The crisis of confidence that has shaken Mont-Sainte-Anne since the fall of a gondola last month has weighed on the entire region which is spread out at the foot of its slopes. The community, far from facing its first storm, intends to take advantage of the resort’s setbacks to reinvent its economy and free its reputation from skiing.
In Beaupré, Mont-Sainte-Anne is an impossible pillar to miss. The mountain sits at an altitude of 800 meters over the small municipality, immense as its importance for the prosperity of the city of 4000 souls.
“It takes us a healthy mountain at home,” says Rémi Bolduc, owner of the restaurant Chez Bolduc, a family jewel of Beaupré for four generations. When the mountain is sick, the whole region has a cold! »
With its 400 direct jobs, Mont-Sainte-Anne is the largest employer in the MRC. In Beaupré alone, a cluster of around 30 restaurants, accommodation establishments and shops grows on the sides of the mountain, nourished by the tourism it attracts.
Last December 10, it is the hope of a finally normal season after two years of pandemic which crashed at the same time as the gondola noh 92. Mont-Sainte-Anne was still making headlines for the wrong reasons, leading to an avalanche of cancellations in hotels, inns and chalets.
The station had just sneezed, but a whole region had a fever.
“As soon as the government ordered the closure of the station, we, it is 50% of the reservations which flew away in time to say it”, says Patrice Drouin, owner of Auberge & Campagne.
Despite the reopening of Mont-Sainte-Anne on Sunday, the telephone of his establishment persists in remaining silent. “The one-month closure has closed the valve, deplores Mr. Drouin. No one is calling right now. »
During the holidays, Développement Côte-de-Beaupré (DCDB) and the MRC of the same name even set up an emergency fund, endowed with a budget of one million dollars, to help businesses get through this period. and avoid, in the words of the mayor of Beaupré, Pierre Renaud, the “economic carnage”.
This calamitous end to 2022 led Beaupré to adopt a resolution for 2023: that of no longer subjugating his future to the moods of a single employer. “The conclusion we can draw, explains Bernard Paré, CEO of DCDB, is that we should never depend on a large company. It is up to us to take charge of our development and our destiny. »
The chance of a rebirth
Throughout its history, Beaupré has often mourned the departure of a factory that provided jobs and prosperity. The long slumps that followed each key under the door remain fresh in memory.
The closure of the Seagram distillery had already sown misery among several Beaupré families in the 1970s. As recently as 2009, it was Abitibi Bowater that put out the chimneys of its pulp and paper mill for good, putting, in the aftermath, 10% of the population of Beaupré unemployed, or 340 workers, and an end to more than a century of papermaking activities in the region.
“When Abitibi Bowater closed, it was a disaster,” says Sylvain Cassista, the manager of the IGA grocery store in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, a 51-year-old native of the region. “Mont-Sainte-Anne, continues Mr. Cassista, is as important today as the paper mill could be at the time. It is the economic engine of the region. »
“The 2010 decade was difficult in terms of finances, concedes mayor Pierre Renaud, alderman of Beaupré since 2016. There was an exodus of people who left to find work elsewhere. »
He does not intend, this time, to let history repeat itself. His city has 1,000 new residential units in its boxes, despite the uncertainty surrounding the withered jewel of its tourist offer, namely downhill skiing at Mont-Sainte-Anne.
As soon as the government ordered the closure of the station, we, it is 50% of the reservations which flew away in time to say it
“From year to year, the mountain attracts less and less skiers, observes the mayor, lucid in the face of the disavowal caused by the repeated breakdowns that occur at the station. Beaupré is first and foremost a resort town, and it will remain so. For us, Mont-Sainte-Anne is a jewel, but it’s not just skiing, said the mayor. Mountain biking is gaining more and more followers, and we are increasingly a four-season destination. »
A promotional campaign must be set in motion to highlight the other attractions of this part of the country, numerous and long confined to the shadow of the mountain and its winters.
All season transition
“Alpine skiing remains a very important spearhead,” says Bernard Paré, from Développement Côte-de-Beaupré. But we have other fine jewels, notably under construction, and our recreational tourism sector is diversifying: dog sledding, canyoning, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing… In summer, mountain biking attracts a lot of people. Some weekends in July and August are as busy as the biggest winter weekends! »
“We are in transition, economically speaking, continues the general manager of DCDB. We are moving from an economy that depends on large employers, like Mont-Sainte-Anne, to a resilient economy that creates jobs in all sectors. »
“I don’t believe that the majority of new constructions depend solely on alpine skiing,” says Patrice Drouin, of Auberge & Campagne. He too believes that mountain biking is blowing a new wind, and particularly strong since the pandemic, in the sails of Beaupré.
“There were a lot more people for the Cycling World Cup than for the Pope’s visit,” he adds, who converted to the hotel industry after a career in events. “I’m in a good position to know, I organized Vélirium for 29 years! »
The comparison with the papal visit, launched as a joke, draws a very real parallel with the situation that Beaupré is experiencing with his mountain. Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré has long revolved its economy around its basilica and the pilgrims it attracted. The fading of religious fervor and increasingly sparse pilgrimages forced the City to renew itself.
At a time when faith in Resorts of the Canadian Rockies is waning, Beaupré expects no miracles. The Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort may still be its main cash cow, but it looks less and less like a sacred cow.