The first inhabitants of this territory settled in 1912. However, a sawmill had already been built here in 1897. In the past, the area was called Colonie Val-Joubert in honour of Louis-Philippe Joubert, an influential lumber merchant from Sayabec who settled Sainte-Paule in 1903. Today, the name of Sainte-Paule's primary school is Val-Joubert. The Sainte-Paule Catholic mission was founded in 1923. The post office was opened in 1938 under the name Sainte-Paula. The caisse populaire was founded on September 15, 1945. The parish was canonically erected in 1948. The municipality of Sainte-Paule was officially founded on January 1, 1968 from unorganized territory. On June 14, 1968, the caisse populaire was closed.
^"1971 Census of Canada - Population Census Subdivisions (Historical)". Catalogue 92-702 Vol I, part 1 (Bulletin 1.1-2). Statistics Canada: 76, 139. July 1973.