Matagami (, ) is a small town in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. It is located north of

Amos Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (film), a 1985 American made-for-television drama film * Amos (guitar), a 1958 Gibson Fl ...

, on Matagami Lake, at the northern terminus of Route 109 and the start of the James Bay Road (French: ''Route de la Baie James''). It is enclaved within the local municipality of Eeyou Istchee James Bay, but administratively independent of it. The town had a population of 1,526 as of the

Canada 2011 Census The 2011 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population on May 10, 2011. Statistics Canada, an agency of the Canadian government, conducts a nationwide census every five years. In 2011, it consisted of a mandatory short for ...

History

Matagami was founded in 1963 with the development of

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

in the area. Previously, it existed only as a very small

prospecting Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by Mining engineering#Pre-mining, exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. ...

camp accessible only by float plane, but after a viable mineral deposit was found in the late 1950s a permanent settlement began to be established. In 1962, the Quebec Toponomy Commission attempted to name the new community Mazenod after Charles-Joseph-Eugène de Mazenod, the founder of the

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation wa ...

, but after a public outcry by local residents the community was named after Matagami Lake. The name Matagami means "the confluence of waters" in the

Cree language Cree ( ; also known as Cree–Montagnais language, Montagnais–Naskapi language, Naskapi) is a dialect continuum of Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 86,475 people across Canada in 2021, from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to ...

. The first church service in Matagami was held on 17 April 1962.

Geography

Matagami lies in a sparsely populated area several parallels north of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. It is located in the geographic centre of Quebec quite far to the west and on similar parallels to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

further west in Canada – both of which have milder climates to a certain degree. Compared to other continents, Matagami is on the same parallel as the hot Rhine shift around

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, whose yearly mean temperature is about hotter. Nearby lakes include Lake Olga.

Climate

In spite of being located below the 50th parallel, Matagami has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfc''). The winter season is long and cold with a January daily mean of , but summer temperatures during the short season are quite warm for subarctic climates. The cold air is dominant with 224.4 days of the year averaging air frost, while around 133 afternoons each year do not top freezing, and a full 30.5 days of the year should fall to below . Around three days in summer are warm enough to reach , indicating a very continental climate.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Matagami 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. Population trend: * Population in 2021: 1,526 (2016 to 2021 population change: −3.5%) * Population in 2016: 1,555 * Population in 2011: 1,526 * Population in 2006: 1,555 * Population in 2001: 1,939 * Population in 1996: 2,243 * Population in 1991: 2,467 * Population in 1986: 2,738 * Population in 1981: 3,794 * Population in 1976: 4,043 * Population in 1971: 2,411 * Population in 1966: 2,244 Mother tongue: * English as first language: 1.8% * French as first language: 94.6% * English and French as first language: 0.7% * Other as first language: 2.1%

Economy

The two primary employers in the city are

Xstrata Xstrata plc was an Anglo-Swiss Multinational corporation, multinational mining company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It was a major producer of coal (and the world's largest exporter o ...

and

Domtar Domtar Corporation is a leading, privately held manufacturer of diversified forest products, with a workforce of roughly 14,000 employees in more than 60 locations across North America. While Domtar operated independently for several decades a ...

. Domtar has been in Matagami since 1988 when the company bought out Bisson & Bisson. Xstrata entered Matagami in 2006 when it acquired Falconbridge Ltd. In 2008, Xstrata put Perseverance, a zinc-copper

volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposit Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits, also known as VMS ore deposits, are a type of metal sulfide Ore, ore deposit, mainly copper-zinc which are associated with and produced by volcanic-associated hydrothermal vents in submarine environments ...

, into production. Perseverance has a mine life of 5.5 years.Xstrata Zinc Canada
Since 1957 ten deposits, including the world class Matagami Lake deposit (25.6 million tonnes grading 8.2% Zn, 0.56% Cu, 20.91 g/t Ag, 0.41 g/t Au), have been discovered and mined out for a total of "44.4 million tonnes with a similar average grade."Kaiser Bottom-Fish Online
/ref> Further exploration is continuing in the camp through a 50–50 joint venture agreement between Xstrata and Donner Metals.Exploration
In late 2008, Donner Metals Ltd. announced that Xstrata Zinc Canada was in the process of completing a scoping study at their jointly owned Bracemac-McLeod property.Bracemac-McLeod
It is the nearest city to the Lac Doré Vanadium Deposit. The community is also one of the distribution points for goods and services to the James Bay Hydroelectric Project. As well, Matagami has a small tourism industry due to the popularity of fishing and hunting in northern Quebec. Hotel Matagami and motel caribou include full-service bars.

Government

Police and crime

Policing in Matagami is done by the Surete du Quebec.

Media

Matagami is served by a community radio station, CHEF-FM, as well as by a rebroadcaster of Première Chaîne's CHLM-FM.

Notable people

* Marianne Limpert, won the silver medal in the 200m Individual Medley at the 1996 Summer Olympics, born in Matagami * Lorne Stamler, former NHL Hockey Player, graduated from Galinee High School in Matagami, Quebec, in 1969

References

External links

Ville de MatagamiXstrata Zinc MatagamiDonner Metals Ltd.Domtar Matagami
{{authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Incorporated places in Nord-du-Québec Jamésie