Cégep de Sept-Îles

The Cégep de Sept-Îles (CSÎ) is a collegiate institution located on Quebec’s North Shore, north of the 49th parallel. The educational programs (DEC) offered are closely tied to the economic activities of our northern region, such as mineralogy, with major open-pit (iron ore) deposits located in northern Quebec, and the railway sector, with massive trains (240 cars) transporting extracted ore to the Port of Sept-Îles, a deep-water port, where it is loaded onto bulk carriers for processing outside Canada.

The largest aluminum smelter in North America is located in Sept-Îles, along with other major players in the Canadian economy.

In this northern context, applied research is fundamental and complements the college’s educational mission. Four research units are managed by the Cégep:

• The GRÉNOC (Groupe de recherche sur l’écriture nord-côtière) is a literary research group focused on North Shore writing.
• The Centre RAIL operates a Hirail pickup equipped with 3D cameras and laser guidance, enabling railway inspections by identifying up to 20 types of track defects (missing joint bars, misaligned sleepers, etc.) and delivering ¸to the railway companies an inspection report within 36 hours. The centre also provides rail-related vocational training.
• ITMI, one of Quebec’s 59 College Centres for Technology Transfer, conducts research and technical support activities related to industrial process maintenance and especially predictive maintenance.
• CR2IE specializes in energy efficiency and develops electrical energy production solutions using multi-source microgrids (hydrogen, photovoltaic, wind, methanol).

These research units are grouped within a newly established innovation centre (labelled by the Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Industrie et de l’Énergie), inaugurated on January 17, 2026. Another mission of this centre is to foster entrepreneurship on Quebec’s North Shore.

Within this scientific environment offering vast experimental possibilities, it is worth noting that CSÎ uses mobile robotic platforms (4 underwater drones, 3 aerial drones, and ground platforms including two Spot robotic dogs from Boston Dynamics) to carry out inspections of industrial structures or northern environments under constraints conditions that are difficult for humans.

In another area, the Indigenous (Innu) community plays an important role on Quebec’s North Shore, and CSÎ has therefore implemented a very specific policy to support Indigenous students.

Finally, CSÎ is recognized as a major contributor to the development of Quebec’s North Shore.

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