Alma, Quebec

Alma (2021 Town population: 30,331; CA Population 33,018; UA Population 26,016) is a town in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, in the Canadian province of Quebec.

History
The present town of Alma was formed in 1962 from the merging of four villages: Isle-Maligne, Naudville, Riverbend and St-Joseph d'Alma. The oldest of the villages, St-Joseph-d'Alma, was founded in 1867 by Damase Boulanger. The area became an important industrial centre during the 1920s and 1930s with the construction of a hydro-electrical power station on the Grande-Décharge River, a paper mill (Price) and an aluminum smelting plant (Alcan), all of which are still in activity today.

In 2002, Alma merged with the Municipality of Delisle. Both modern day Alma and St-Joseph d'Alma are named after the Battle of the Alma.

Geography
Alma is located on the southeast coast of Lac Saint-Jean where it flows into the Saguenay River, in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada, approximately 175 km north of Quebec City. Alma is the seat of Lac-Saint-Jean-Est Regional County Municipality. Alma is the second largest city in population in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region after the city of Saguenay.

Alma is the seat of the judicial district of Alma.

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Alma had a population of $30,331$ living in $13,815$ of its $14,493$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $30,771$. With a land area of 194.92 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Population trend:
 * Population in 2021: 30,915
 * Population in 2011: 30,904 (2006 to 2011 population change: 3%)
 * Population in 2006: 29,998
 * Population total in 2001: 30,126
 * Alma (ville): 25,918
 * Delisle (municipality): 4,208
 * Population in 1996:
 * Alma (ville): 26,127
 * Delisle (municipality): 4,256
 * Population in 1991:
 * Alma (ville): 25,910
 * Delisle (municipality): 4,281

Mother tongue:
 * English as first language: 0.5%
 * French as first language: 98.5%
 * English and French as first language: 0.1%
 * Other as first language: 0.9%

Transportation
Alma is serviced by the Alma Airport, located 4.1 km to the south of the town.

Notable people

 * Camille Bedard, hockey player
 * Chris Boucher, basketball player for the Toronto Raptors
 * Lucien Bouchard, former premier of Québec
 * Guy Cloutier, producer and artist manager
 * Guillaume Desbiens, hockey player
 * Charles Hudon, hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens
 * Pierre Lapointe, singer
 * Émilie Fortin Tremblay (1872–1949), one of the first white women to cross the Chilkoot on the way to the Yukon gold fields
 * François-Louis Tremblay, Olympic gold medallist short-track speed skater
 * Mario Tremblay, hockey player and former coach of the Montreal Canadiens

Twin towns – sister cities
Alma has been twinned with Falaise, Calvados, France, since 1969.