Ragueneau is a parish municipality located on Outardes Bay, on the north shore of the maritime estuary of the St. Lawrence River, in Côte-Nord region, Manicouagan RCM, in Quebec, Canada.

History

The first settlers arrived in 1920, mostly from Saint-Paul-du-Nord, Les Escoumins, and Sainte-Anne-de-Portneuf. That same year, Ragueneau Township was proclaimed and named after Jesuit Paul Ragueneau (1608-1680). In 1926, its post office opened.

Three communities developed concurrently along the shores of the Saint Lawrence: Rivière-à-la-Truite in the north-east, Ruisseau-Vert in the centre, and Ragueneau in the south-west. The main administrative, commercial, cultural, and religious activities concentrated in Ruisseau-Vert, so that over time this community became known as Ragueneau itself. In 1951, the Parish Municipality of Ragueneau was incorporated.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Ragueneau had a population of 1,314 living in 613 of its 713 total private dwellings, a change of -2.2% from its 2016 population of 1,343. With a land area of 179.83 km (69.43 sq mi), it had a population density of 7.3/km (18.9/sq mi) in 2021.

Historical census populations – Ragueneau, Quebec

Year Pop. ±% 1951 1,248 —     1956 1,523 +22.0% 1961 1,747 +14.7% 1966 2,016 +15.4% 1971 1,802 −10.6% 1976 1,970 +9.3% 1981 1,917 −2.7% 1986 1,843 −3.9%	Year Pop. ±% 1991 1,722 −6.6% 1996 1,684 −2.2% 2001 1,584 −5.9% 2006 1,520 −4.0% 2011 1,405 −7.6% 2016 1,343 −4.4% 2021 1,314 −2.2%
Source: Statistics Canada

Mother tongue (2021):

• English as first language: 0%
• French as first language: 97.7%
• English and French as first language: 0%
• Other as first language: 2.3%