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Fermont, Quebec

Fermont
City
Fermont.JPG
Coat of arms of Fermont
Coat of arms
Motto: Faire front, faire face
Fermont is located in Côte-Nord Region Quebec
Fermont
Fermont
Fermont is located in Quebec
Fermont
Fermont
Fermont is located in Canada
Fermont
Fermont
Location in Côte-Nord Region of Quebec.
Coordinates: 52°47′N 67°05′W / 52.783°N 67.083°W / 52.783; -67.083Coordinates: 52°47′N 67°05′W / 52.783°N 67.083°W / 52.783; -67.083
Country  Canada
Province  Quebec
Region Côte-Nord
RCM Caniapiscau
Settled 1971
Constituted October 15, 1974
Government
 • Mayor Martin St-Laurent
 • Federal riding Manicouagan
 • Prov. riding Duplessis
Area
 • Total 495.50 km2 (191.31 sq mi)
 • Land 470.67 km2 (181.73 sq mi)
Elevation 610 m (2,000 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 2,874
 • Density 6.1/km2 (16/sq mi)
 • Pop 2006-2011 Increase 9.2%
 • Dwellings 1,389
Time zone EST (UTC−5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s) G0G 1J0
Area code(s) 418 and 581
Highways Route 389
Website www.caniapiscau.net

Fermont is a town in northeastern Quebec, Canada, near the Quebec-Labrador border about 23 kilometres (14 mi) from Labrador City on Route 389, which connects to the Trans-Labrador Highway (Newfoundland and Labrador Route 500). It is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Caniapiscau.

Fermont (French contraction of "Fer Mont", meaning "Iron Mountain") was founded as a company town in the early 1970s to exploit rich iron ore deposits from Mont Wright, that is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the west from the town site.

The town is notable for the huge self-contained structure containing apartments, stores, schools, bars, a hotel, restaurants, a supermarket and swimming pool which shelters a community of smaller apartment buildings and homes on its leeward side. The structure was designed to be a windscreen to the rest of the town. It permits residents (other than mine workers) to never leave the building during the long winter, which usually lasts about seven months. The town, designed by Maurice Desnoyers and Norbert Schoenauer, was inspired by similar projects in Sweden designed by Ralph Erskine, notably that of Svappavaara, an iron mining town in Sweden. The building measures 1.3 kilometres (4,300 ft) long and stands 50 metres (160 ft) high.

Following the depletion of the Jeannine Lake Mine at Gagnon in the late 1960s, the Québec Cartier Mining Company began to develop the Mont Wright Mine. This was a large-scale project that involved mining, processing, and transporting iron ore. Some 1600 employees would be needed, and the town of Fermont was constructed to house them and their families. By the end of 1972, the first people settled there. That same year, the Fermont post office opened, and in 1974, the place was incorporated as Ville de Fermont.


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