title: Saint-Joseph-de-Lepage
text: # Saint-Joseph-de-Lepage
  
  Saint-Joseph-de-Lepage is a parish municipality in La Mitis Regional County Municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada.
  
  It is located 5 km south-east of Mont-Joli in the Matapédia River Valley. The village is 350 km north east of Québec city and 360 km west of Gaspé. The nearest towns are Mont-Joli, and Rimouski which lies 40 km to the south-east.
  
  Saint-Joseph-de-Lepage takes its name from the colonial lordship, the Seigneurie Lepage-et-Thibierge, which was the early governance of the area. Its 500 residents work largely in agriculture and forestry.
  
  The ecclesiastical parish of the same name is in the Archdiocese of Rimouski.
  
  ## Demographics
  
  In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Joseph-de-Lepage had a population of 590 living in 223 of its 260 total private dwellings, a change of 12.8% from its 2016 population of 523. With a land area of 30.98 $km^2$ (11.96 sq mi), it had a population density of $19.0/km^2$ (49.3/sq mi) in 2021.
  
  Population trend:
  
  * Population in 2021: 590 (12.8% increase from 2016)
  * Population in 2016: 523 (0.8% decrease from 2011)
  * Population in 2011: 527 (3.3% decrease from 2006)
  * Population in 2006: 545 (7.0% decrease from 2001)
  * Population in 2001: 586
  * Population in 1996: 613
  
  Private dwellings (occupied by usual residents): 223
  
  Languages:
  
  * French as first language: 98.3%
  