Quebec islands plan $30 fee for tourists

Tens of thousands of visitors flock to Quebec’s Îles-de-la-Madeleine every summer to behold its cliffframed seascapes and sandy beaches. But starting next month, those island sojourns will come with an added cost.

The small archipelago northeast of Prince Edward Island is introducing a $30 visitor fee to raise funds for tourist infrastructure, environmental protection and waste management. Called the Passe Archipel, the new fee will be mandatory for domestic and international travellers who stay on the islands for more than 24 hours between May 1 and Oct. 14. Individuals who fail to comply will risk a $1,000 fine.

Îles-de-la-Madeleine Mayor Antonin Valiquette said the fee is necessary because tourists are burdening local services and straining existing municipal revenue. The islands have a population of roughly 13,000, but welcomed about five times that many visitors between May and October 2023, according to the local tourism board.

“If you think the Îles-de-laMadeleine are beautiful, are magnificent, and that’s why you come to see them, then we have to ask you to contribute a little to preserving this quality of life and this quality of tourist destination,” Valiquette said in an interview Wednesday.

Valiquette insists the pass does not constitute a barrier to accessing or leaving the islands, but the fee nevertheless has some islanders concerned it will infringe on the freedom of Quebecers and other Canadians to travel within their own country.

“I think it’s outrageous to ask someone to identify themselves in order to get out of their own town,” local hotel owner Chanie Thériault said Wednesday. She was one of several people who voiced opposition to the visitor fee during a tense April 9 local government meeting during which elected officials passed the bylaws that established it.

In an interview, Thériault said she considers the fee especially unfair because it will charge mainland Quebecers for using public resources partially financed by the provincial government, such as roads. “So we end up charging Quebecers for visiting their own infrastructure, which they pay for with their own taxes,” she said.

The Passe Archipel will be payable through a forthcoming online platform and certified with a QR code visitors will receive by email.