The territory is named after a former rail stop on this line located about halfway between Cape Tourmente and Baie-Saint-Paul, or about 80 kilometers (50 mi) north-east of Quebec City (47°12′01″N 70°38′25″W / 47.20028°N 70.64028°W / 47.20028; -70.64028).

This name comes from the presence of Porpoise and Beluga whale in the Saint Lawrence River that were formerly called cochons de mer ("sea pigs") in French.

The name "Saut au Cochon" was used by Jean Deshayes on his map of 1695, and it was thereafter also applied to the surrounding interior lands that were not part of the seigneurial domain of the Quebec Seminary.

[5][6] On September 9, 1949, a Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-3, en route from L'Ancienne-Lorette to Baie-Comeau, exploded and crashed at Sault-au-Cochon, killing 23 persons (19 passengers and 4 crew members).

The plot was hatched by one Albert Guay, a jeweler in Quebec who wanted to get rid of his wife Rita (née Morel), one of the passengers, and cash-in an insurance policy worth CAD$10,000 ($129,000 today).