La Pulperie de Chicoutimi is the best place to start understanding Saguenay. The museum occupies the old pulp mill complex by the Riviere Chicoutimi, with massive stone buildings, industrial remains, gardens, and exhibitions on regional art and history.
The setting does a lot of the work. Saguenay was shaped by timber, water power, and heavy industry, and the Pulperie makes that story visible without turning it into a dry factory lesson.