# Saint-Léon-le-Grand, Bas-Saint-Laurent

Saint-Léon-le-Grand (French pronunciation:) is a parish municipality in Quebec, Canada.

## History

The territory was first a logging concession belonging to the Price company. The first settlers arrived in 1896 from Baie-des-Sables, Cap-Chat, Sainte-Félicité, Chicoutimi and Lac Saint-Jean. In the late 1880s, Jos Néron, François Gagné, Eusèbe Gagnon, Polyte Bouchard, Louis Girard, Henri Desbiens, Achille Potvin, Polyte Bouchard (the great) and Hector Desbiens were the first pioneers of the region. The Catholic mission was founded in 1901. Contrary to custom, the civil erection took place before the canonical erection of the parish. The municipality was officially founded civilly on August 12, 1903 while the parish was canonically established four years later, on December 9, 1907. However, the parish registers had been open since 1905. For its part, the post office was created in 1903. In 1941, a major fire broke out in a business and destroyed a dozen homes.

## Geography

Saint-Léon-le-Grand is located on the southern slope of the St. Lawrence River, 430 km northeast of Quebec City and 110 km southeast of Rimouski. Important towns near Saint-Léon-le-Grand are Amqui at 12 km and Lac-au-Saumon at 16 km to the east. Causapscal at 27 km to the east as well as Sayabec at 33 km to the north. Saint-Léon-le-Grand is located on Route 195 halfway between Amqui and Saint-Zénon-du-Lac-Humqui. The territory of Saint-Léon-le-Grand covers an area of 127 km2. Most of this territory is mountainous and covered with forests.
The municipality of Saint-Léon-le-Grand is located in the regional county municipality (RCM) of La Matapédia in the administrative region of Bas-Saint-Laurent. The eponymous parish of Saint-Léon-le-Grand is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rimouski and, more specifically, in the pastoral region of La Matapédia. Saint-Léon-le-Grand is part of the Gaspésie tourist region in the Matapédia Valley tourist sub-region.

## Demographics
### Population

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Léon-le-Grand had a population of 968 living in 420 of its 447 total private dwellings, a change of 1.6% from its 2016 population of 953. With a land area of 128.26 km$^2$ (49.52 sq mi), it had a population density of 7.5/km$^2$ (19.5/sq mi) in 2021.

### Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Saint-Léon-le-Grand, Quebec :
| Census | Total | French | French | French | English | English | English | French & English | French & English | French & English | Other | Other | Other |
| Year | Responses | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % |
| 2021 | 950 | 940 | 0.5% | 98.9% | 10 | 100.0% | 1.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 940 | 935 | 2.6% | 99.5% | 5 | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2011 | 960 | 960 | 7.7% | 100.0% | 5 | n/a% | 0.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| 2006 | 1,050 | 1,040 | 7.6% | 99.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 10 | n/a% | 1.0% |
| 2001 | 1,130 | 1,125 | 1.7% | 99.6% | 0 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 1996 | 1,145 | 1,145 | n/a | 100.0% | 10 | n/a | 0.9% | 0 | n/a | 0.0% | 0 | n/a | 0.0% |

## Attractions

There are several footpaths in the mountains at Saint-Léon-le-Grand.