Sainte-Marie-Saint-Raphaël (French pronunciation:[sɛ̃tmaʁisɛ̃ʁafaɛl]; unofficially Ste-Marie-St-Raphaël) is a former village in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada. It held village status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Île-de-Lamèque.
Located on Lamèque Island, the village was formed by the incorporation of most of the local service district (LSD) of St. Raphael sur-Mer and a small part of the neighbouring LSD of Haut-Lamèque.[2] Contrary to frequent citation, it was not formed by an amalgamation involving a village named Sainte-Marie.
In May 1971, an anxious Acadian fishing population demanded a public hearing into the safety of the Marc Guylaine, and 400 people met at the Saint-Raphaël community centre where an "action group" was commissioned to study the issue. Ultimately the last of the "cursed" sister ships was found to be unseaworthy.[3]
On 1 January 2023, Sainte-Marie-Saint-Raphaël amalgamated with the town of Lamèque and all or part of ten local service districts to form the new town of Île-de-Lamèque.[4][5] The community's name remains in official use.[6]
Demographics
Historical Census Data - Sainte-Marie-Saint-Raphaël, New Brunswick[7]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Sainte-Marie-Saint-Raphaël had a population of 820 living in 395 of its 433 total private dwellings, a change of -6.7% from its 2016 population of 879. With a land area of 15.84 km2 (6.12 sq mi), it had a population density of 51.8/km2 (134.1/sq mi) in 2021.[1]
Canada census – Sainte-Marie-Saint-Raphaël community profile
