The demographics of Quebec

Quebec’s demographics are the diverse and rapidly changing picture of Canada’s second largest province by population. With 9.11 million people as at 01/01/2025,Quebecis the only French-speaking province in North America, where more than 85% of the population uses French in daily life. At the same time, the province faces important demographic challenges: a birth rate at a record low, a rapidly ageing population, and increasing dependence on immigration to sustain growth.

This article gives a panorama of Quebec’s demographics across 8 main aspects: population size and growth, age structure, geographical distribution, language, ethnicity and origins, First Nations, religion, and immigration trends. This is foundational information for anyone interested in the population environment of Canada’s most distinctive province.

Population size and growth

Theo the Institut de la statistique du Québec, Quebec’s population reached 9,110,000 as at 01/01/2025. This figure is 155,300 higher than in 2024, equivalent to population growth of 1.7%.

Quebec’s population growth in 2024 was among the highest ever recorded, but below the record 193,400 of 2023. This trend matches Canada as a whole, where the rate of temporary immigration slowed in the second half of 2024.

Quebec accounted for around 21.9% of Canada’s population at the start of 2025, slightly down on before. Quebec’s share of Canada’s total population has fallen steadily from 28% in 1971 to the current level, mainly because of a low birth rate and slower immigration than other provinces.

The main driver of Quebec’s population growth today is no longer natural increase but international immigration. In 2024, Quebec saw 77,400 births – almost unchanged on previous years and a record low. At the same time, deaths exceeded births, making natural increase negative for the first time in the province’s history.

Age structure and population ageing

Quebec’s age structure clearly reflects an accelerating ageing trend. As at 01/07/2024, the age distribution in Quebec was:

• Under 20: 20.7%
• Aged 20 to 64: 58.2%
• Aged 65 and over: 21.1%

This is the first time in Quebec’s history that the proportion aged 65 and over has exceeded the proportion of children and young people under 20. The population ageing trend began after the Quiet Revolution (the 1960s), when Quebec’s birth rate fell abruptly from one of the highest in the world to one of the lowest.

However, the pace of ageing has slowed over the past two years thanks to international immigration – most of it in the 20–44 working age group. Without immigration, the proportion aged 65 and over could have exceeded 22% by 2025.

Quebec’s fertility rate in 2024 fell to a record low of 1.33 children per woman, considerably below the replacement level of 2.1 and among the lowest in the developed economies. This puts Quebec in a serious demographic position, similar to Japan, South Korea and Italy.

Population distribution by geography

Although Quebec covers 1,542,056 km², more than 90% of the population is concentrated in the St. Lawrence valley in the south. The three most populous administrative regions on 2023 figures:

• Montreal: 2,109,525
• Montérégie: 1,492,662 (the region south of Montreal)
• Capitale-Nationale(Quebec City and its surroundings): 793,001

The three least populous regions are Nord-du-Québec (46,650), Côte-Nord (89,914) and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine (92,059). The Nord-du-Québec region covers more than 55% of the province’s area but has only around 0.5% of the population, mainly Cree and Inuit First Nation communities.

The Montreal metropolitan area (Montreal CMA) is Canada’s second largest urban area after Toronto, with around 4.3 million people, accounting for nearly half of Quebec’s population. The city of Montreal is the province’s economic, financial, cultural and multicultural centre, and where most immigrants settle on arriving in Quebec.

Quebec City – the provincial capital with around 800,000 people in its metropolitan area – has a more purely French character, with nearly 95% of residents having French as their mother tongue.

Language

Language is the factor that most clearly shapes Quebec’s demographic identity. Quebec is the only province in Canada where French is the sole official language.

French

According to Statistics Canada’s 2021 census, around 77.5% of Quebec residents have French as their mother tongue. Counting those able to hold a conversation in French, this figure exceeds 93%.

Quebec French (français québécois) differs in many respects from the standard French of France in pronunciation, vocabulary and expression. These differences reflect a history of linguistic independence stretching more than 400 years since the founding of New France, together with the influence of neighbouring English and Indigenous languages.

The Charter of the French Language (Bill 101 of 1977, amended by Bill 96 of 2022) makes French the official language of administration, commerce, education and the workplace. This is an important reason why Quebec settlement programmes such as theQuebec entrepreneur programmerequire French language skills.

English

Around 7.6% of Quebec residents have English as their mother tongue, concentrated mainly in western Montreal and the western parts of the province. The English-speaking community of Quebec (Anglo-Quebecers) is a long-established minority, with its own school system, universities (McGill, Concordia, Bishop’s) and media.

Around 44% of Quebec residents can hold a conversation in both English and French – the highest bilingualism rate of any Canadian province. This rate is particularly high in Montreal, where a multilingual environment is the norm.

Other languages (Allophone)

Around 14.9% of Quebec residents have a mother tongue that is neither French nor English – known as “allophone”. The most common allophone languages are:

• Arabic: around 2.5% of the population
• Spanish: around 1.9%
• Italian: around 1.4%
• Haitian Creole: around 0.8%
• Mandarin: around 0.6%

Under Bill 101, the children and descendants of allophone immigrants must attend primary and secondary school in French, helping ensure linguistic integration across the generations. In 2015, around 89% of allophone pupils in Quebec attended French-language schools.

Ethnicity and origins

Quebec’s ethnic structure reflects its French colonial history and the waves of immigration from the 20th century to the present. At the 2021 census:

Main ethnic origins

• Canadian origin: 29% of the population (2,412,045) – mainly the descendants of long-established French settlers, who identified as “Canadien” before the term “Québécois” came into use
• French origin: 21.1% of the population – families able to trace their ancestry to 17th–18th century France
• Irish origin: 5.5% – mainly migrants from the 19th-century Irish famine
• Italian origin: 3.6% – waves of immigration from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century
• English origin: 3,3%
• Scottish origin: 2,5%

Total European origins account for around 81.4% of Quebec’s population.

Ethnic minority groups

The proportion of racialized groups (visible minorities) in Quebec in 2021 was around 16.1% of the population, equivalent to 1.36 million people. This is lower than British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba, but higher than the remaining provinces.

Most ethnic minority groups live in the Montreal metropolitan area. The distribution:

• Black: around 5.1% of the population (422,405) – mainly Haitians, Africans (Congo, Cameroon, Senegal) and Caribbeans
• Arab: around 3.4% (280,075) – mainly from Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt
• Latin American: around 2.1% (172,925)
• South Asian: around 1.5%
• Chinese: around 1.4%

A striking feature of Quebec is the relatively high proportion of Arabs and Latin Americans compared with other provinces, while the proportions of South Asians and Chinese are lower. This reflects the policy of prioritising French-speaking immigrants – many Lebanese, Moroccan, Haitian and Latin American communities have a Francophone tradition.

The Indigenous peoples (First Nations)

Quebec has a history of Indigenous presence stretching back thousands of years before Europeans arrived. In 2021, Quebec’s Indigenous population reached 205,010, equivalent to 2.5% of the total population:

• First Nation: 116,550
• Inuit: 15,800 (living mainly in Nunavik north of latitude 55°)
• Métis: 61,010
• The remainder is the Indigenous population not belonging to these groups

The actual figure may be higher because some reserves (such as Kahnawake, Doncaster 17 and Kanesatake) do not take part in the Canadian census.

Quebec has ten main officially recognised First Nations:

1. Abenaki
2. Algonquin
3. Atikamekw
4. Cree
5. Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet)
6. Mi’kmaq
7. Innu (Montagnais)
8. Naskapi
9. Wendat (Huron)
10. Mohawk

The Inuit live mainly in Nunavik – the region north of latitude 55°, where they make up most of the population. The Cree are concentrated in the Eeyou Istchee (James Bay) region, the Innu on the Côte-Nord, and the Mohawk on the Kahnawake and Kanesatake reserves near Montreal.

Indigenous languages in Quebec have a fairly high rate of retention across the generations – around 92% of Indigenous people still pass their mother tongue on to their children. Inuktitut, Cree and Innu-aimun are the three most widely used Indigenous languages.

Religion

Religion is the demographic aspect that has changed most dramatically in Quebec over the past six decades. Before the Quiet Revolution (the 1960s), the Roman Catholic Church dominated almost the whole of Quebec social life. Since then, the province has undergone profound secularisation.

At the 2021 census:

• Roman Catholic: 53.8% of the population (4,472,560) – still the largest religious group
• No religion or secular: 27.3% (2,267,720) – a sharp rise from under 5% in 1971
• Other Christian: 5.6% (464,015) – including Protestant, Orthodox and Eastern Catholic
• Islam: around 4.9% – mainly from the Arab and South Asian communities
• Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism: around 3% in total
• Other religions: around 5%

Although most residents still identify as Catholic, the proportion actually attending Mass weekly has fallen below 10%. Catholicism in Quebec now carries cultural and historical rather than practising religious meaning, similar to the trend in France, Italy and many other southern European countries.

Bill 21 on the Laicity of the State (2019) and Bill 9 (April 2026) reflect the Quebec government’s policy of maintaining a secular public space, banning religious symbols for public officials in positions of authority.

Immigration

Immigration has been the main driver of Quebec’s population growth in recent decades. Unlike Canada’s other provinces, Quebec has the power to select most economic immigration candidates itself under the Canada–Quebec Accord on Immigration of 1991.

Permanent immigration

In 2024, Quebec welcomed 59,900 permanent immigrants – slightly up on 52,800 in 2023. Nearly 48% of permanent immigrants in 2024 had previously been non-permanent residents (NPRs), reflecting the trend of moving from a temporary visa to permanent residence.

Quebec’s immigration programmes are run through theQuebec Selection Certificate (CSQ), including the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (PRTQ), the Quebec entrepreneur programme and other categories. Quebec has its own points system, language requirements and processes, independent of the federal Express Entry system.

Non-permanent residents (NPRs)

As at 01/01/2025, Quebec had around 616,600 non-permanent residents, a sharp rise over recent years. Of these:

• Temporary workers: the largest group
• Asylum claimants: Quebec accounts for 40% of the Canadian total – the highest of any province
• International students: Quebec accounts for only 12% of the Canadian total – lower than other provinces because of the French language requirement

Quebec is a particular destination for asylum claimants because of its proximity to the United States border and unofficial crossing points such as Roxham Road (closed since 2023).

The origins of immigrants

The common countries of origin of immigrants to Quebec in recent years:

• France: because of the shared language
• Haiti: a long-established and stable community
• Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia: the Francophone countries of North Africa
• Cameroon, Congo and Côte d’Ivoire: the Francophone countries of Africa
• China, Iran and India: major immigration sources but requiring French to be learnt after arrival

Vietnam is also a notable source of immigration, mainly through the economic and family reunification programmes.

Conclusion

Quebec’s demographics are the multi-dimensional picture of a society in transition: a population of 9.11 million growing steadily thanks to immigration, but facing rapid ageing and a record low birth rate; a predominant Francophone community with 85% of residents using French, but increasing ethnic diversity with 16% belonging to minority groups; a historic Catholic legacy giving way to a secularised society; and ten First Nations together with the Inuit still maintaining their own identity after thousands of years of presence.

It is this diversity and these contradictions that create Quebec’s distinctive demographic identity.

Understanding Quebec’s demographics is an important basis for assessing the living environment, career opportunities and prospects for integration in the province. For Vietnamese readers interested inCanadian citizenshipor consideringsettling in Canada, Quebec offers particular advantages: a devolved immigration system, a diverse multicultural community with a clear identity of its own, an ageing population needing young workers, and an environment using both French and English depending on the region.