Arvida, Quebec
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Arvida (from ARthur VIning DAvis, one of the founders of Alcan) was founded as an industrial city by Alcan in 1927, when the first aluminum smelter was constructed. Located approximately 200 kilometers (125 miles north) of Quebec City, south of the Saguenay River between Chicoutimi and Jonquière, the town was planned from the first day and was developed as a company town, to get a population of about 14,000 inhabitants, 4 Catholic parishes, and many other denomination parishes, and schools.
During World War II, the smelter was expanded and a large hydroelectric complex was built on the Saguenay River at Shipshaw (1 200 000 HP). The smelter, which transforms imported bauxite to alumine and to aluminum by electrolytic process, employed up to 7,500 persons in the 1950s and the 1960s. The plant is due to close in 2005, as it has been replaced by at least 3 plants constructed during the last 10 years in the Saguenay area.
In 1975, the cities of Arvida, Kénogami and Jonquière were amalgamated into a new city, Jonquière. In 2002, this amalgamated Jonquière was merged with Lac-Kénogami, Shipshaw, Chicoutimi, Laterrière, La Baie and Tremblay township into Ville de Saguenay.
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