Gaultois () is a small settlement in the Coast of Bays area in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Gaultois had a population of 100 people in the 2021 census. The town has a K-12 school called Victoria Academy (as of 2022-23, there are 4 students enrolled), as well as a fire department, public library, Lion's Club, and town hall. The town is only accessible by

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. The provincial government ferry runs from the nearby town of Hermitage several times daily and the crossing takes approximately 20 minutes. This ferry also services the more remote community of McCallum once to twice daily with a crossing time of around one hour and fifteen minutes. In 2015, Gaultois voted against resettlement. Gaultois considered resettlement again in 2023 but it failed. Before confederation with Canada in 1949, Gaultois was the customs town for those wishing to travel to the islands of

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon ( ), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, located near the Canada, Canadian prov ...

. Prior to resettlement, the population had declined to 107 in 1956 from a peak of 252 five years earlier. After resettlement in 1966 Gaultois population rose to 594 with the fish plant and its draggers as the main employer of the town. The first Waymaster in 1877, was Richard Bradshaw. A fishing community, Gaultois went into a decline when the Lake Group first announced the closure of its fish plant in 1981 and again in 1990 when Fishery Products International closed the plant. The Gaultois fish plant permanently closed in 2010. As of 2017, the population has plunged by 80 percent since the 1990s. Though small, Gaultois has four distinct areas: #The Room near the wharf where, traditionally salt fish was dried for market, on flakes. #The Valley up the hill a little then surrounded by high rock faces, home to about 10 homes. #The Point across the harbour from the rooms. The most populated part of town. The point and the rooms are joined by a wooden boardwalk at the base of the rock face. #The Bottom up the hill and down the other side from the point. The most isolated part of town.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

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, Gaultois had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

References

Populated coastal places in Canada Road-inaccessible communities of Newfoundland and Labrador Towns in Newfoundland and Labrador Car-free zones in Canada Fishing communities in Canada {{Newfoundland-geo-stub

Demographics

See also

References