Chicoutimi—Le Fjord

Chicoutimi—Le Fjord is a federal riding in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, situated roughly 200 kilometres north of Quebec City. The riding includes the northern portion of the Chicoutimi borough of the city of Saguenay, the entirety of the La Baie borough, and several surrounding municipalities including Ferland-et-Boilleau, L'Anse-Saint-Jean, Petit-Saguenay, Rivière-Éternité, and Saint-Félix-d'Otis. The Saguenay Fjord—a glacier-carved rift valley of the Laurentian Highlands—is the riding's most dramatic geographic feature. The riding's population at the 2021 census was approximately 69,000.

Candidates

Richard Martel (Conservative) — Born in Chicoutimi on March 23, 1961, Martel was one of Quebec's best-known hockey coaches before entering politics. He spent nearly two decades as a head coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, twice winning the Ron LaPointe Trophy as QMJHL coach of the year. In 2010, he became the winningest coach in QMJHL history with his 570th career victory while coaching the Chicoutimi Saguénéens. He later served as commissioner of the North American Hockey League. He entered federal politics in a December 2017 by-election, winning the seat for the Conservatives, and was re-elected in 2019.

Julie Bouchard (Bloc Québécois) — Bouchard was a union leader in the healthcare sector, serving since 2017 as regional president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ) in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, representing over 3,300 health-sector workers. A former auxiliary nurse who had worked in home care and in CHSLDs (long-term care facilities), she became involved in union activism after a personal experience as a pregnant worker. Her central campaign issue was federal healthcare funding.

Jean Duplain (Liberal) — Duplain co-founded the Saguenay Ville Intelligente grouping and the Système T cooperative, dedicated to accelerating the socioecological transition of the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. He also helped coordinate the Hub Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, a regional development and entrepreneurship space. He was a graduate in programming and analysis from Multihexa College.

Ismaël Raymond (NDP) — Raymond had worked for four years as a community relations assistant to former NDP MP Karine Trudel. He held a bachelor's degree in political science from Université Laval and a master's in international relations from the Université de Montréal. At the time of the campaign, he was a technician in international recruitment at Cégep de Chicoutimi.

Jimmy Voyer (PPC) — Voyer represented the People's Party of Canada.

Yves Laporte (Green) — Laporte was the Green Party candidate.

About the Riding

Chicoutimi—Le Fjord takes its name from two defining features: the city of Chicoutimi, which serves as the administrative and commercial heart of the Saguenay region, and the Saguenay Fjord, one of the world's southernmost navigable fjords. The fjord's steep cliffs, which rise several hundred metres above the dark waters of the Saguenay River, form the centrepiece of the Saguenay Fjord National Park.

The regional economy has long been anchored by the aluminum industry. Rio Tinto operates major smelting facilities in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, producing close to half of the company's global aluminium output. The multinational spends roughly one million dollars daily on its local operations, making it the area's largest private employer and investor. Beyond aluminum, the economy is diversifying into research and applied technologies in energy, boreal forestry, genomics, and biomedical sciences.

La Baie, the riding's second urban centre, sits at the head of the Ha! Ha! Bay, an arm of the Saguenay. The borough was heavily affected by the devastating Saguenay flood of 1996. Tourism is a growing sector, with the fjord, winter sports, and regional cultural events drawing visitors throughout the year. The riding was historically a Liberal stronghold before swinging to the NDP in 2011 and then to the Conservatives in the 2018 by-election that brought Martel to Parliament.