Gaspé's economy has been undergoing significant changes over the past ten years, as new development opportunities having been showing great promise.

Fishing

Despite the sector's problems, fishing remains an important part of Gaspé's economy. The principal port is in Rivière-au-Renard. This village is often called the provincial fishing capital, where about thirty shrimp boats go about their business. There are also other, smaller fishing harbours on the territory for lobster and crab fishers. The two main shrimp processing plants in Quebec are in addition located in the Town of Gaspé, at Anse-au-Griffon and Rivière-au-Renard.

Following the ground fish moratorium, the maritime industry had to find other development prospects, namely mariculture. Mussel and scallop farms in Gaspé Bay are looking promising. Research and development in the sea products sector is also doing well. Marine biotechnology holds a prominent place, and a company in Rivière-au-Renard is producing chitosan from shrimp shells. This is a polymer used for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and treating waste water.

Forestry

The forest is vitally important for development in Gaspé. Some 341 private woodlot owners belong to the Syndicat des producteurs de bois de la Gaspésie (The Gaspé Wood Producers' Syndicate) In 2005, a wood drying and planing plant will set up business at the Sandy Beach port industrial zone, creating nearly 100 jobs.

Tourism

Gaspé is chosen more and more as a tourist destination. The town's title of "Birthplace of Canada" is how Gaspé is known everywhere. The town has in addition many special advantages close by. First, there is Forillon National Park, one of the few Canadian national parks within city limits, and which attracts approximately 200,000 visitors every year. The three nearby salmon rivers, the Dartmouth, the Saint-Jean, and the York, are of particular interest to national and international clienteles. Gaspé also has the Musée de la Gaspésie, a regional museum that presents many cultural and heritage exhibitions.

Windpower

The Town of Gaspé is currently attempting to position itself as a focal point for the development of a true Quebec windpower industry, following Hydro-Québec's decision to call for tenders totalling 1000 megawatts of green power. The Technocentre éolien, created to promote and develop this industry, is located in Gaspé. The government has also set up a tax credit incentive amounting to 40% of salaries for businesses in the windpower sector who come to Gaspé. The immediate Gaspé area is already doing well in that field, and is attracting attention from a good many promoters and industrialists who are well-known on a world scale, since it has some of the best wind speeds in Canada.

The Groupement éolien québecois, made up of two Gaspesian companies and two Montreal ones, is working on adapting the wind technology developed by a European group to a more northerly climate such as the one in Quebec. A trial area with three wind turbines in Rivière-au-Renard has moreover been set up. It is functioning and is hooked up to the Hydro-Québec high voltage grid.

Services

Gaspé has two industrial parks ready for new promoters, as well as an industrial port zone. Gaspé also offers very advantageous financial incentives to companies wishing to set up business here.

Bill 201, passed by the Assemblée nationale (Quebec Legislature) in December 2003, gives Gaspé the right to decree full or partial tax breaks for any company that comes to the Sandy Beach or Rivière-au-Renard industrial park. The incentives are good for up to five years and for up to a million dollars.

Over 300 businesses are also located within the city limits, and there are three active chambers of commerce: Cap-des-Rosiers, Gaspé, and Rivière-au-Renard.

Gaspé is one of the Gaspesian administrative centres that have a great many government services, with several federal and provincial ministries.

Education is also important for Gaspé's economy. The Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles (college) and the Commission scolaire des Chic-Chocs (school board) stimulate viable job creation, and there are in addition two secondary schools, about a dozen elementary schools, plus the territory's adult education centre. The Cégep now offers adventure tourism and wind turbine maintenance courses that are unique in Quebec.

The headquarters of the Agence de développement de réseaux locaux de services de santé et de services sociaux de la Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine (Health and Social Services Local Network Development Agency) is located in Gaspé. The town also has a hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu de Gaspé, which offers various medical specialities, as well as a CLSC (Local Community Services Centre) that has several subcentres.

The private sector is also very much interested in Gaspé. The Mouvement Desjardins has set up the first and only student loan management centre, creating about a hundred jobs, of which two-thirds are full time jobs. Moreover, several economic organizations are located in Gaspé. The town also attracts business meetings, and a convention centre for some 300 persons is to be found in downtown Gaspé. The town is in addition a member of the Association des congrès du Québec (Quebec Convention Association).

Gaspé Profile (2001 federal census)

Population: 14,932

Age breakdown:

0-14: 2365 persons

15-24: 1830 persons

25-44: 4190 persons

45-65: 4290 persons

65+: 2240 persons

Languages spoken:

French only: 9585 persons

English only: 850 persons

French and English: 4235 persons

15+ years of age with at least a secondary school diploma: 4330 persons

Employment rate: 56.2%