3 Best Sights in Sept-Iles, Quebec

Aluminum is big business in Canada, where the metal has been processed for a century. With 1,000 workers, Aluminerie Alouette is Sept-Îles’ largest employer and North America’s major aluminum smelter. See the smelting process from start to finish in a two-hour tour that begins with a video presentation. This is an active work zone, and safety restrictions apply—long sleeves, long pants, and closed-toe shoes must be worn. Kids younger than age 12, pregnant women, and people with pacemakers are not allowed.

More than 40,000 objects represent fine arts, archaeology, ethnology, natural sciences, and photography, all highlighting the native Innu and European populations of the region. See prehistoric tools and arms, and photographs depicting the area’s iron ore mining operations. Taxidermy exhibits include birds, fish, and mammals, the black bear and Canadian lynx among them. Lots of local artists display their work here, too, in a collection made up of 85 prints, 375 sculptures, and 121 paintings from 98 Canadian artists.

Native nomadic Innus people spent summers at this spot, and it’s here that they encountered the area’s first French traders around 1673. See evidence of both cultures and how they interacted. Animal-skin tents stand in the re-created Innu camp. The trading post reproduction is stocked with the goods, even the aromas, that would have filled a 19th-century station. Guides bring the setting to life with details and stories about the post’s history.