Saint-Donat was originally a sector of Sainte-Luce. Saint-Donat split from Sainte-Luce in 1869 to became the parish municipality of Saint-Donat. The original economic vocation of Saint-Donat was based almost entirely on forestry, as evidenced by the many remnants of the sawmills that once dotted the area. Later, like many other towns in the region, agriculture became the main activity.[1]
Writer Rejean Pigeon is from the area and one of his novel is set in Saint-Donat.[4]
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Donat had a population of 835 living in 400 of its 478 total private dwellings, a change of -4.7% from its 2016 population of 876. With a land area of 95.8 km2 (37.0 sq mi), it had a population density of 8.7/km2 (22.6/sq mi) in 2021.[5]