Quebec

History

Indigenous peoples and European expeditions (pre-1608)

The Paleo-Indians were the first to establish themselves in what became Quebec, arriving after the Laurentide Ice Sheet melted roughly 11,000 years ago. By the time of the European explorations of the 1500s, eleven Indigenous peoples: the Inuit and ten First Nations – the Abenaki, Algonquin (or Anichinabés), Atikamekw, Cree, Huron-Wendat, Wolastoqiyik, Miꞌkmaq, Iroquois, Innu and Naskapi had formed. Algonquians organized into seven political entities and lived as nomads,surviving by hunting, gathering, and fishing. Inuit fished and hunted whales and seals along the coasts of Hudson and Ungava Bays.

In the 15th century, the Byzantine Empire fell, prompting Western Europeans to search for sea routes to the Far East. As such, around 1522–23, Giovanni da Verrazzano persuaded King Francis I of France to commission an expedition to find a western route to Cathay (China) via a Northwest Passage. Though this expedition was unsuccessful, it bestowed the name New France on northeast North America. In his first expedition ordered from the Kingdom of France, Jacques Cartier became the first European explorer to discover and map the Quebec area when he landed in Gaspé on July 24, 1534. In the second expedition, in 1535, Cartier explored the lands of Stadacona and named the village and its surrounding territories Canada (from kanata, 'village' in Iroquois). Cartier returned to France with about 10 St. Lawrence Iroquoians, including Chief Donnacona. In 1540, Donnacona recounted to Francis the legend of the Kingdom of Saguenay, inspiring him to order a third expedition, this time led by Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval; it failed to find the kingdom.

After these expeditions, France mostly abandoned North America for 50 years because of its financial crisis; France was involved in the Italian Wars and religious wars. Around 1580, the rise of the fur trade reignited French interest; New France became a colonial trading post. In 1603, Samuel de Champlain travelled to the Saint Lawrence River and, on Pointe Saint-Mathieu, established a defence pact with the Innu, Wolastoqiyik and Mi'kmaq, that would be "a decisive factor in the maintenance of a French colonial enterprise in America despite an enormous numerical disadvantage vis-à-vis the British". Thus began French military support to the Algonquian and Huron peoples against Iroquois attacks; these became known as the Iroquois Wars and lasted from the early 1600s to the early 1700s.

New France (1608–1763)

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain returned to the region as head of an exploration party. On July 3, 1608, with the support of King Henry IV, he founded the Habitation de Québec (now Quebec City) and made it the capital of New France. The settlement became a permanent fur trading outpost, where First Nations traded furs for French goods, such as metal objects, guns, alcohol, and clothing. Missionary groups arrived after the founding of Quebec City. Coureurs des bois and Catholic missionaries used canoes to explore the interior and establish fur trading forts.

The Compagnie des Cent-Associés, which had been granted a royal mandate to manage New France in 1627, introduced the Custom of Paris and the seigneurial system, and forbade settlement by anyone other than Catholics. In 1629, Quebec City surrendered, without battle, to English privateers during the Anglo-French War; in 1632, the English king agreed to return it with the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Trois-Rivières was founded at de Champlain's request in 1634. Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve founded Ville-Marie (now Montreal) in 1642.

In 1663, the Company of New France ceded Canada to King Louis XIV, who made New France into a royal province. New France became a true colony administered by the Sovereign Council of New France from Quebec City. A governor-general governed Canada and its administrative dependencies: Acadia, Louisiana and Plaisance. French settlers were mostly farmers and known as "Canadiens" or "Habitants". Though immigration was modest, the colony grew via the Habitants' high birth rates. In 1665, the Carignan-Salières regiment developed the string of fortifications known as the "Valley of Forts" to protect against Iroquois invasions and brought with them 1,200 new men. To redress the gender imbalance and boost population growth, King Louis XIV sponsored the passage of approximately 800 young French women (King's Daughters) to the colony. In 1666, intendant Jean Talon organized the first census and counted 3,215 Habitants. Talon enacted policies to diversify agriculture and encourage births, which, by 1672, had increased the population to 6,700.

New France's territory grew to extend from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, and encompassed the Great Lakes. In the early 1700s, Governor Callières concluded the Great Peace of Montreal, which confirmed the alliance between the Algonquian and New France and definitively ended the Iroquois Wars. From 1688 onwards, the competition between the French and British to control North America's interior and monopolize fur trade pitted New France and its indigenous allies against the Iroquois and English in four successive wars called the Intercolonial Wars in Quebec and the French and Indian Wars by Americans. The first three were King William's War (1688–1697), Queen Anne's War (1702–1713), and King George's War (1744–1748). In 1713, following the Peace of Utrecht, the Duke of Orléans ceded Acadia and Plaisance Bay to Great Britain, but retained Île Saint-Jean, and Île-Royale where the Fortress of Louisbourg was later erected. These losses were significant since Plaisance Bay was the primary communication route to France, and Acadia contained 5,000 French Acadians. In the siege of Louisbourg (1745), the British were victorious, but returned the city to France after war concessions.

The last of the four wars was the Seven Years' War ("The War of the Conquest" in Quebec) and lasted from 1754 to 1763. In 1754, tensions escalated for control of the Ohio Valley, as authorities in New France became more aggressive in efforts to expel British traders and colonists. In 1754, George Washington launched a surprise attack on a group of sleeping Canadien soldiers, known as the Battle of Jumonville Glen, the war's first battle. In 1755, Governor Charles Lawrence and Officer Robert Monckton ordered the forceful expulsion of the Acadians. In 1758, on Île-Royale, British General James Wolfe besieged and captured the Fortress of Louisbourg. This allowed him to control access to the Gulf of St. Lawrence through the Cabot Strait. In 1759, he besieged Quebec for three months from Île d'Orléans. Then, Wolfe stormed Quebec and fought Montcalm for control of the city in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. After a British victory, the king's lieutenant and Lord of Ramezay concluded the Articles of Capitulation of Quebec. During the spring of 1760, the Chevalier de Lévis besieged Quebec City and forced the British to entrench themselves during the Battle of Sainte-Foy. However, loss of French vessels sent to resupply New France after the fall of Quebec City during the Battle of Restigouche marked the end of France's efforts to retake the colony. Governor Pierre de Rigaud, marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial signed the Articles of Capitulation of Montreal on September 8, 1760.

While awaiting the results of the Seven Years' War in Europe, New France was put under a British military regime led by Governor James Murray. In 1762, Commander Jeffery Amherst ended French colonial presence in Newfoundland at the Battle of Signal Hill. France secretly ceded the western part of Louisiana and the Mississippi River Delta to Spain via the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau. On February 10, 1763, the Treaty of Paris concluded the war. France ceded its North American possessions to Britain. Thus, France ended New France and abandoned the remaining 60,000 Canadiens, who sided with the Catholic clergy in refusing to swear fealty to the British Crown. The rupture from France provoked a transformation within the descendants of the Canadiens that eventually resulted in the birth of a new nation.

British North America (1763–1867)

In 1763, the Royal Proclamation established a constitution for the newly acquired territory. The Canadiens became part of the British Empire and circumscribed to a region of the St. Lawrence Valley and Anticosti Island called the Province of Quebec. With unrest growing to the south, the British were worried that the Canadiens might support the unrest. To secure their allegiance, Governor James Murray and later Governor Guy Carleton promoted the need for accommodations, resulting in the Quebec Act of 1774. This act allowed Canadiens to regain their civil customs, return to the seigneural system, regain other rights including use of French, and reappropriate their old territories: Labrador, the Great Lakes, the Ohio Valley, Illinois Country and the Indian Territory.

As early as 1774, the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies attempted to rally the Canadiens to its cause. However, its military troops failed to defeat the British counteroffensive during its Invasion of Quebec in 1775. Most Canadiens remained neutral, though some regiments allied with the Americans in the Saratoga campaign of 1777. When the British recognized the independence of the rebel colonies via the Treaty of Paris of 1783, it ceded Illinois and the Ohio Valley to the newly formed United States and denoted the 45th parallel as its border, drastically shrinking Quebec.

Some United Empire Loyalists from the US migrated to Quebec. Dissatisfied with the legal rights under the French seigneurial regime then followed in Quebec, and wanting to use the more familiar British legal system, the Loyalists protested to British authorities until the Constitutional Act of 1791 was enacted, dividing Quebec into two colonies separated by the Ottawa River: Upper Canada to the west (predominantly Anglo-Protestant) and Lower Canada to the east (Franco-Catholic). Lower Canada's lands consisted of the coasts of the Saint Lawrence River, Labrador and Anticosti Island, with the territory extending north to Rupert's Land, and south, east and west to the borders with the US, New Brunswick, and Upper Canada. The creation of Upper and Lower Canada allowed Loyalists to live under British laws and institutions, while Canadiens maintained French civil law and Catholic religion. Governor Haldimand drew Loyalists away from Quebec City and Montreal by offering free land on the north shore of Lake Ontario to anyone willing to swear allegiance to George III. During the War of 1812, Charles-Michel de Salaberry became a hero by leading Canadian troops to victory at the Battle of the Chateauguay. This loss caused the Americans to abandon the Saint Lawrence Campaign, their strategic effort to conquer Canada.

Gradually, the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada came into conflict with the superior authority of the Crown and its appointed representatives. Starting in 1791, the government of Lower Canada was criticized and contested by Parti canadien. In 1834, the Parti canadien presented its 92 resolutions, political demands that expressed loss of confidence in the British monarchy. Discontentment intensified throughout the public meetings of 1837, and the Lower Canada Rebellion began in 1837. In 1837, Louis-Joseph Papineau and Robert Nelson led residents of Lower Canada to form the Patriotes, an armed group. They declared independence in 1838, guaranteeing rights and equality for all citizens without discrimination. Their actions triggered rebellions in both Lower and Upper Canada. The Patriotes were victorious in their first battle, the Battle of Saint-Denis. However, they were disorganized and badly equipped, leading to their loss against the British army in the Battle of Saint-Charles, and defeat in the Battle of Saint-Eustache.

In response to the rebellions, Lord Durham was asked to undertake a study and prepare a report to Parliament. Durham recommended that Canadiens be culturally assimilated, with English as their only official language. To do this, the British passed the Act of Union 1840, which merged Upper Canada and Lower Canada into a single colony: the Province of Canada. Lower Canada became the francophone and densely populated Canada East, and Upper Canada became the anglophone and sparsely populated Canada West. This union, unsurprisingly, was the main source of political instability until 1867. Despite their population gap, Canada East and Canada West obtained an identical number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, which created representation problems. Initially, equal legislative representation underrepresented Canada East due to its larger population. Heavy immigration from the British Isles to Canada West later reversed this demographic balance, leaving Canada West underrepresented under the same framework. The representation issues were called into question by debates on representation by population. Around this period, the British population appropriated the term Canadian to refer to themselves. The French population, who had thus far been "the Canadians", began to be identified with their ethnic community under the name "French Canadian" as they were a "French of Canada".

Access to new lands was problematic because they were monopolized by the Château Clique, causing an exodus of Canadiens towards New England for the next hundred years. This phenomenon is known as the Grande Hémorragie and threatened the survival of the Canadien nation. The massive British immigration ordered from London that followed the failed rebellion compounded this. To combat it, the Church adopted the revenge of the cradle policy. In 1844, the capital of the Province of Canada was moved from Kingston to Montreal. During Ireland's Great Potato Famine (1845–1852), nearly 100,000 Irish refugees passed through Grosse Isle's quarantine station, with many settling in Quebec and integrating into French-Canadian society.

Political unrest came to a head in 1849, when English Canadian rioters set fire to the Parliament Building in Montreal following the enactment of the Rebellion Losses Bill, a law that compensated French Canadians whose properties were destroyed during the rebellions of 1837–1838. This bill, resulting from the Baldwin-La Fontaine coalition and Lord Elgin's advice, was important as it established the notion of responsible government. In 1854, the seigneurial system was abolished, the Grand Trunk Railway was built, and the Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty was implemented. In 1866, the Civil Code of Lower Canada was adopted.

Traditional Quebec (1867–1960)

In 1864, negotiations began for Canadian Confederation between the Province of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia at the Charlottetown Conference and Quebec Conference.

After having fought as a Patriote, George-Étienne Cartier entered politics in the Province of Canada, becoming one of the co-premiers and advocate for the union of the British North American provinces. He became a leading figure at the Quebec Conference, which produced the Quebec Resolutions, the foundation for Canadian Confederation. Recognized as a Father of Confederation, he successfully argued for the establishment of the province of Quebec, initially composed of the historic heart of the territory of the French Canadian nation.

Following the London Conference of 1866, the Quebec Resolutions were implemented as the British North America Act, 1867, and brought into force on July 1, 1867, creating the nation of Canada, composed of four provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. These last two came from splitting the Province of Canada, and used the old borders of Lower Canada for Quebec, and Upper Canada for Ontario. On July 15, 1867, Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau became Quebec's first premier.

Between the late 19th and the late 20th century, Montreal was Canada's most populous city, including its economic and cultural centres. It was, as such, often among the first to adopt new technologies. It launched Canada's first public transit system in 1861 with horse-drawn streetcars, started a telephone service in 1878, and began generating electricity in 1885.

The new Dominion quickly became interested in expansionism, especially westward, purchasing Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870. In 1885, it fought against the francophone Métis in the North-West Rebellion, and did not grant clemency to Louis Riel, their leader, after he was sentenced to death. This caused several Quebec liberal and conservative MLAs to form the Parti National out of anger. This, in combination with the Manitoba Schools Question, also helped turn the rights of French Canadians into an important concern. Gradually gaining in popularity, clerico-nationalists – who promoted the Triple Ideal of Catholicism, French, and rural life, alongside other traditional values (e.g., traditional gender roles, resistance to cultural assimilation, anti-progressivism, and hierarchy) – wielded significant influence until the 1960s.

Montreal continued its expansions into new advances by introducing streetcars in 1892 and seeing bikes and automobiles populate its roads by the 1890s and 1900s respectively. The Canadian Parliament, meanwhile, expanded Quebec in 1898 by enacting the Quebec Boundary Extension Act, 1898, which added part of Rupert's Land.

Under the aegis of the Catholic Church and the political action of Henri Bourassa, symbols of French Canadian national pride were developed, like the Flag of Carillon, and "O Canada" – a patriotic song composed for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. Many organizations to consecrate the affirmation of the French-Canadian people, including the caisses populaires Desjardins in 1900, the Club de hockey Canadien in 1909, Le Devoir in 1910, the Congress on the French language in Canada in 1912, and L'Action nationale in 1917. In 1909, the Quebec government passed a law obligating wood and pulp to be transformed in Quebec, which helped slow the Grande Hémorragie by allowing Quebec to export its finished products to the US instead of its labourers. In 1910, Armand Lavergne passed the Lavergne Law, the first language legislation in Quebec, which required the use of French alongside English on tickets, documents, bills and contracts issued by transportation and public utility companies. At this time, companies rarely recognized the majority language of Quebec. This movement may be why Ontario's Regulation 17 (1912–1927) was fought until its repeal.

In 1912, the Canadian Parliament enacted the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act, 1912, which gave Quebec its final extension: another part of Rupert's Land called the District of Ungava. Quebec's borders then reached the Hudson Strait and vaguely interlapped with Labrador's.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Canada was involved and many English Canadians volunteered. However, because they did not feel the same connection to the British Empire and absent a direct threat to Canada, most French Canadians saw no reason to fight. By late 1916, casualties and waning numbers of volunteers were beginning to cause reinforcement problems. Although almost every French-speaking MP opposed conscription, while almost all English-speaking MPs supported it, the Military Service Act, 1917 became law on August 29, 1917. French Canadians protested, creating the Conscription Crisis of 1917, which led to the Quebec riot.

In 1919, the prohibition of spirits was enacted following a provincial referendum. In 1920, Montreal hosted Canada's first public radio broadcast. However, in 1921 prohibition was abolished by the Alcoholic Beverages Act, which created the SAQ and allowed the government to regulate the sale of alcohol. Quebec had the shortest and weakest prohibition in North America, as well as profiting from sale to tourists. Since the border between Canada and Labrador had never been formalized, in 1927, the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council gathered to draw one. However, the Quebec government did not recognize the ruling, resulting in a continuing boundary dispute.

In 1931, the Statute of Westminster was enacted, which confirmed the autonomy of the Dominions – including Canada and its provinces – from the UK, as well as their free association in the Commonwealth of Nations. In the 1930s, Quebec's economy was affected by the Great Depression because of reduced US demand for Quebec products. Between 1929 and 1932, the unemployment rate tripled, from 8% to 26%. In an attempt to remedy this, the Quebec government enacted infrastructure projects, campaigns to colonize distant regions, financial assistance to farmers, and the secours directs – the ancestor to Canada's Employment Insurance. The Depression ended the Grande Hémorragie.

French Canadians remained opposed to conscription during the Second World War. When Canada declared war in September 1939, the federal government pledged not to conscript soldiers for overseas service. As the war went on, more and more English Canadians voiced support for conscription, despite opposition from French Canada. Following a 1942 poll that showed 73% of Quebec's residents were against conscription, while 80% or more were for conscription in every other province, the federal government passed Bill 80, which allowed conscription for overseas service. In the Conscription Crisis of 1944 the Bloc Populaire emerged to fight conscription. The stark differences between the values of French and English Canada popularized the expression the "Two Solitudes".

In the wake of the conscription crisis, Maurice Duplessis of the Union Nationale again rose to power. His government emphasized clerico-nationalist values and implemented conservative policies (the Grande Noirceur). These included defending provincial autonomy, promoting Quebec's Catholic and francophone heritage, and favouring laissez-faire capitalism over the emerging welfare state. However, with changes such as the appearance of television, baby boom, workers' conflicts, electrification of the countryside, emergence of a middle class, rural exodus and urbanization, expansion of universities and bureaucracies, creation of motorways, and renaissance of literature and poetry, French Canadian society began to develop new ideologies and aspirations.

Modern Quebec (1960–present)

The Quiet Revolution was an intense period of modernization, secularization and social reform, where French Canadians expressed their dissatisfaction with their inferior socioeconomic position, and the cultural assimilation of francophone minorities in English-majority provinces. It resulted in the formation of the modern Québécois identity and Quebec nationalism. In 1960, Jean Lesage's Liberal Party was brought to power with a two-seat majority, having campaigned with the slogan "It's time for things to change".

This government fundamentally restructured Quebec's institutions, creating a modern welfare state through new ministries for education, social affairs, and economic development. It created the CDPQ, Ministry of Education, OQLF, Régie des rentes and Société générale de financement, and modernized the Labour Code and Ministry of Social Affairs. In 1962, the government dismantled the financial syndicates of Montreal's Saint Jacques Street to weaken the grip of the English-Canadian traditional economic elites. Also in 1962, Natural Resources Minister René Lévesque led the nationalization of Quebec's private electricity companies to create a unified Hydro-Québec. This massive project was estimated at over $600 million for the acquisition of eleven companies.

The Quiet Revolution was particularly characterized by the 1962 Liberal Party's slogan "Masters in our own house", which, to the Anglo-American conglomerates that dominated the economy and natural resources, announced a collective will for freedom of the French-Canadian people. As a result of confrontations between the lower clergy and the laity, state institutions began to deliver services without the church, and many parts of civil society became more secular. In 1965, the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism wrote a preliminary report underlining Quebec's distinct character, and promoted open federalism, a political attitude guaranteeing Quebec a minimum amount of autonomy. To favour Quebec during its Quiet Revolution, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson adopted a policy of open federalism. In 1966, the Union Nationale was re-elected and continued major reforms.

In 1967, René Lévesque introduced the concept of sovereignty-association in his manifesto Option Quebec, proposing political independence with economic partnership including a common currency, free trade, and joint institutions. It sparked a constitutional debate on the province's political future that set federalist and sovereignist doctrines against each other. The meetings of the Estates General of French Canada in 1967 marked a tipping point where relations between Quebec and other francophones of Canada ruptured. This deeply affected both parties by breaking the pan-Canadian French-Canadian identity that had existed before then into: Quebec nationalism, and minority francophone groups elsewhere. Also in 1967, President of France Charles de Gaulle visited Quebec to attend Expo 67. There, he addressed a crowd of more than 100,000, ending with the exclamation: "Long live free Quebec". This declaration had a profound effect by bolstering the burgeoning modern Quebec sovereignty movement and sparking a diplomatic crisis between France and Canada. Following this, various civilian groups developed, sometimes confronting public authority, for example in the October Crisis of 1970.

In 1968, class conflicts and changes in mindset intensified. Quebec artists started celebrating their distinct identity: Michel Tremblay's 1968 play Les Belles-sœurs legitimized joual (working-class Quebec French) as a literary language, singer-songwriters like Félix Leclerc and Gilles Vigneault started a new style of Quebec popular music, and many local films debuted. In 1969, the federal Official Languages Act was passed to introduce a linguistic context conducive to Quebec's development. In 1973, the liberal government of Robert Bourassa initiated the James Bay Project on La Grande River. In 1974, it enacted the Official Language Act, which made French the official language of Quebec. In 1975, it established the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.

Quebec's first modern sovereignist government, led by René Lévesque, materialized when Parti Québécois came to power in 1976. The Charter of the French Language came into force the following year, which increased the use of French. Between 1966 and 1969, the Estates General of French Canada confirmed the state of Quebec to be the nation's fundamental political milieu and for it to have the right to self-determination.

In the 1980 referendum on sovereignty-association, 40% were for and 60% were against. After the referendum, Lévesque went back to Ottawa to continue negotiating constitutional changes. On November 4, 1981, the Kitchen Accord took place. Delegations from the other nine provinces and the federal government reached an agreement in the absence of Quebec's delegation, which had left for the night. Because of this, the National Assembly refused to recognize the new Constitution Act, 1982, which patriated the Canadian constitution and made modifications to it. The 1982 amendments apply to Quebec, despite Quebec never having consented to it.

Between 1982 and 1992, the Quebec government's attitude changed to prioritize reforming the federation. Attempts at constitutional amendments by the Mulroney and Bourassa governments ended in failure with the Meech Lake Accord of 1987 and the Charlottetown Accord of 1992, resulting in the creation of the Bloc Québécois. The failures also led to the re-election of the Parti Québécois in 1994, and the return to power of Jacques Parizeau, who had promised to hold a sovereignty referendum within a year of election. In 1995, Parizeau called a referendum on Quebec's independence from Canada. This consultation ended in a close outcome: 50.6% "no" and 49.4% "yes" (notably, over 60% of francophones voted "yes" and over 90% of anglophones voted "no").

In 1996, the federal government launched the Sponsorship Program to increase federal visibility in Quebec. In 2000, following the Supreme Court of Canada's decision on the Reference Re Secession of Quebec, the Parliament of Canada passed a legal framework, called the Clarity Act, within which governments would act in another referendum. In 2002, the Gomery commission and media revealed the Sponsorship Program, in which $539,000 was illegally spent and where well-connected agencies received millions for minimal work. This scandal contributed to the Liberals' defeat in the 2006 federal election. On October 30, 2003, the National Assembly voted unanimously to affirm "that the people of Québec form a nation". On November 27, 2006, the House of Commons followed with a symbolic motion declaring "that this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada."

In 2007, the Parti Québécois was pushed back to official opposition in the National Assembly, with the Liberal party leading. During the 2011 elections, Quebec voters rejected the Bloc Québécois in favour of the previously minor New Democratic Party (NDP). In 2012, the Liberal party, led by Jean Charest, announced an increase in student tuition fees. This spawned months-long protests involving over 300,000 students known as the Maple Spring, ultimately leading to a rollback of the increases. Also partially as a result, the Liberal party fell out of favour, letting the Parti Québécois regain power in 2012 and its leader, Pauline Marois, to become the first female premier of Quebec. The Liberal Party of Quebec then returned to power in 2014. Then, in 2018, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) won the provincial general elections.

Between 2020 and 2021, Quebec took measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the CAQ, led by Quebec's premier François Legault, increased its parliamentary majority in the provincial general elections. In 2025, following the implementation of tariffs and aggressive rhetoric by the US, Quebecers decreased their travel to the US, banned the sale of American alcohol, and slightly reduced personal purchases of US items.

Geography

Located in the eastern part of Canada, Quebec occupies a territory nearly three times the size of France or Texas. It is much closer to the size of Alaska, covering 1.5 million square kilometres (0.58 million square miles), with borders more than 12,000 km (7,500 mi) long. It is the largest province in Canada and, by total area, the tenth-largest country subdivision in the world.

Most of Quebec is sparsely populated. Its most populous region is the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands.

The combination of rich soils and the lowlands' relatively warm climate makes this valley its most prolific agricultural area. The rural landscape is divided into narrow rectangular tracts of land that extend from the river and date to the seigneurial system.

Quebec's topography is different from one region to another due to the varying composition of the ground, the climate, and the proximity to water. The Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands and the Appalachians are the two main topographic regions in southern Quebec, while the Canadian Shield occupies most of central and northern Quebec. 95% of the total, including the Labrador Peninsula, lies within the Canadian Shield. It is generally flat and exposed mountainous terrain interspersed with higher points such as the Laurentian Mountains in southern Quebec, the Otish Mountains in central Quebec and the Torngat Mountains near Ungava Bay. While low and medium altitude peaks extend from western Quebec to the far north, high altitude mountains appear in the Capitale-Nationale region to the east. Quebec's highest point at 1,652 metres (5,420 ft) is Mont d'Iberville, known in English as Mount Caubvick, in the northeastern part of the province in the Torngat Mountains. In the Labrador Peninsula portion of the Shield, the far northern region of Nunavik includes the Ungava Peninsula and consists of flat Arctic tundra inhabited mostly by Inuit.

Further south is the Eastern Canadian Shield taiga ecoregion and the Central Canadian Shield forests. The Appalachian region has a narrow strip of ancient mountains along the southeastern border of Quebec.

Quebec has one of the world's largest reserves of fresh water, occupying 12% of its surface and representing 3% of the world's renewable fresh water. More than half a million lakes and 4,500 rivers empty into the Atlantic Ocean, through the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Arctic Ocean, by James, Hudson, and Ungava bays. The largest inland body of water is the Caniapiscau Reservoir; Lake Mistassini is the largest natural lake. The Saint Lawrence River has some of the world's largest sustaining inland Atlantic ports. Since 1959, the Saint Lawrence Seaway has provided a navigable link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes.

The public lands of Quebec cover approximately 92% of its territory, including almost all of the water bodies. Protected areas can be classified into about twenty different legal designations (ex. exceptional forest ecosystem, protected marine environment, national park, biodiversity reserve, wildlife reserve, zone d'exploitation contrôlée (ZEC), etc.). More than 2,500 sites in Quebec today are protected areas. As of 2013, protected areas comprise 9.14% of Quebec's territory.

The ecological classification of Quebec territory established by the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks 2021, is presented in nine levels, it includes the diversity of terrestrial ecosystems throughout Quebec while taking into account both the characteristics of the vegetation (physiognomy, structure and composition) and the physical environment (relief, geology, geomorphology, hydrography).

The territory of Quebec is rich in resources in its coniferous forests, lakes, and rivers—pulp and paper, lumber, and hydroelectricity are some of the province's most important industries. The far north of the province, Nunavik, is subarctic or Arctic and is mostly inhabited by Inuit.

Government

Quebec is founded on the Westminster system, and is both a liberal democracy and a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary regime. The head of government in Quebec is the premier (called premier ministre in French), who leads the largest party in the unicameral National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) from which the Executive Council of Quebec is appointed. The Conseil du trésor supports the ministers of the Executive Council in their function of stewardship of the state. The lieutenant governor represents the King of Canada.

Quebec has 78 members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons of Canada. They are elected in federal elections. At the level of the Senate of Canada, Quebec is represented by 24 senators, which are appointed on the advice of the prime minister of Canada.

The Quebec government holds administrative and police authority in its areas of exclusive jurisdiction. The Parliament of the 43rd legislature is made up of the following parties: Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Parti libéral du Québec (PLQ), Québec solidaire (QS) and Parti Québécois (PQ), as well as an independent member. There are 25 official political parties in Quebec.

Quebec has a network of three offices for representing itself and defending its interests within Canada: one in Moncton for all provinces east, one in Toronto for all provinces west, and one in Ottawa for the federal government. These offices' mandate is to ensure an institutional presence of the Government of Quebec near other Canadian governments.

Subdivisions

Quebec's territory is divided into 17 administrative regions as follows:

1. Bas-Saint-Laurent
2. Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
3. Capitale-Nationale
4. Mauricie
5. Estrie
6. Montréal
7. Outaouais
8. Abitibi-Témiscamingue
9. Côte-Nord
10. Nord-du-Québec
11. Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine
12. Chaudière-Appalaches
13. Laval
14. Lanaudière
15. Laurentides
16. Montérégie
17. Centre-du-Québec

The province also has the following divisions:

• 4 territories (Abitibi, Ashuanipi, Mistassini and Nunavik) which group together the lands that once formed the District of Ungava
• 36 judicial districts
• 73 circonscriptions foncières
• 125 electoral districts

For municipal purposes, Quebec is composed of:

• 1,117 local municipalities of various types:
  • 11 agglomerations (agglomérations) grouping 42 of these local municipalities
  • 45 boroughs (arrondissements) within 8 of these local municipalities
• 89 regional county municipalities or RCMs (municipalités régionales de comté, MRC)
• 2 metropolitan communities (communautés métropolitaines)
• the regional Kativik administration
• the unorganised territories

Ministries and policies

Quebec's constitution is enshrined in a series of social and cultural traditions that are defined in a set of judicial judgments and legislative documents, including the Loi sur l'Assemblée Nationale ("Law on the National Assembly"), the Loi sur l'éxecutif ("Law on the Executive"), and the Loi électorale du Québec ("Electoral Law of Quebec"). Other notable examples include the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, the Charter of the French language, and the Civil Code of Quebec.

Quebec's international policy is founded upon the Gérin-Lajoie doctrine, formulated in 1965. While Quebec's Ministry of International Relations coordinates international policy, Quebec's general delegations are the main interlocutors in foreign countries. Quebec is the only Canadian province that has set up a ministry to exclusively embody the state's powers for international relations.

Since 2006, Quebec has adopted a green plan to meet the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol regarding climate change. The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, and Fight Against Climate Change (MELCC) is the primary entity responsible for the application of environmental policy. The Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (SEPAQ) is the main body responsible for the management of national parks and wildlife reserves. Nearly 500,000 people took part in a climate protest on the streets of Montreal in 2019.

Agriculture in Quebec has been subject to agricultural zoning regulations since 1978. Faced with the problem of expanding urban sprawl, agricultural zones were created to ensure the protection of fertile land, which make up 2% of Quebec's total area. Quebec's forests are essentially public property. The calculation of annual cutting possibilities is the responsibility of the Bureau du forestier en chef. The Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) seeks to protect the interests of its members, including forestry workers, and works jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

The Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale du Québec has the mandate to oversee social and workforce developments through Emploi-Québec and its local employment centres (CLE). This ministry is also responsible for managing the Régime québécois d'assurance parentale (QPIP) as well as last-resort financial support for people in need. The Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) is the main body responsible for labour laws in Quebec and for enforcing agreements concluded between unions of employees and their employers.

Revenu Québec is the body responsible for collecting taxes. It takes its revenue through a progressive income tax, a 9.975% sales tax, various other provincial taxes (ex. carbon, corporate and capital gains taxes), equalization payments, transfer payments from other provinces, and direct payments. By some measures Quebec residents are the most taxed; a 2012 study indicated that "Quebec companies pay 26 per cent more in taxes than the Canadian average".

Quebec's immigration philosophy is based on the principles of pluralism and interculturalism.The Ministère de l'Immigration et des Communautés culturelles du Québec is responsible for the selection and integration of immigrants. Programs favour immigrants who know French, have a low risk of becoming criminals and have in-demand skills.

Quebec's health and social services network is administered by the Ministry of Health and Social Services. It is composed of 95 réseaux locaux de services (RLS; 'local service networks') and 18 agences de la santé et des services sociaux (ASSS; 'health and social services agencies'). Quebec's health system is supported by the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) which works to maintain the accessibility of services for all citizens of Quebec.

The Ministère de la Famille et des Aînés du Québec operate centres de la petite enfance (CPEs; 'centres for young children'). Quebec provides universal low-fee childcare for all children under 12. Quebec's education system is administered by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (primary and secondary schools), the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur (CEGEP) and the Conseil supérieure de l'Education du Québec (universities and colleges). In 2012, the annual cost for postsecondary tuition was CA$2,168 (€1,700) – less than half of Canada's average tuition. Part of the reason for this is that tuition fees were frozen to a relatively low level when CEGEPS were created during the Quiet Revolution. When Jean Charest's government decided in 2012 to sharply increase university fees, students protests erupted. Because of these protests, Quebec's tuition fees remain relatively low.

External relationships

Quebec's closest international partner is the United States, with which it shares a long and positive history. Products of American culture like songs, movies, fashion and food strongly affect Québécois culture.

Quebec has a historied relationship with France, as Quebec was a part of the French Empire and both regions share a language. The Fédération France-Québec and the Francophonie are a few of the tools used for relations between Quebec and France. In Paris, a place du Québec was inaugurated in 1980. Quebec also has a historied relationship with the United Kingdom, having been a part of the British Empire. Quebec and the UK share the same head of state, King Charles III.

Quebec has a network of 32 offices in 18 countries. These offices serve the purpose of representing Quebec in foreign countries and are overseen by Quebec's Ministry of International Relations. Quebec, like other Canadian provinces, also maintains representatives in some Canadian embassies and consulates general. As of 2019, the Government of Quebec had delegates-general (agents-general) in Brussels, London, Mexico City, Munich, New York City, Paris and Tokyo; delegates to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and Rome; and offices headed by directors offering more limited services in Barcelona, Beijing, Dakar, Hong Kong, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai, Stockholm, and Washington. In addition, there are the equivalent of honorary consuls, titled antennes, in Berlin, Philadelphia, Qingdao, Seoul, and Silicon Valley.

Quebec also has a representative to UNESCO and participates in the Organization of American States. Quebec is a member of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie and of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie.

Law

Quebec law is the shared responsibility of the federal and provincial government. The federal government is responsible for criminal law, foreign affairs and laws relating to the regulation of Canadian commerce, interprovincial transport, and telecommunications. The provincial government is responsible for private law, the administration of justice, and several social domains, such as social assistance, healthcare, education, and natural resources.

Quebec law is influenced by two judicial traditions (civil law and common law) and four classic sources of law (legislation, case law, doctrine and customary law). Private law in Quebec affects all relationships between individuals (natural or juridical persons) and is largely under the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Quebec. The Parliament of Canada also influences Quebec private law, in particular through its power over banks, bankruptcy, marriage, divorce and maritime law. The Droit civil du Québec is the primary component of Quebec's private law and is codified in the Civil Code of Quebec. Public law in Quebec is largely derived from the common law tradition. Quebec constitutional law governs the rules surrounding the Quebec government, the Parliament of Quebec and Quebec's courts. Quebec administrative law governs relations between individuals and the Quebec public administration. Quebec also has some limited jurisdiction over criminal law. Finally, Quebec, like the federal government, has tax law power. Certain portions of Quebec law are considered mixed. This is the case, for example, with human rights and freedoms which are governed by the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, a Charter which applies to both government and citizens.

English is not an official language in Quebec law. However, both English and French are required by the Constitution Act, 1867 for the enactment of laws and regulations, and any person may use English or French in the National Assembly and the courts. The books and records of the National Assembly must also be kept in both languages.

Courts

Although Quebec is a civil law jurisdiction, it does not follow the pattern of other civil law systems which have court systems divided by subject matter. Instead, the court system follows the English model of unitary courts of general jurisdiction. The provincial courts have jurisdiction to decide matters under provincial law as well as federal law, including civil, criminal and constitutional matters. The major exception to the principle of general jurisdiction is that the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal have exclusive jurisdiction over some areas of federal law, such as review of federal administrative bodies, federal taxes, and matters relating to national security.

The Quebec courts are organized in a pyramid. At the bottom, there are the municipal courts, the Professions Tribunal, the Human Rights Tribunal, and administrative tribunals. Decisions of those bodies can be reviewed by the two trial courts, the Court of Quebec the Superior Court of Quebec. The Court of Quebec is the main criminal trial court, and also a court for small civil claims. The Superior Court is a trial court of general jurisdiction, in both criminal and civil matters. The decisions of those courts can be appealed to the Quebec Court of Appeal. Finally, if the case is of great importance, it may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Court of Appeal serves two purposes. First, it is the general court of appeal for all legal issues from the lower courts. It hears appeals from the trial decisions of the Superior Court and the Quebec Court. It also can hear appeals from decisions rendered by those two courts on appeals or judicial review matters relating to the municipal courts and administrative tribunals. Second, but much more rarely, the Court of Appeal possesses the power to respond to reference questions posed to it by the Quebec Cabinet. The Court of Appeal renders more than 1,500 judgments per year.

Law enforcement

The Sûreté du Québec is the main police force of Quebec. The Sûreté du Québec can also serve a support and coordination role with other police forces, such as with municipal police forces or with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP has the power to enforce certain federal laws in Quebec. However, given the existence of the Sûreté du Québec, its role is more limited than in the other provinces.

Municipal police, such as the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal and the Service de police de la Ville de Québec, are responsible for law enforcement in their municipalities. The Sûreté du Québec fulfils the role of municipal police in the 1038 municipalities that do not have a municipal police force. The Indigenous communities of Quebec have their own police forces.

For offences against provincial or federal laws in Quebec (including the Criminal Code), the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions is responsible for prosecuting offenders in court through Crown attorneys. The Department of Justice of Canada also has the power to prosecute offenders, but only for offences against specific federal laws (ex. selling narcotics). Quebec is responsible for operating the prison system for sentences of less than two years, and the federal government operates penitentiaries for sentences of two years or more.

Demographics

In the 2021 census, Quebec's population was determined to be 8,501,833, a 4.1% increase from its 2016 population of 8,164,361. With a land area of 1,356,625.27 km² (523,795.95 sq mi), it had a population density of 6.0/km² (15.6/sq mi) in 2016. Quebec accounted for a little under 23% of the Canadian population. The largest cities in Quebec are Montreal (1,762,976), Quebec City (538,738), Laval (431,208), and Gatineau (281,501).

In 2016, Quebec's median age was 41.2 years. As of 2020, 20.8% of the population was younger than 20, 59.5% was aged between 20 and 64, and 19.7% was 65 or older. In 2019, Quebec witnessed an increase in the number of births compared to the year before (84,200 vs 83,840) and had a total fertility rate of about 1.6 children born per woman. As of 2020, the average life expectancy was 82.3 years. Quebec in 2019 registered its highest rate of population growth since 1972, with an increase of 110,000 people, mostly because of the arrival of a high number of immigrants. As of 2019, most international immigrants were from China, India and France. In 2016, 30% of the population possessed a postsecondary degree or diploma. Most residents, particularly couples, are property owners. In 2016, 80% of both property owners and renters considered their housing to be "unaffordable". In the 2021 Canadian census, 29.3% of Quebec's population stated their ancestry was of Canadian origin and 21.1% stated their ancestry was of French origin. As of 2021, 18% of Quebec's population belonged to a visible minority group.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, the most commonly cited religions in Quebec were:

• Christianity (5,385,240 residents, or 64.8%)
• Irreligion (2,267,720 or 27.3%)
• Islam (421,710 or 5.1%)
• Judaism (84,530 or 1.0%)
• Buddhism (48,365 or 0.6%)
• Hinduism (47,390 or 0.6%)
• Sikhism (23,345 or 0.3%)
• Indigenous spirituality (3,790 or <0.1%)
• Other (26,385 or 0.3%)

The Roman Catholic Church has long occupied a central and integral place in Quebec society since the foundation of Quebec City in 1608. However, since the Quiet Revolution, which secularized Quebec, irreligion has been growing significantly. In 2025, there was a reported rise in adult baptisms and an increased number of baptisms of people over the age of 7. The Catholic Church of Quebec described the recent increase in baptisms among adults and adolescents as a "surprising phenomenon … gaining momentum" and that interest in Catholic baptism is "especially present" in young people and in adults from immigrant backgrounds. Later on Holy Saturday in 2026, it was reported that young people were joining the Catholic Church due to the presence of priests and young influencers on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Other reasons for young people joining the Catholic Church was reported to be due to taking an interest in Quebec's religious heritage so that they could "understand their identity."

Religions other than Christianity, Judaism and indigenous faiths were not present in Quebec before the 20th century. They started establishing a small presence following the passing of the Immigration Act of 1962. Islam in particular has grown rapidly since the 1990s due to high immigration levels. Its number of adherents increased from 44,930 (0.6% of the population) in 1991 to 421,715 (5.1%) in 2021.

The oldest parish church in North America is the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec. Its construction began in 1647, when it was known under the name Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix, and it was finished in 1664. The most frequented place of worship in Quebec is the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. This basilica welcomes millions of visitors each year. Saint Joseph's Oratory is the largest place of worship in the world dedicated to Saint Joseph. Many pilgrimages include places such as Saint Benedict Abbey, Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap, Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Marie-Reine-du-Monde de Montréal Basilica-Cathedral, Saint-Michel Basilica-Cathedral, and Saint-Patrick's Basilica. Another important place of worship in Quebec is the Anglican Holy Trinity Cathedral, which was erected between 1800 and 1804. It was the first Anglican cathedral built outside the British Isles.

Language

Quebec differs from other Canadian provinces in that French is its sole official language, while English predominates in the rest of Canada. French is the common language, understood and spoken by 93.7% of the population according to the 2021 census, and is the sole native language of 74.8% of the population (or slightly more than 6.5 million residents) and a native language (alone or in combination with others) of 77.8%. This makes Quebec the only Canadian province whose population is mainly Francophone. Quebec French is the umbrella term for local variants of the language. Canada is estimated to be home to roughly 30 regional French accents, 17 of which can be found in Quebec. 42.2% of Quebec's population with a French mother tongue can converse in English, the predominant language of the rest of Canada.

The Office québécois de la langue française oversees the application of linguistic policies respecting French on the territory, jointly with the Superior Council of the French Language and the Commission de toponymie du Québec. The foundation for these linguistic policies was created in 1968 by the Gendron Commission and they have been accompanied the Charter of the French language ("Bill 101") since 1977. The policies are in effect to protect Quebec from being assimilated by its English-speaking neighbours (the rest of Canada and the United States) and were also created to rectify historical injustice between the Francophone majority and Anglophone minority, the latter of which were favoured since Quebec was a colony of the British Empire. Quebec remains, alongside Haiti, the only major Francophone dominant regions in the Americas.

Anglo-Quebecers, a name for residents whose main language is English, constitute the second largest linguistic group in Quebec. In 2021, English was the sole mother tongue of 7.6% of Quebec residents, and was a native language (alone or in combination with others) of 10.0%. Anglo-Quebecers reside mainly in the west of the island of Montreal (West Island), downtown Montreal and the Pontiac.

Three families of Indigenous languages encompassing eleven languages exist in Quebec: the Algonquian language family (Abenaki, Algonquin, Maliseet-passamaquoddy, Mi'kmaq, and the linguistic continuum of Atikamekw, Cree, Innu-aimun, and Naskapi), the Inuit–Aleut language family (Nunavimmiutitut, an Inuktitut dialect spoken by the Inuit of Nord-du-Québec), and the Iroquoian language family (Mohawk and Wendat). In the 2016 census, 50,895 people said they knew at least one Indigenous language and 45,570 people declared having an Indigenous language as their mother tongue. In Quebec, most Indigenous languages are transmitted quite well from one generation to the next with a mother tongue retention rate of 92%.

As of the 2016 census, the most common immigrant languages claimed as a native language were Arabic (2.5% of the total population), Spanish (1.9%), Italian (1.4%), Creole languages (mainly Haitian Creole) (0.8%), and Mandarin (0.6%).

As of the 2021 Canadian census, the ten most spoken languages in the province were French (spoken by 7,786,735 people, or 93.72% of the population), English (4,317,180 or 51.96%), Spanish (453,905 or 5.46%), Arabic (343,675 or 4.14%), Italian (168,040 or 2.02%), Haitian Creole (118,010 or 1.42%), Mandarin (80,520 or 0.97%), Portuguese (65,605 or 0.8%), Russian (55,485 or 0.7%), and Greek (50,375 or 0.6%). The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses.

Indigenous peoples

In 2021, the Indigenous population of Quebec numbered 205,010 (2.5% of the population), including 15,800 Inuit, 116,550 First Nations people, and 61,010 Métis. There is an undercount, as some Indian bands regularly refuse to participate in Canadian censuses. In 2016, the Mohawk reserves of Kahnawake and Doncaster 17 along with the Indian settlement of Kanesatake and Lac-Rapide, a reserve of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, were not counted.

The Inuit of Quebec live mainly in Nunavik in Nord-du-Québec. They make up the majority of the population living north of the 55th parallel. There are ten First Nations ethnic groups in Quebec: the Abenaki, the Algonquin, the Attikamek, the Cree, the Wolastoqiyik, the Mi'kmaq, the Innu, the Naskapi, the Wendat and the Mohawk. The Mohawks were once part of the Iroquois Confederacy. Aboriginal rights were enunciated in the Indian Act and adopted at the end of the 19th century. This act confines First Nations within the reserves created for them. The Indian Act is still in effect today. In 1975, the Cree, Inuit and the Quebec government agreed to an agreement called the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement that would extended indigenous rights beyond reserves, and to over two-thirds of Quebec's territory. Because this extension was enacted without the participation of the federal government, the extended indigenous rights only exist in Quebec. In 1978, the Naskapis joined the agreement when the Northeastern Quebec Agreement was signed. Discussions have been underway with the Innu of the Côte-Nord and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean for the potential creation of a similar autonomy in two new distinct territories that would be called Innu Assi and Nitassinan.

A few political institutions have also been created over time:

• The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador
• The Grand Council of the Crees
• The Makivik Corporation

Acadians

The subject of Acadians in Quebec is an important one as more than a million people in Quebec are of Acadian descent, with roughly 4.8 million people possessing one or multiple Acadian ancestors in their genealogy tree, because a large number of Acadians had fled Acadia to take refuge in Quebec during the Great Upheaval. Furthermore, more than a million people have a patronym of Acadian origin.

Quebec houses Acadian communities. Acadians mainly live on the Magdalen Islands and in Gaspesia, but about thirty other communities are present elsewhere in Quebec, mostly in the Côte-Nord and Centre-du-Québec regions. An Acadian community in Quebec can be called a "Cadie", "Petite Cadie" or "Cadien".

Economy

Quebec has an advanced, market-based, and open economy. In 2022, its gross domestic product (GDP) was US$50,000 per person at purchasing power parity. The economy of Quebec is the 46th largest in the world behind Chile and 29th for GDP per person. Quebec represents 19% of the GDP of Canada. The provincial debt-to-GDP ratio peaked at 51% in 2012–2013, and declined to 43% in 2021.

Like most industrialized countries, the economy is based mainly on the services sector. Quebec's economy has traditionally been fuelled by abundant natural resources and a well-developed infrastructure, but has undergone significant change over the past decade. Firmly grounded in the knowledge economy, Quebec has one of the highest growth rates of GDP in Canada. The knowledge sector represents about 31% of Quebec's GDP. In 2011, Quebec experienced faster growth of its research-and-development (R&D) spending than other Canadian provinces. Quebec's spending in R&D in 2011 was equal to 2.63% of GDP, above the European Union average of 1.8%. The percentage spent on research and technology is the highest in Canada and higher than the averages for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the G7 countries.

Some of the most important companies from Quebec are: Bombardier, Desjardins, the National Bank of Canada, the Jean Coutu Group, Transcontinental média, Quebecor, the Métro Inc. food retailers, Hydro-Québec, the Société des alcools du Québec, the Bank of Montreal, Saputo, the Cirque du Soleil, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Normandin restaurants, and Vidéotron.

Exports and imports

Thanks to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Quebec had, as of 2009, experienced an increase in its exports and in its ability to compete on the international market. International exchanges contribute to the strength of the Quebec economy. NAFTA is especially advantageous as it gives Quebec, among other things, access to a market of 130 million consumers within a radius of 1,000 kilometres.

In 2008, Quebec's exports to other provinces in Canada and abroad totalled 157.3 billion CND$, or 51.8% of Quebec's gross domestic product (GDP). Of this total, 60.4% were international exports, and 39.6% were interprovincial exports. The breakdown by destination of international merchandise exports is: United States (72.2%), Europe (14.4%), Asia (5.1%), Middle East (2.7%), Central America (2.3%), South America (1.9%), Africa (0.8%) and Oceania (0.7%).

In 2008, Quebec imported $178 billion worth of goods and services, or 58.6% of its GDP. Of this total, 62.9% of goods were imported from international markets, while 37.1% of goods were interprovincial imports. The breakdown by origin of international merchandise imports is as follows: United States (31.1%), Europe (28.7%), Asia (17.1%), Africa (11.7%), South America (4.5%), Central America (3.7%), Middle East (1.3%) and Oceania (0.7%).

Primary sector

Quebec produces most of Canada's hydroelectricity and is the second biggest hydroelectricity producer in the world (2019). Because of this, Quebec has been described as a potential clean energy superpower. In 2019, Quebec's electricity production amounted to 214 terawatt-hours (TWh), 95% of which comes from hydroelectric power stations, and 4.7% of which come from wind energy. The public company Hydro-Québec occupies a dominant position in the production, transmission and distribution of electricity in Quebec. Hydro-Québec operates 63 hydroelectric power stations and 28 large reservoirs. Because of the remoteness of Hydro-Québec's TransÉnergie division, it operates the largest electricity transmission network in North America. Quebec stands out for its use of renewable energy. In 2008, electricity ranked as the main form of energy used in Quebec (41.6%), followed by oil (38.2%) and natural gas (10.7%). In 2017, 47% of all energy came from renewable sources. The Quebec government's energy policy seeks to build, by 2030, a low carbon economy.

In 2011, the mining industry accounted for 6.3% of Quebec's GDP and it employed about 50,000 people in 158 companies. It has around 30 mines, 158 exploration companies and 15 primary processing industries. While many metallic and industrial minerals are exploited, the main ones are gold, iron, copper and zinc. Others include: titanium, asbestos, silver, magnesium and nickel, among many others. Quebec is also as a major source of diamonds. Since 2002, Quebec has seen an increase in its mineral explorations. In 2003, the value of mineral exploitation reached $3.7 billion.

The agri-food industry plays an important role in the economy of Quebec, with meat and dairy products being the two main sectors. It accounts for 8% of the Quebec's GDP and generate $19.2 billion. In 2010, this industry generated 487,000 jobs in agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing of food, beverages and tobacco and food distribution.

Secondary sector

In 2021, Quebec's aerospace industry employed 35,000 people and its sales totalled C$15.2 billion – the world's 6th largest. Many aerospace companies are active in the country, including CMC Electronics, Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney Canada, Héroux-Devtek, Rolls-Royce, General Electric, Bell Textron, L3Harris, Safran, SONACA, CAE Inc., and Airbus, among others. Montreal is globally considered one of the aerospace industry's great centres, and several international aviation organisations seat here. Both Aéro Montréal and the CRIAQ were created to assist aerospace companies.

The pulp and paper industry accounted for 3.1% of Quebec's GDP in 2007 and generated annual shipments valued at more than $14 billion. This industry employs 68,000 people in several regions of Quebec. It is also the main—and in some circumstances only—source of manufacturing activity in more than 250 municipalities in the province. The forest industry has slowed in recent years because of the softwood lumber dispute. In 2020, this industry represented 8% of Quebec's exports.

As Quebec has few significant deposits of fossil fuels, all hydrocarbons are imported. Refiners' sourcing strategies have varied over time and have depended on market conditions. In the 1990s, Quebec purchased much of its oil from the North Sea. Since 2015, it now consumes almost exclusively the crude produced in western Canada and the United States. Quebec's two active refineries have a total capacity of 402,000 barrels per day, greater than local needs which stood at 365,000 barrels per day in 2018.

By virtue of hydroelectricity, Quebec is the world's fourth largest aluminum producer and creates 90% of Canadian aluminum. Three companies make aluminum here: Rio Tinto, Alcoa and Aluminium Alouette. Their 9 alumineries produce 2,9 million tons of aluminum annually and employ 30,000 workers.

Tertiary sector

The finance and insurance sector employs more than 168,000 people. Of this number, 78,000 are employed by the banking sector, 53,000 by the insurance sector and 20,000 by the securities and investment sector. The Bank of Montreal, founded in 1817 in Montreal, was Quebec's first bank but, like many other large banks, its central branch is now in Toronto. Several banks remain based in Quebec National Bank of Canada, the Desjardins Group and the Laurentian Bank.

The tourism industry is a major sector in Quebec. The Ministry of Tourism ensures the development of this industry under the commercial name "Bonjour Québec". Quebec is the second most important province for tourism in Canada, receiving 21.5% of tourists' spending (2021). The industry provides employment to over 400,000 people. These employees work in the more than 29,000 tourism-related businesses in Quebec, most of which are restaurants or hotels. 70% of tourism-related businesses are located in or close to Montreal or Quebec City. It is estimated that, in 2010, Quebec welcomed 25.8 million tourists. Of these, 76.1% came from Quebec, 12.2% from the rest of Canada, 7.7% from the United States and 4.1% from other countries. Annually, tourists spend more than $6.7 billion in Quebec's tourism industry.

Approximately 1.1 million Quebecers work in the field of science and technology. In 2007, the Government of Quebec launched the Stratégie québécoise de la recherche et de l'innovation (SQRI) aiming to promote development through research, science and technology. The government hoped to create a strong culture of innovation in Quebec for the next decades and to create a sustainable economy.

Quebec's IT sector has 7,600 businesses and employs 140,000 people. Its most developed sectors are telecommunications, multimedia and video game software, computer services, microelectronics, and the components sector. There are currently 115 telecommunications companies established in the province, including Motorola, Ericsson and Mitec. The multimedia and video game sector has been growing fast since the early 2000s. The Digital Alliance, which claims 191 active members in video games, online education, mobility and Internet services, estimates the annual revenue of the sector at $827 million in 2014. The microelectronics sector is made up of more than 100 companies employing 13,000 people. Computer services, software development, and consulting engineering employ 60,000 skilled workers. While the largest IT employers are CMC Electronics, IBM, and Matrox, many other tech companies are present here, including Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Microids, Strategy First, Eidos, Activision, A2M, Frima Studio, etc.

Montreal is ranked fourth in North America for the number of jobs in the pharmaceutical sector.

Education

The education system of Quebec, administered by the government of Quebec's Ministry of Education and Higher Education, differs from those of other Canadian provinces. The province has five levels of education: first preschool, then primary school, then secondary school; then CEGEP (see College education in Quebec); and finally university or college. Attached to these levels are the options to also attend professional development opportunities, classes for adults, and continuing education. For every level of teaching, there exists a public network and private network: the public network is financed by taxes while the private options must be paid for by the student. In 2020, school boards were replaced by school service centres.

All universities in Quebec exist by virtue of laws adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec in 1967 during the Quiet Revolution. Their financing mostly comes from public taxes, but the laws under which they operate grants them more autonomy than other levels of education.

Research

Quebec is considered one of world leaders in fundamental scientific research, having produced ten Nobel laureates in either physics, chemistry, or medicine. It is also considered one of the world leaders in sectors such as aerospace, information technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, and therefore plays a significant role in the world's scientific and technological communities. Between 2000 and 2011, Quebec had over 9,469 scientific publications in biomedical research and engineering. The contribution of Quebec in science and technology represented approximately 1% of the research worldwide between the 1980s and 2009.

The province is one of the world leaders in the field of space science and contributed to important discoveries in this field. The Canadian Space Agency was established in Quebec due to its major role in this research field. A total of four Quebecers have been in space since the creation of the CSA: Marc Garneau, Julie Payette, and David Saint-Jacques as CSA astronauts, plus Guy Laliberté as a private citizen who paid for his trip. Quebec has also contributed to the creation of some Canadian artificial satellites including SCISAT-1, ISIS, Radarsat-1 and Radarsat-2.

Quebec ranks among the world leaders in the field of life science. Quebec has more than 450 biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies which together employ more than 25,000 people and 10,000 highly qualified researchers.

Infrastructure

Transport

Land transport development and security are provided by Transports Québec. Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ; Quebec Automobile Insurance Corporation) manages the réseau routier québécois (Quebec road network), which consists of about 185,000 km (115,000 mi) of highways and national, regional, local, collector and forest roads.

Canadian Coast Guard manages maritime transport. The Saint Lawrence hosts eight deep-water ports. In 2003, 3,886 cargo ships and 9.7 million tonnes of goods transited the Quebec portion of the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

The Commission des transports du Québec works with freight carriers and public transport. Quebec has 6,678 km (4,150 mi) of railways integrated into the North American network. Although primarily intended for goods transport through carriers such as Canadian National (CN) and the Canadian Pacific (CP), the Quebec railway network is also used by inter-city passengers via Via Rail Canada and Amtrak.

Nav Canada manages air transport. Quebec's air network includes 43 airports that offer daily scheduled services. In addition, the Government of Quebec owns airports and heliports in the Basse-Côte-Nord and northern regions.

Quebec has almost 12,000 bridges, tunnels, retaining walls, culverts and other structures such as the Quebec Bridge, the Laviolette Bridge and the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge–Tunnel.

Other transport networks crisscross the province, including hiking trails, snowmobile trails and bike paths. The Green Road is the largest at nearly 4,000 km (2,500 mi) in length.

Healthcare

Quebec's health policy emphasizes prevention. Similar to other developed economies, life expectancy has lengthened beginning in the 20th century.

Health and social services are provided by one organization. The Quebec health system is public, which means that the government acts as the main insurer and administrator, funding care with taxation, and that patients have access to care regardless of income.

34 health establishments operate in Quebec, 22 via an Integrated Health and Social Services Centre (CISSS). Quebec has approximately 140 hospitals for general or specialised care (CHSGS). Other types of establishments include Centre local de services communautaires (CLSC), Centre d'hébergement et de soins de longue durée (CHSLD), Centre de réadaptation and Centre de protection de l'enfance et de la jeunesse. Private healthcare establishments (paid directly by the patient) include Groupe de médecine de famille, pharmacies, private clinics, dentists, community organisations, and retirement homes.

A 2021 Ipsos poll reported that 85% of Quebecers agree that their health care system is too bureaucratic and in 2023 that fewer than half of Quebecers were satisfied with the system.

Housing

In 2021, 59.9% of Quebec's residents were property owners. In 2019, among property owners, 34% were couples with kids, 33% were couples without children, 22% lived alone, 8% were single parents, and 3% were something else. Among renters, 16% were couples with kids, 13% were couples without children, 51% lived alone, 13% were single parents, and 7% were something else.

Since the 1980s, the average price of a single-family home has doubled every 10 years, going from $48,715 in 1980 to $424,844 in 2021. Since the average salary did not follow these increases, Quebec homes are 10 times more expensive than they were 40 years ago. In 2022, the cities with the most severe housing shortages were Granby, with a vacancy rate of 0,1%, followed by Marieville (0,1%), Rimouski (0,2%), Drummondville (0,2%) and Rouyn-Noranda (0,3%).

Culture

Quebec has developed its own unique culture from its historic New France roots. Its culture also symbolizes a distinct perspective: being a French-speaking nation surrounded by a bigger English-speaking culture.

The Quartier Latin (English: Latin Quarter) of Montreal, and Vieux-Québec (English: Old Quebec) in Quebec City are two hubs of metropolitan cultural activity. Life in the cafés and "terrasses" (outdoor restaurant terraces) reveals a Latin influence in Quebec's culture, with the théâtre Saint-Denis in Montreal and the Capitole de Québec theatre in Quebec City being among the principal attractions.

A number of governmental and non-government organizations support cultural activity in Quebec. The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) is an initiative of the Ministry of Culture and Communications (Quebec). It supports creation, innovation, production, and international exhibits for all cultural fields of Quebec. The Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC) works to promote and fund individuals working in the cultural industry. The Prix du Québec is an award given by the government to confer the highest distinction and honour to individuals demonstrating exceptional achievement in their respective cultural field. Other awards include the Athanase David Awards (Literature), Félix Awards (Music), Gémeaux Awards (Television and film), Jutra Awards (Cinema), Masques Awards (Theatre), Olivier Guimond Awards (Humour) and the Opus Awards (Concert music).

Performing arts

Traditional music is imbued with many dances, such as the jig, the quadrille, the reel and line dancing. Traditional instruments include harmonica, fiddle, spoons, jaw harp and accordion. The First Nations and the Inuit of Quebec also have their own traditional music. Quebec's most popular artists of the last century include the singers Félix Leclerc, Gilles Vigneault, Kate and Anna McGarrigle and Céline Dion. The Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ) was created in 1978 to promote the music industry in Quebec. The Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra are respectively associated with the Opéra de Québec and the Opéra de Montreal, whose performances are presented at the Grand Théâtre de Québec and at Place des Arts. The Ballets Jazz de Montreal, the Grands Ballets and La La La Human Steps are three important professional troupes of contemporary dance.

Among the theatre troupes are the Compagnie Jean-Duceppe, the Théâtre La Rubrique, and the Théâtre Le Grenier. In addition to the network of cultural centres in Quebec, the venues include the Monument-National and the Rideau Vert (green curtain) Theatre in Montreal, and the Trident Theatre in Quebec City. The National Theatre School of Canada and the Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec train actors.

Several circus troupes were created in recent decades, the most important being Cirque du Soleil. Among these troops are contemporary, travelling and on-horseback circuses, such as Les 7 Doigts de la Main, Cirque Éloize, Cavalia, Kosmogonia, Saka and Cirque Akya. The National Circus School and the École de cirque de Québec were created to train contemporary circus artists. Tohu, la Cité des Arts du Cirque, was founded in 2004 to disseminate the circus arts.

Comedy is a vast cultural sector. Quebec has created and is home to several different comedy festivals, including the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, as well as the Grand Rire festivals of Quebec, Gatineau and Sherbrooke. The Association des professionnels de l'industrie de l'humour (APIH) is the main organization for the promotion and development of the cultural sector of humour in Quebec and the National School of Humour, created in 1988, trains humorists in Quebec.

Media

The Cinémathèque québécoise has a mandate to promote the film and television heritage of Quebec. The National Film Board of Canada (NFB), a federal Crown corporation, provides for the same mission in Canada. The Association of Film and Television in Quebec (APFTQ) promotes independent production in film and television. While the Association of Producers and Directors of Quebec (APDQ) represents the business of filmmaking and television, the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Quebec (ARCQ) (French acronym) represents the independent radio stations. Several movie theatres across Quebec ensure the dissemination of Quebec cinema. With its cinematic installations, such as the Cité du cinéma and Mel's studios, the city of Montreal is home to the filming of various productions. The state corporation Télé-Québec, the federal Crown corporation CBC, general and specialized private channels, networks, independent and community radio stations broadcast the various Quebec téléromans, the national and regional news, and other programming. Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois is a festival surrounding the ceremony of the Jutra Awards Night that rewards work and personalities of Quebec cinema. The Artis and the Gemini Awards gala recognize the personalities of television and radio industry in Quebec and French Canada. The Film Festival of the 3 Americas, the Festival of International Short Film, the World Film Festival and the Festival of New Cinema are other annual events surrounding the film industry in Quebec.

In the realm of literature and international publishing, the Québec Édition group is a committee created by the National Association of Book Editors dedicated to the international influence of French-language publishings from Quebec and Canada.

Literature and folklore

Quebec's French-speaking populace has the second largest body of folktales in Canada (the first being First Nations). When the early settlers arrived from France in the 17th century, they brought with them popular tales from their homeland, which were adapted to the local context. Many were passed on through generations by raconteurs, or storytellers. Almost all of the stories native to Quebec were influenced by Christian dogma and superstitions. The Devil, for instance, appears often as either a person, an animal or monster, or indirectly through Demonic acts. Various tales and stories are told through oral tradition, such as, among many others, the legends of the Bogeyman, the Chasse-galerie, the Black Horse of Trois-Pistoles, the Complainte de Cadieux, the Corriveau, the dancing devil of Saint-Ambroise, the Giant Beaupré, the monsters of the lakes Pohénégamook and Memphremagog, of Quebec Bridge (called the Devil's Bridge), the Rocher Percé and of Rose Latulipe, for example.

From New France, Quebec literature was first developed in the travel accounts of explorers. The Moulin à paroles traces the great texts that have shaped the history of Quebec. The first to write the history of Quebec, since its discovery, was the historian François-Xavier Garneau. Many Quebec poets and prominent authors marked their era and today remain anchored in the collective imagination, like, among others, Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, Octave Crémazie, Honoré Beaugrand, Émile Nelligan, Lionel Groulx, Gabrielle Roy, Hubert Aquin, Michel Tremblay, Marie Laberge, Fred Pellerin and Gaston Miron. The regional novel from Quebec is called Terroir novel and is a literary tradition specific to the province.

Art and architecture

The art of Quebec has developed around the specific characteristics of its landscapes and cultural, historical, social and political representations. The development of Quebec masterpieces in painting, printmaking and sculpture is marked by the contribution of artists such as Louis-Philippe Hébert, Cornelius Krieghoff, Alfred Laliberté, Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, Jean Paul Lemieux, Clarence Gagnon, Adrien Dufresne, Alfred Pellan, Jean-Philippe Dallaire, Charles Daudelin, Arthur Villeneuve, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Paul-Émile Borduas and Marcelle Ferron.

The fine arts of Quebec are displayed at the Quebec National Museum of Fine Arts, the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Quebec Salon des métiers d'art and in many art galleries. The Montreal School of Fine Arts forms the painters, printmakers and sculptors of Quebec.

Quebec's architecture is characterized by its unique Canadien-style buildings as well as the juxtaposition of a variety of styles reflective of Quebec's history. When walking in any city or town, one can come across buildings with styles congruent to Classical, Neo-Gothic, Roman, Neo-Renaissance, Greek Revival, Neo-Classical, Québécois Neo-Classical, Victorian, Second Empire, Modern, Post-modern or skyscrapers.

Canadien-style houses and barns were developed by the first settlers of New France along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River. These buildings are rectangular one-storey structures with an extremely tall and steep roof, sometimes almost twice as tall as the house below. Canadien-style churches also developed and served as landmarks while traversing rural Quebec.

Heritage

Several sites, houses and historical works reflect the cultural heritage of Quebec, such as the Village Québécois d'Antan, the historical village of Val-Jalbert, the Fort Chambly, the national home of the Patriots, the Chicoutimi pulp mill (Pulperie de Chicoutimi), the Lachine Canal and the Victoria Bridge. As of December 2011, there are 198 National Historic Sites of Canada in Quebec. These sites were designated as being of national historic significance.

Various museums tell the cultural history of Quebec, like the Museum of Civilization, the Museum of French America, the McCord Museum or the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History in Pointe-à-Callière, displaying artifacts, paintings and other remains from the past of Quebec. Notable schools include the Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec, the École nationale de théâtre du Canada and the École nationale de cirque. Notable public agencies to catalogue and further develop Quebec's culture include the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and Télé-Québec. The Association québécoise des loisirs folkloriques is an organization committed to preserving and disseminating Quebec's folklore heritage.

Cuisine

The traditional Quebecois cuisine descends from 16th-century French cuisine, the fur trade and a history of hunting. Quebec's cuisine has also been influenced by learning from First Nation, by English cuisine and by American cuisine. Quebec is most famous for its tourtière, pâté chinois, poutine, and St. Catherine's taffy among others. The "temps des sucres" is a period during springtime when many Quebecers go to the sugar shack (cabane à sucre) for a traditional meal.

Quebec is the world's biggest maple syrup producer. The province has a long history of producing maple syrup, and creating new maple-derived products. Other major food products include beer, wine (including ice wine and ice cider), and cheese.

Sports

Sports in Quebec constitutes an essential dimension of Quebec culture. Ice hockey remains the national sport. This sport was played for the first time on March 3, 1875, in Montreal and has been promoted over the years by numerous achievements, including the centenary of the Montreal Canadiens. Other major sports include Canadian football with the Montreal Alouettes, soccer with Club de Foot Montréal, the Grand Prix du Canada Formula 1 racing with drivers such as Gilles Villeneuve and Jacques Villeneuve, and professional baseball with the former Montreal Expos. Quebec has hosted several major sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the Fencing World Championships in 1967, track cycling in 1974, and the Transat Québec-Saint-Malo race created in 1984.

Quebec athletes have an above-average performance at the Winter Olympics over recent years. The athletic team was collectively awarded 12 of 29 medals won by Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, 12 of the 27 Canadian medals in 2014, and 9 of the 26 Canadian medals in 2010.

Holidays and symbols

St-Jean-Baptiste Day is one of Quebec's biggest holidays. In 1977, the Quebec Parliament declared June 24, the day of La Saint-Jean-Baptiste, to be Quebec's National Holiday. La Saint-Jean-Baptiste, or La St-Jean, honours French Canada's patron saint, John the Baptist. On this day, the song "Gens du pays", by Gilles Vigneault, is often heard. The song À la claire fontaine was the anthem of the New France, Patriots and French Canadian, then replaced by O Canada, but "Gens du pays" is preferred by many Quebecers to be the national anthem of Quebec.

National Patriots' Day, a statutory holiday in Quebec, is also a unique public holiday, which honours the patriotes with displays of the patriote flag, music, public speeches, and ceremonies. Le Vieux de '37 ("The Old Man of '37"), an illustration by Henri Julien that depicts a patriot of this rebellion, is sometimes added at the centre of Patriote flags. Moving Day is a tradition where leases terminate on July 1. This creates a social phenomenon where everyone seems to be moving out at the same time.

Other distinct holiday traditions include the Réveillon, a giant feast and party which takes place during Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve and goes on until midnight. Traditional dishes like tourtière or cipâte are offered, and rigaudon, spoon or violin may be played. Finally, April Fools' Day is called Poisson d'Avril ("April's Fish") because while pulling pranks is still important, there is another major tradition: sticking fish-shaped paper cutouts to people's backs without them noticing.

In 1939, the government of Quebec unilaterally ratified its coat of arms to reflect Quebec's political history: French rule (gold lily on blue background), followed by British rule (lion on red background), followed by Canadian rule (maple leaves). Je me souviens ("I remember") is an official part of the coat of arms and has been the official licence plate motto since 1978, replacing the previous motto: La belle province ("the beautiful province"), still used as a nickname for the province. The fleur-de-lis, one of Quebec's most common symbols, is an ancient symbol of the French monarchy. Finally, the Great Seal of Quebec is used to authenticate documents issued by the government of Quebec.

The first members of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society created the Carillon Sacré-Coeur flag, which consisted of a white cross on an azure background with white fleur-de-lis in each corner and a Sacred Heart surrounded by maple leaves in the centre; it was based on the French merchant flag flown by Champlain and the Flag of Carillon. The Carillon Sacré-Coeur and French merchant flag to be the major inspirations for creating Quebec's current flag in 1903, called the Fleurdelisé. The Fleurdelisé replaced the Union Jack on Quebec's Parliament Building on January 21, 1948.

Three new official emblems in were adopted in the late 20th century: the snowy owl in 1987 to symbolize the whiteness of Quebec's semi-northern climate, the yellow birch in 1993 for the variety of its uses and by its commercial value, and the iris versicolor in 1999 to illustrate the cultural diversity of Quebec and the importance of water and wetlands for the balance of nature.

Quebec's diaspora

The earliest immigrants to the Canadian prairies were French Canadians from Quebec. Many Franco-Albertans, Fransaskois and Franco-Manitobans are descended from them.

From the mid-1800s to the Great Depression, Quebec experienced the Grande Hémorragie ("Great Hemorrhaging"), a massive emigration of 900,000 people from Quebec to New England. French Canadians often established themselves in Little Canadas in many industrial New England centres. Of the 900,000 Québécois who emigrated, about half returned at some point before settling permanently. Most of the descendants of those who stayed are now assimilated, though a few Franco-Americans remain, speaking New England French.

Some tried to slow the Grande Hémorragie by redirecting people north, which resulted in the founding of many regions in Quebec (ex. Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, Val-d'Or) but also in Northeastern Ontario. The northeastern Franco-Ontarians of today, who live in Timmins, Hearst, Moosonee and Sault Sainte Marie, among others, are the descendants of emigrants from Quebec who worked in the mines of the area.

In recent times, snowbirds often migrate to southern Florida during the winter, resulting in the emergence of temporary "Québécois regions," such as in Hollywood.