Saint-René-de-Matane

48°42′N 67°23′W / 48.700°N 67.383°W / 48.700; -67.383^[1]CountryCanadaProvinceQuebecRegionBas-Saint-LaurentRCMLa MatanieConstitutedDecember 18, 1982Government • MayorRémi Fortin • Federal ridingHaute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia • Prov. ridingMatane-MatapédiaArea • Total258.29 km² (99.73 sq mi) • Land253.89 km² (98.03 sq mi)Population • Total961 • Density3.8/km² (10/sq mi) • Pop (2016-21) 3.0% • Dwellings596Time zoneUTC−5 (EST) • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)Postal code(s)Area code(s)418 and 581Highways R-195Websitewww.saintrene.ca

Saint-René-de-Matane is a municipality in Quebec, Canada.

In addition to main population centre of Saint-René located along Quebec Route 195, the municipality also includes the communities of Le Renversé, Rivière-Matane, Ruisseau-Gagnon, and Village-à-Dancause.

Saint-René-de-Matane is located on the southern slope of the St. Lawrence River, 430 kilometres (270 mi) northeast of Quebec City and 110 kilometres (68 mi) northeast of Rimouski. Major cities near Saint-René-de-Matane are Matane, 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the north, Sayabec, 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the west, Amqui, 35 kilometres (22 mi) and Causapscal, 55 kilometres (34 mi) to the south. The municipality is located on Route 195, which connects Matane to Amqui, between Saint-Vianney to the south and Matane to the north. This road runs along the Matane River in its section crossing the municipality. The territory of the municipality, covering an area of 256 square kilometres (99 sq mi), also includes the Petite rivière Matane and the Gagnon stream.^[1]

The municipality of Saint-René-de-Matane is part of La Matanie Regional County Municipality in the administrative region of Bas-Saint-Laurent. In addition to the main hamlet of Saint-René, the municipality is made up of four hamlets: Le Renversé, Rivière-Matane, Ruisseau-Gagnon and Village-à-Dancause.^[2]

The Municipality of Saint-René-de-Matane was formed on December 18, 1982, through the merger of the Parish Municipalities of Saint-René-de-Matane and Saint-Nil, founded in 1965 and 1974 respectively. Its name comes from René Goupil, a Canadian martyr canonized in 1930.^[1]

Historical Census Data - Saint-René-de-Matane, Quebec

Year Pop. ±% 1986 1,189 —     1991 1,081 −9.1% 1996 1,065 −1.5% 2001 968 −9.1%	Year Pop. ±% 2006 1,070 +10.5% 2011 1,089 +1.8% 2016 991 −9.0% 2021 961 −3.0%
2016 Population based on revised count. Population counts are not adjusted for boundary changes. Source: Statistics Canada[10]

List of former mayors:^[11]

• Jean Yves Murray (1982–1992)
• Colombe Canuel Lagacé (1992–2000)
• Jean Charles Gagnon (2000–2009)
• Sylvain Audit (2009–2011)
• Roger Vaillancourt (2011–2015)
• Harold Chassé (2015–2017)
• Rémi Fortin (2017–present)

• List of municipalities in Quebec

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