Throughout La Malbaie, year-round residents share the streets with a steady stream of visitors and second-home owners. About 8,000 people live in the town, which merged several villages in 1999. Pointe-au-Pic has the Manoir Richelieu and the casino, and Cap-a-l'Aigle is known for its river viewpoints and artists.
Visitors come for Hautes-Gorges national park about 45 km away, whale watching, the Domaine Forget music festival, galleries in Baie-Saint-Paul and fall colours in autumn. Winter brings skiing and icy, steep coastal roads. Prices have climbed with second-home demand, and staff housing is tight. Crime is low. French is the language of daily life, and English is mostly limited to hotels and attractions. Quebec City is about 150 km away, and serious medical cases go there.
- Known as
- Heart of Charlevoix; Pointe-au-Pic and Cap-a-l'Aigle; UNESCO Charlevoix Biosphere Reserve; home of Manoir Richelieu and Casino de Charlevoix; artists' and painters' region on the St. Lawrence
- Founded
- 1608 Champlain named the area; 1653 Malbaie seigneury granted; Pointe-au-Pic became a summer resort from the 1760s onward; 1 December 1999 amalgamation of La M…
- Languages
- French (sole provincial official language under Quebec's Charter of the French Language, so French is expected on signage, commerce and public services); English understood at major hotels, Manoir Richelieu and attractions (historic Anglo summer community at Pointe-au-Pic), but less common in daily life
- Airports
- No commercial airport in town (small La Malbaie aerodrome for general aviation); Quebec City Jean Lesage International (YQB), about 150 km southwest (about 2 hours by car); Saguenay-Bagotville (YBG) about 190 km north
- Tipping
- Restaurants 15-20% of the pre-tax bill (GST and QST are added on top of listed prices, and tipping is on the pre-tax amount); bars $1-2 per drink or 15-20% of tab; taxis and rideshare 10-15%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 CAD per night; bellhops $2-5 CAD per bag; tour guides 10-15%; counter service optional (all amounts CAD; Quebec adds GST 5% plus QST 9.975%, so about 15% total tax on top of listed prices)
About this data
Population 8,235 (Ville de La Malbaie, 2021 Census), land area 458.19 sq km are from Wikipedia (fetched; total area with water is 697.32 sq km). La Malbaie is not confirmed as a census agglomeration in the fetched page, so population_metro is set equal to the city figure (a Statistics Canada agglomeration figure, if any, would be somewhat higher; not verified). Elevation about 20 m, coordinates and distances are approximate. visitor_website and event_calendar use Tourisme Charlevoix, recalled and not confirmed by a page fetch; no separate city events page was confirmed. Event names and months, hotel ranges, cost of living, crime index, rent, prices and distances are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified. All money in CAD.
