Land for sale in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec

About Abitibi-Témiscamingue

The area

Abitibi-Témiscamingue is the western tip of Quebec, along the Ontario border, with Nord-du-Québec to the north, the Outaouais to the south and Mauricie to the east. It covers about 57,300 km² and had about 147,100 people in 2021. It is made up of four MRCs (Abitibi, around Amos; Abitibi-Ouest, around La Sarre; La Vallée-de-l'Or, with Val-d'Or, Malartic and Senneterre; and Témiscamingue, with Ville-Marie and Témiscaming) plus the city of Rouyn-Noranda, which merged every municipality of its former MRC in 2002. Rouyn-Noranda (about 42,300) and Val-d'Or (about 32,800) are the largest cities, followed by Amos (about 12,700) and La Sarre (about 7,400).

History

This is Anishinabeg (Algonquin) country: the Abitibiwinni First Nation lives at Pikogan near Amos, and the communities of Lac Simon and Kitcisakik are in the Vallée-de-l'Or. Amos was founded in 1914 where the Transcontinental Railway crossed the Harricana River; its sawmills and farmland made it the main town of the newly settled region by the mid-1920s. In 1921 the prospector Edmund Horne found rich copper deposits in Rouyn township, and the twin towns of Rouyn and Noranda grew up around the mine and smelter. Mining still sets the pace of the economy.

Services and access

Santé Québec runs emergency departments at the hospitals in Rouyn-Noranda, Val-d'Or and Amos and at the multiservice health centres in La Sarre, Ville-Marie and Témiscaming-Kipawa. Rouyn-Noranda's airport has direct flights to Montréal and Québec City, and Val-d'Or's is served by Air Creebec and Air Liaison. Health care and retail are the largest employers, and forestry, fishing and mining together provide about 10,500 jobs; unemployment was 3.1% in 2023, against 4.5% for Quebec as a whole.

Land and climate

The provincial agricultural zone covers about 635,000 hectares, but only 29% of it is farmed, by about 616 farms. Milk brings in about a third of farm sales, followed by grain and oilseeds and beef cattle, and most cropland grows forage. The province notes that good farmland here is still affordable.

Before you buy

The local municipality issues building permits and sets zoning, within the land use plan (schéma d'aménagement) of its MRC. Land in the agricultural zone falls under the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ), which sets conditions for building a house there. For lots on a lake or river, check the province's interactive flood-zone map and ask the municipality about shoreline rules.

Sources

• Statistics Canada, 2021 Census population and dwelling counts (tables 98-10-0002, 98-10-0007)
• Ville de Rouyn-Noranda, history
• The Canadian Encyclopedia, Amos
• Gouvernement du Québec, labour market portrait
• Gouvernement du Québec, regional agriculture portraits
• Santé Québec Abitibi-Témiscamingue, emergency departments (via Index Santé)
• CPTAQ
• Gouvernement du Québec, flood-zone maps in force

Written by AcreScout from the sources listed; facts checked September 30, 2026. Rules change: confirm anything that matters with the municipality.