An Iceland-Style Geothermal Lagoon Is Planned For Quebec & It'd Be The World's Biggest

A giant geothermic pool could be coming to Quebec. With a surface area of 120,000 square feet, the Iceland-style swimming hole would be the largest of its kind in the world, promoters say.

The lagoon would be the centrepiece of an eventual 600-door retreat in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, a small town on the Saint Lawrence River roughly an hour north of Quebec City. There are also plans for restaurants and a spa.

The project is the work of developer and former Villages Vacances Valcartier and Calypso Park president Louis Massicotte, who on Tuesday announced he anticipated $300 million in private investments for the lagoon, dubbed GeoLAGON, and two surrounding housing developments, including short-term rentals named the Soleils Village and Lagon Village.

Construction of the pool, he said, would begin only after the projected 300 condos of the Soleils Village are sold and built — pending the approval of construction permits.

The final 300 residences of Lagon Village would pop up around the lagoon in a third phase of construction.

The pool itself would rely on geothermal, biomass and solar energy to maintain a year-round temperature of 38 C.

The whole project would occupy between three and five million square feet.

In a statement, Massicotte highlighted the Petite-Rivière-Saint-François site's proximity to other tourist destinations, including Canada's first Club Med resort, the Massif de Charlevoix, and Baie-Saint-Paul.

He promised the project would not receive public subsidies. In a separate release, Massicotte's company, géoLagon, claimed members of the Petite-Rivière-Saint-François municipal council were "delighted" by the proposal.

Construction is slated to start in winter 2023.