024). Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure affect 15% of the region’s adults on average, between Quebec’s towns (15%) and Canadian towns (17%). What sets Lac-au-Saumon apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 7.7 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). For health survey and life expectancy, the only official count covers all of the Région du Bas-Saint-Laurent, Lac-au-Saumon included.
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | Lac-au-Saumon | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very good or excellent health | 60% | 56% | 52% |
| Chronic conditions (average share) | 15% | 15% | 17% |
| Life expectancy at birth | 81.7 | 82.5 | 81.5 |
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities
Lac-au-Saumon has cooler summers than Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: July highs of 23.8°C
The thermometer drops below freezing on 207 days a year, above Quebec’s towns (161) and Canadian towns (159) alike. In January, overnight lows in Lac-au-Saumon settle at −19.2°C. Snow peaks in January: 72 cm in a normal year. October is the wettest month, with 97 mm of rain and snow on average.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | Lac-au-Saumon | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowfall a year | 323 cm | 217 cm | 141 cm |
| July afternoon high | 23.8°C | 26.5°C | 25.5°C |
| Days with frost a year | 207 | 161 | 159 |
| January night low | −19.2°C | −14.7°C | −13.5°C |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Causapscal)
Lac-au-Saumon’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 14% of area homes over the radon guideline
Earthquake risk in Lac-au-Saumon is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.040 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. No flood study for Lac-au-Saumon is on the national inventory.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | Lac-au-Saumon | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radon tests above the guideline | 14% | 8.2% | 6.6% |
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.040 | $0.14 | $0.030 |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory · Radon tests published for the Bas-Saint-Laurent health region, not by town
Commuters in Lac-au-Saumon have a short way to work, 18 min on average, less than in Quebec’s towns and across Canadian towns
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | Lac-au-Saumon | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 18 min | 27 min | 26 min |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · These are May 2021 figures, gathered while COVID-19 kept many people home or out of work.
Lac-au-Saumon gets a B for safety
Property crime in the area its police cover: 11.7 per 1,000 people a year. The violent index for its police area came to 104, above Quebec’s towns (88) and Canadian towns (86) alike.
Year by year · Crime Severity Index for each year
| 2023–2025 | Lac-au-Saumon | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crime per 1,000 | 11.7 | 16.6 | 31.2 |
| Violent Crime Severity Index | 104 | 88 | 86 |
| Crime Severity Index | 54 | 56 | 67 |
Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2023–2025 average · Not measured by town: Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000 (Matapédia MRC)
An older town: 33% of people in Lac-au-Saumon are 65 or over, more than in Quebec’s towns and across Canadian towns
0.8% of residents came to Canada as immigrants, below Quebec’s towns (2.6%) and Canadian towns (6.4%) alike. Both official languages: 12% of residents, lower than Quebec’s towns (44%) yet higher than 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
52.0% of Lac-au-Saumon’s residents are women
The 2021 census counted 775 women and 715 men here, where women make up 50.9% of Canada.
| Lac-au-Saumon | Quebec | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 51% | 62% | 64% |
| 65+ | 33% | 20% | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 28% | 19% | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 56% | 59% | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; Quebec and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
The SIA, 6-Vallée de la Matapedia passes Lac-au-Saumon
Within 100 km there is no national park. Gaspésie National Park (Québec) is the closest provincial park, at 68 km.
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | Lac-au-Saumon | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 0% | 4.9% | 2.3% |
| Public protected areas within 10 km | 0 | 10 | 4 |
Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches
What November brings in Lac-au-Saumon: −5°C at night, 3°C by day
About 31 cm of snow falls in a normal November. Into December, the normals move to −4°C and −13°C. Rain and snow over a typical November come to 74 mm. Normal highs peak at 24°C in July; nights bottom out at −19°C in January.
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | −6°C | −17°C | 220 mm |
| Spring | 8°C | −5°C | 210 mm |
| Summer | 23°C | 9°C | 246 mm |
| Autumn | 10°C | 0°C | 256 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (Causapscal); the forecast is on the Weather page
Chantal Gagné is mayor of Lac-au-Saumon
Matane-Matapédia is the riding Lac-au-Saumon votes in for the National Assembly of Québec, and its MNA (Member of the National Assembly, Québec’s legislature) isn’t named here because no open list records the members.
Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada
Lac-au-Saumon has one public library, Bibliothèque Bertrand B.-Leblanc
From the centre of Lac-au-Saumon, it is 0.4 km away.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
The nearest high school to Lac-au-Saumon is 8.1 km away
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| École Lac-au-SaumonIn Lac-au-SaumonElementary | Elementary | – | French public |
| Schools within 3 km | Lac-au-Saumon | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest secondary school | 8.1 km | 1.2 km | 1.2 km |
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.
In Lac-au-Saumon, 50% of homes go back before 1961
Federal, provincial and local lists together give 5 historic places here. John-Frederick-Darwall funeral mound, begun in 1872, is the oldest by its record.
Historic places by designation · inside the town
Among them
| Heritage | Lac-au-Saumon | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1961 | 50% | 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 Lac-au-Saumon
Famous people from around Lac-au-Saumon
2 notable people were born in Lac-au-Saumon; with them, the best known born in the towns around it.
Photo credits
Sébastien Caron: Ludovic Péron, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Raymond Dumais: Blondin, maître-photographe à Rimouski, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lac-au-Saumon’s neighbours
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Statistics Canada
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lac-au-Saumon | 1,485 | — | — | A | B | A− |
| Amqui | 6,059 | 8.2 | A | B+ | B | A |
| Causapscal | 2,151 | 11 | — | A | B | B+ |
People: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Distances: centre to centre.
Questions about Lac-au-Saumon
Who are the people of Lac-au-Saumon?
Visible minorities are 0% of the population, where the middle of Canadian towns is 15%. Immigrants make up 1%, and Indigenous people 4%.
What kind of homes are in Lac-au-Saumon?
Single-detached houses make up 74% of the homes here, where Canadian towns sit at 64%; 0% are in high-rise apartments. 36% of households are one person, and the average is 2.2.
Is Lac-au-Saumon growing?
It added people: 1,450 in 2016, 1,488 in 2021, 2.6% more, where the middle of Canadian towns grew 4.1%. Statistics Canada’s 2025 estimate is 1,485.
About Lac-au-Saumon
Town in Quebec
Statistics Canada treats Lac-au-Saumon as a single census subdivision in Quebec, and TownRatings keeps to that line.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 1,485 (people, 2025 estimate)
- Province or territory
- Quebec
- Census division
- La Matapédia
- Census subdivision
- 2407057
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).