Land for sale in Bas-Saint-Laurent, Quebec

About Bas-Saint-Laurent

The area

The Bas-Saint-Laurent runs along the south shore of the St. Lawrence estuary from Kamouraska to past Matane, with Chaudière-Appalaches to the west, the Gaspésie to the east, and Maine and New Brunswick to the south. It covers about 22,200 km² and had about 199,000 people in 2021, in eight MRCs: Kamouraska, Rivière-du-Loup, Témiscouata, Les Basques, Rimouski-Neigette, La Mitis, La Matanie and La Matapédia. Rimouski (about 48,900) is the regional centre, followed by Rivière-du-Loup (about 20,100) and Matane (about 14,000). Farms are concentrated near the river; inland, the Appalachian uplands are largely forest, with Lac Témiscouata and the Matapédia valley leading south toward New Brunswick.

History

The region is part of Wolastokuk, the ancestral territory of the Wolastoqiyik, which reaches from near Lévis east to the Métis River and south to the Maine and New Brunswick borders. The Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk First Nation, Quebec's only Wolastoqey (Maliseet) nation, is based in Cacouna. French seigneuries were granted along the shore in the late 1600s; René Lepage settled at Rimouski in 1696. Logging on the rivers grew from about 1820 and stayed the backbone of the economy well into the 20th century. On May 6, 1950, fire destroyed about a third of Rimouski.

Services and access

The Hôpital régional de Rimouski and the Centre hospitalier régional du Grand-Portage in Rivière-du-Loup are the regional hospitals; smaller hospitals in La Pocatière, Matane, Amqui, Trois-Pistoles and Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac also have emergency departments. Autoroute 20 and Route 132 follow the shore. Autoroute 85, a 94 km rebuild of Route 185 from near Rivière-du-Loup to the New Brunswick border, was down to its last 6 km in mid-2026, with opening planned for this fall. In Rimouski, health care, Hydro-Québec, government offices and marine research and training (UQAR, the Institut maritime du Québec) are major employers.

Land and climate

The provincial agricultural zone covers about 643,000 ha, close to 30% of the region, and about half of it is farmed. The region has about 1,900 farms; dairy brings in more than half of farm revenue, followed by maple syrup and hogs.

Before you buy

Building permits and zoning come from the local municipality, within the land use plan (schéma d'aménagement) of its MRC. In the agricultural zone, a house or other non-farm use can need authorization from the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ). On the St. Lawrence shore, the province maps coastal erosion constraint zones, which MRC plans and municipal zoning must carry, with extra limits on building. A camp on public land is held under a provincial vacation lease, not owned; the rent is annual and a transfer needs ministry approval.

Sources

• Gouvernement du Québec, Bas-Saint-Laurent (région 01)
• Statistics Canada, 2021 Census population and dwelling counts (table 98-10-0002)
• MAPAQ, Profil régional de l'industrie bioalimentaire 2023
• Première Nation Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk, Wolastokuk
• Ville de Rimouski, Rimouski capitale régionale
• Santé Québec Bas-Saint-Laurent, emergency departments
• Gouvernement du Québec, Autoroute 85 in its final stretch (June 2026)
• Ministère de la Sécurité publique, coastal erosion constraint zones

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