Population

The economic and industrial boom of the early 20th century caused the population to double from 1901 to 1921, and triple between 1901 and 1931. Ironically, today the region is facing considerable demographic loss due to a fall in the birth rate as much as migration to urban centres. On the other hand, a number of measures have been put in place to incite people to stay in, or come back to Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.

The Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region had a population of slightly more than 274,000 in 2006, 65 % of which lived in the Saguenay area, while 35% lived in the Lac-Saint-Jean area (including Alma)