[12] In April 2011 it was reported that water management experts in Sept-Îles were concerned about cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, that had been found in Carheil Lake and had potential to further affect the Moisie River.

[13] Fermont has a harsh subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) with long, severe winters and short, mild summers.

[3] With French being the dominant language in the community, Fermont is the world's northernmost Francophone settlement of any considerable size, being located about one degree of latitude north of Dunkirk.

Although fluency in French is common in Nunavik and other points north, most in that region have adopted English as their primary language for communication outside their communities.

[citation needed] The local economy is entirely dependent on the Mont Wright and Fire Lake mines owned by ArcelorMittal.

As of October 2020[update] the mayor is Martin St-Laurent, and the councillors are Bernard Dupont, Danny Bouchard, Cindy Vignola, Marco Ouellet, Daniel Bergeron, and Shannon Power.

The town is accessible by scheduled passenger airline service via the Wabush Airport located in Labrador West.

The Cartier Railway connects Port-Cartier to the Mont-Wright mine, but it is only used for transporting iron ore concentrate and bulk equipment.