Although the main business district is located at the mouth of the Malbaie River, the town itself covers a vast area that extends inland along both sides of the Malbaie River and north and south along the St. Lawrence River. The village of Pointe-au-Pic amalgamated with La Malbaie in 1995, and the villages of Rivière-Malbaie, Saint-Agnès, Cap-à-l'Aigle, and Saint-Fidèle were added in 1999. The neighbouring town of Clermont is located a short 7 km along the Malbaie River.

History

1605: French explorer Samuel de Champlain fails to find suitable anchorage on his arrival in the area in May and names the bay Malle Baye (old French for “bad bay”).

1688: Rudimentary settlement begins at La Malbaie to export lumber to France, but the focus quickly turns to the fur trade and beluga fishing.

1724: A farm established at La Malbaie begins providing meat and grain to the French king's trading posts along the St. Lawrence River.

1763: Two Scottish officers of the British Army—John Nairne (1731–1802) and Malcolm Fraser (1733–1815)—receive concessions in the area from the British Crown. Nairne's encompasses the tiny settlement of La Malbaie and the western side of the Malbaie River. Fraser's stretches to the east. They also rename the bay, settlement, and river “Murray Bay” after James Murray (1721–1794), a British general and the successor to Wolfe. Murray Bay never becomes the official name, but is the internationally accepted toponym in the 18th and 19th centuries even though La Malbaie remains in local use.

1774: The parish of Saint-Étienne-de-la-Malbaie is founded.

1825: The parish is canonically established.

1830: The steamship Waterloo pays a visit to La Malbaie “on a pleasure trip,” the first such recorded commercial visit.

Circa 1840: For the first time, well-to-do visitors begin to summer in La Malbaie.

1853: Construction of a quay on piles at Pointe-au-Pic makes it possible for steamers to begin providing regular service to leisure travellers.

1855: The Parish Municipality of Saint-Étienne-de-Murray-Bay is founded.

1876: The Murray Bay Golf Club opens, the third oldest course in North America and the oldest still operating at the same location.

1892: Future president of the United States William Howard Taft and his family begin summering in La Malbaie, where he will visit every year for nearly forty years except for his term of office as president.

1896: The village itself is separated from the parish municipality and incorporated as the Village Municipality of La Malbaie.