Caniapiscau is a vast but sparsely-populated regional county municipality, with 4,260 people in a remote 70,390km² area of northeastern Quebec.
Towns and villages
- Fermont (population 2474) is the larger of the two main settlements. It was established in 1972 to house workers for the Mont Wright Mine. A single 1.3 km-long building serves as a windbreak for the village, and houses the city hall, 500 apartments, a grocer (Métro), shops, a bowling alley, schools, hotel, and a bar.
- Schefferville (population 155) is not accessible by road. Schefferville was established by the Iron Ore Company of Canada in 1954 to support the mining of rich iron ore deposits in the area. At its peak in the late 1960s, Schefferville had about 5,000 residents. But iron ore mining ceased there in 1982. Most of the 4,000 or so non-Indigenous occupants left, leaving mostly Indigenous people who had settled there in the preceding 30 years.
Other destinations
There was a temporary work camp from 1974-1984 during construction of the James Bay hydroelectric project:
- Caniapiscau (54°52′4.1″N 69°50′10.5″W), as a small community without a permanent population established 1974 on the north side of the Caniapiscau Reservoir. A temporary work site at the end of the 666 km (414 mi) Trans-Taiga Road (fr: Route Transtaïga), abandoned when hydroelectric development was completed. This is reachable by 4WD vehicles from the main James Bay Road; except for an outfitter's camp and floatplane base, there's basically nothing there.
- Brisay, as a waypoint, marks a fork in the road on the west side of the Caniapiscau Reservoir. There are no services.
Understand
While "Caniapiscau" is used here to identify the regional county municipality, a large hydroelectric reservoir and an abandoned former work camp also bear the name. There is no permanent population associated with these points.
Fermont and Schefferville are remote mining communities, linked to Sept-Îles by rail. Schefferville is not reachable by road; its mine closed in the mid-1980s when resource prices were low, but has since re-opened. The Innu reserves of Matimekosh (2016 pop. 613) and Lac-John (2016 pop. 33) are located within and beside Schefferville, respectively, while the Naskapi reserved land of Kawawachikamach (2016 pop. 601) is located 15 km north of Schefferville.
Quebec Route 389 serves Fermont, continuing across a provincial boundary to Labrador City some 28km (16 miles) distant on the Trans-Labrador Highway. With the exception of small native communities, there is little or no other permanent settlement in the region.
The west side of the reservoir is on a branch of the James Bay Road and therefore not accessible by road from Fermont, short of making a wide (and bizarre) 2760km detour through Baie-Comeau, Tadoussac, Chicoutimi-Nord, Lac St. Jean, Chibougamau-Chapais and Matagami. (A five-province road trip from Ontario to either coast, Dryden-Victoria or Ottawa-St. John's, would be comparable in distance.)
Talk
Mostly French. Fermont is one of the northernmost French-speaking towns of any size worldwide.
Get in
Fermont
Quebec Route 389 (an often-gravel road with few services) connects Baie-Comeau to Fermont, a 566 km drive which takes 6-8 hours. There is fuel and lodging (motels) at Manic 5 (km 214) and Relais Gabriel (km 317). Most of this road has no services at all - so plan carefully.
Route 389 continues 28 km into Labrador City as the Trans-Labrador Highway.
Flights to Wabush (near Labrador City) depart Montreal, Quebec City and various other points in Quebec and Newfoundland & Labrador.
Schefferville
By road
Schefferville is not accessible by road.
By train
A train runs north on the Quebec North Shore & Labrador (QNS&L) line from Sept-Îles through Emeril, Labrador to Schefferville, an otherwise-inaccessible mining community in northern Québec. This line is owned by three First Nations (Aboriginal) groups. "Tshiuetin" means "north wind" in the Naskapi language. This line does not connect to the rest of the North American rail system.
- Tshiuetin Rail Transportation, ☏ 1 418 962-5530, toll-free: 1 866-962-0988, ✉[email protected]. 10-12 hrs of spectacular scenery. Departing Sept-Îles: Mon & Thu at 8h00. Departing Schefferville: Tue & Fri at 8h00. Sandwiches and microwaved meals are available in a dining car. Server may not speak English or French, so brush up on your Naskapi. The northbound train stops at Emeril Jct (no services, no populated place, no mobile telephone signal) at about 15h00 and southbound at about 12h00 (Quebec time). Labrador City is a 45-minute drive on Highway 500 from Emeril Jct, so you should have transportation arranged to meet you $175 round trip ($115 for Aboriginal persons).
By plane
- 1 Schefferville Airport (YKL IATA).
- Air Inuit, toll-free: 1 800 361-2965. flies daily (except Sun) from Montreal (starting at $1900 roundtrip) to Quebec City (starting at $1800 roundtrip) to Schefferville. On Mon, Wed and Fri this flight continues on to Kuujjuaq (starting at $725 roundtrip from Schefferville) and four other settlements in Nunavik. There are 1 or 2 flights a day from Sept-Îles (1½ hrs, from $1300 roundtrip). On Sun, the flight continues to Kuujjuaq. (All fees and taxes included in prices shown.)
Get around
As there is no road, traffic from Fermont to Schefferville must pass through Labrador by rail ("Emeril" is a flag stop where the line crosses the Trans-Labrador Highway with no populated place and no services) or by air (from Wabush airport near Labrador City).
There is a taxi in each village:
- Taxi Liaison Fermont, 3 rue Tilly, Fermont, ☏ 1 418-287-5087.
- Taxi Porlier, 524 Ruth St, Schefferville, ☏ 1 418-585-3453.
See
Caniapiscau is home to the huge Caniapiscau Reservoir, the largest body of water in Quebec. It was named after Lake Caniapiscau that was flooded in 1981 due to the formation of the reservoir.
Do
Various outfitters sell fishing expeditions (northern pike, walleye, lake trout and brook char/speckled trout) and caribou hunting expeditions. Most of these operations are based outside the region and fly the visitor in to a remote off-grid location; a few fly from Schefferville to some otherwise-inaccessible point.
Events
- Défi Taïga, 130, rue le Carrefour, Fermont, ☏ 1 418-341-0355, 1 709 987-0355. March. A 200km sled dog race through boreal forest.
Buy
Fermont's windbreak building has a grocer (Métro), a liquor store, and other shops and services.
Eat
Fermont
- L'Authentique Bistro, In the centre commercial, ☏ 1 418-287-3005.
- Casse-croûte de l’aréna, In the Fermont arena, ☏ 1 418-287-9444. Snack bar open September-April
- , 401, le Carrefour, ☏ 1 418-287-5044. Sunday breakfast 8AM-noon, Sept-June
- Dyailo Restaurant, 299 le Carrefour, Fermont, ☏ 1 418-287-3161.
Schefferville
- Cantine Chez Rita's, 120 Val-Gregoire, Schefferville, ☏ 1 418-585-2379.
- Restaurant Blabla, Schefferville. Restaurant that mainly serves fast food like poutine, pizza and hamburgers.
Drink
- Resto-Bar Zonix, In the centre commercial, Fermont, ☏ 1 418-287-5250. 11AM-9PM Sun-Fri. Restaurant, bar food.
Sleep
Fermont
- Hôtel Fermont, 299, rue le Carrefour, ☏ 1 418-287-5451, fax: 1 418-287-3732, ✉[email protected]. Inside the main building in the town. $155 double.
- Association loisir plein air de Fermont, 300, rue des Lagopèdes, ☏ 1 418-287-3927. Camping open during the summer
Schefferville
- Rodeway Inn Schefferville (Hotel Innutel), 300 Wishart, ☏ 1 418-585-3888, fax: 1 418-585-3999. Check-in: 4PM, check-out: noon. Close to the Schefferville Airport, overlooking Lake Knob. Hot breakfast included, wireless high-speed Internet, airport transportation. Also, free parking on premises, which isn't a big perq since there is no road into Schefferville. From $200.
- Hôtel Auberge Guest House, 550 Star Creek, ☏ 1 418-585-2520. Also very basic. Rooms are over $200/night, breakfast included. A table d'hôte dinner is available by request only (a day or more in advance); a $30 flat rate includes soup, salad, main course and dessert. Bottles of wine are $30.
Stay safe
Connect
Go next
| Routes through Fermont |
| Goose Bay ← Labrador City ← | NE   S | → Baie-Comeau → END |