Rivière-OuelleQuebec

Rivière-Ouelle faces more hazards than 94% of Canadian towns

Burn scars are few around Rivière-Ouelle, with 0.3% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.008% a year). The expected yearly loss to earthquakes is $0.48 for each $1,000 of buildings, above Quebec’s towns ($0.14) and Canadian towns ($0.030) alike. Gouvernement du Québec has mapped the flood hazard here, one of 2 studies on the national inventory.

Rent takes less of local pay in Rivière-Ouelle than in Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: 14% of household income

Shelter took 30% or more of income for 7% of households, lower than both Quebec’s towns (13%) and Canadian towns (18%). 87% of households are owner-occupiers.

Trips to work from Rivière-Ouelle are shorter than from Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: 16 min on average

At the census, 88% of commuters went by car.

Around Rivière-Ouelle, 60% rate their health very good or excellent, against 52% for the typical Canadian town

Measured across the Région du Bas-Saint-Laurent: health survey and life expectancy

The region’s 2022/2024 life expectancy is 81.7, with women at 83.1 and men at 80.3. On average 15% of adults live with arthritis, diabetes or high blood pressure, between Quebec’s towns (15%) and Canadian towns (17%). For Rivière-Ouelle itself the measure is access, and it lags: 8.2 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical.

Crime runs lighter where Rivière-Ouelle is policed than in Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns, at an index of 42

Property crime in its police area ran at 9.8 per 1,000 residents a year, below Quebec’s towns (16.6) and Canadian towns (31.2) alike. The force’s area logs 11.1 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Rivière-Ouelle doesn’t get its own Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000 figures; the ones here come from Kamouraska MRC.

Rivière-Ouelle has cooler summers than Quebec’s towns or Canadian towns: July highs of 24.2°C

Some 349 cm of snow falls in a typical year, higher than both Quebec’s towns (217 cm) and Canadian towns (141 cm). Rain and snow peak in October, at 99 mm. Snow peaks in December: 83 cm in a normal year.

25% of Rivière-Ouelle’s residents speak English and French (Quebec’s towns: 44%; Canadian towns: 7.5%)

1% of residents have an Indigenous identity, below both Quebec’s towns (1.5%) and Canadian towns (2.8%).

A normal November in Rivière-Ouelle runs from −3°C to 4°C

A normal December brings highs of −3°C, lows of −10°C. In November, the normal is 72 mm of rain and snow. November usually brings some 30 cm of snow. Also worth knowing: at the extremes, July afternoons reach 24°C and January nights −15°C.

One councillor per 140 residents: Rivière-Ouelle is more closely represented than 99% of Quebec municipalities

The riding (a federal electoral district, which elects one MP) covering Rivière-Ouelle is Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, and Bernard Généreux (Conservative Party of Canada) represents it in the House of Commons.

Rivière-Ouelle has one public library, Bibliothèque De Rivière-Ouelle

From the centre of Rivière-Ouelle, it is 2.7 km away.

Around Rivière-Ouelle, 45% of the land is set aside for nature

The largest named area nearby is Sector of central estuary Territorial reserve for protected area purposes, 174,227 ha, 0.6 km away. 18 km from town is Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, the nearest provincial park. 12 areas within 10 km are protected for nature. No national park lies within 100 km.

No high school in or near Rivière-Ouelle: the closest is 10 km off

The closest elementary school is 2.7 km away, higher than both Quebec’s towns (0.5 km) and Canadian towns (0.5 km).

An older town: 51% of Rivière-Ouelle’s homes predate 1961

Of the dated places, Ancien presbytère de Rivière-Ouelle is the oldest, from 1881. The registers put 2 historic places inside its boundary, one of them of the highest rank. Within 5 km of the town lies one more that belongs to it. On the list: a municipal citation.