Demographics of Quebec

File:Canada Quebec Density 2016.png

Canada Quebec Density 2016

The demographics of Quebec constitutes a complex and sensitive issue, especially as it relates to the national question. Quebec is the only one of Canada's provinces to feature a Francophone (French-speaking) majority, and where anglophones (English-speakers) constitute an officially recognized minority group. According to the 2011 census, French is spoken by more than 85.5% of the population while this number rises to 88% for children under 15 years old. According to the 2011 census, 95% of Quebec's people are able to conduct a conversation in French, with less than 5% of the population not able to speak French.

In 2025, Statistics Canada had estimated the province's population to be 9,058,297. In the 2021 census, Quebec's population was determined to be 8,501,833 living in 3,749,035 of its 4,050,164 total dwellings, a 4.1% change from its 2016 population of 8,164,361. With a land area of , it had a population density of Template:Pop density in 2016. Quebec accounts for a little under 23% of the Canadian population. Quebec's demographic weight in Canada has been gradually decreasing since 1971 when it was 28% of the population. In 2023, Quebec's three most populated regions are Montreal (2,109,525), Montérégie (1,492,662) and Capitale-Nationale (793,001). Quebec's three least populated regions are Nord-du-Québec (46,650), Côte-Nord (89,914) and Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine (92,059).

Quebec is home to "one of the world's most valuable founder populations". Founder populations are very valuable to medical genetic research as they are pockets of low genetic variability which provide a useful research context for discovering gene-disease linkages. The Quebec founder population arose through the influx of people into Quebec from France in the 17th century to mid-18th century; a high proportion of the settlers either returned to France or died. Of the approximately 33,500 colonists who arrived to Canada, fewer than 10,000 remained. There were approximately 8,500 colonists who settled from France and had at least one child in the colony. About seven million Canadians (along with several million French Americans in the United States) are descendants of these original 8,500 colonists.

Vital statistics

While Quebec's fertility rate is higher than the Canadian average, it has been sharply decreasing in the past 15 years. At 1.38 children per woman in 2008, it is above the Canada-wide rate of 1.26, and is just above the historic low of 1.36 in 1987. This contrasts with its fertility rates before 1960, which were among the highest of any industrialized society. For example, between 1951 and 1961, the population grew nearly 30% with only small net migration (large number of international migrants had settled in Quebec in the preceding period but large numbers of Quebec residents had emigrated to other provinces as well as New England), a natural growth rate matched today only by some African countries.

Although Quebec is home to only 22.0% of the population of Canada, the number of international adoptions in Quebec is the highest of all provinces of Canada. In 2001, 42% of international adoptions in Canada were carried out in Quebec.

Population growth rate: 2.5% (2023)

Birth rate: 8.8‰ (2023)

Synthetic fertility index: 1.38 (2023)

Death rate: 7.0‰ (2023)

Permanent immigration rate: 6.0‰ (2003)

Infant mortality rate: 0.46% (2023)

Life expectancy: In 2002, life expectancy was 80.7 years for males and 84.1 years for females.

Urbanisation: In 2001, 80.4% of Quebecers lived in urban areas.

Marriages: In 2019, 22,250 marriages were celebrated, about 600 less than in 2017 and 2018. These numbers illustrate a continuing trend where marriages are becoming less numerous; in 1970, the number of marriages hit a peak with more than 50,000 celebrations and the number has been slowly decreasing ever since. The average age for marriage is now 33.5 for men and 32.1 for women, an increase of 8.0 and 8.5 years respectively since 1970. 72% of marriages occur on a Saturday. Half of all marriages unite a man and woman with an age gap of 3 years or less. Though they are still uncommon, civil unions are becoming more and more popular.

Demographic growth: In 2019, Quebec registered the highest rate of population growth since 1972 (when quality data began to be recorded), with an increase of 110,000 people, mostly because of the arrival of a high number of non-permanent residents. The number of non-permanent residents has recently sky-rocketed from a little over 100,000 in 2014 to 260,000 in 2019. Quebec's population growth is usually middle-of-the-pack compared to other provinces and very high compared to other developed countries (ex. United States, France, Germany, etc.) because of the federal government of Canada's aggressive immigration policies. Since the 1970s, Quebec has always had more immigrants than emigrants. This can be attributed to international immigration as the number of people moving to Quebec from another province is always lower than the other way around. As of 2019, most international immigrants come from China, India or France.

Education and work: In 2016, 3 out of 10 people in Quebec possessed a postsecondary degree or diploma. While women were more likely to have a university degree (33% vs 26%) or college degree (21% vs 11%), men were more numerous in having received vocational training. In Quebec, couples where both parents work are far more likely to have children than couples where only one parent works or none of them do.

Households: In Quebec, most people are owners of the property that they live in. The vast majority of couples with or without children are property owners. Most one-person households, however, are renters. Single-parent homes are equally divided between being property owners or renters. From 1996 to 2016, the number of people per household has decreased from an average of 2.5 to 2.25. In 2016, the vast majority of low income households were one-person households. In 2016, 80% of both property owners and renters considered their housing to be "unaffordable".

Population centres

Ten most populated Quebec cities (2016)

Rank	City	Region	Population
1	Montreal	Montreal	1,762,976
2	Quebec	Capitale-Nationale	538,738
3	Laval	Laval	431,208
4	Gatineau	Outaouais	281,501
5	Longueuil	Montérégie	245,033
6	Sherbrooke	Estrie	165,005
7	Saguenay	Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean	144,989
8	Lévis	Chaudière-Appalaches	144,808
9	Trois-Rivières	Mauricie	135,863
10	Terrebonne	Lanaudière	113,226

Age structure

Age structure: (2016 census)

Age groups	Total	% of population	Male	Female
0–4 years	444,930	5.45%	227,965	216,970
5–9 years	469,165	5.75%	240,225	228,940
10–14 years	419,160	5.13%	214,345	204,815
15–19 years	429,825	5.26%	219,070	210,755
20–24 years	500,100	6.13%	252,600	247,500
25–29 years	495,410	6.07%	248,030	247,380
30–34 years	515,505	6.31%	256,440	259,070
35–39 years	550,540	6.74%	274,595	275,945
40–44 years	506,525	6.20%	254,100	252,425
45–49 years	519,425	6.36%	260,410	259,015
50–54 years	619,435	7.59%	309,070	310,370
55–59 years	636,475	7.80%	314,190	322,285
60–64 years	562,670	6.89%	276,140	286,535
65–69 years	488,175	5.98%	236,395	251,775
70–74 years	373,590	4.58%	176,905	196,690
75–79 years	256,905	3.15%	116,020	140,890
80–84 years	187,835	2.30%	78,390	109,450
85 years and over	188,685	2.31%	61,885	126,805
Total	8,164,360	100%	4,016,760	4,147,605

In 2016, Quebec's median age was 41.2 years old. According to Quebec's age pyramid, the most numerous generation is the baby-boomers that are between 54 and 74 years of age. There are a few other less pronounced peaks, namely in the 1980s, and the one around 2010. A noticeable crater can be observed around the year 2000 because of a record-low amount of births. In 2020, 20.8% of the population is less than 20 years old, 59.5% are aged between 20 and 64 years old, and 19.7% are 65 years old 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 replacement rate of about 1.6 per woman. Replacement rates being below 2.1 something that is the norm in industrialised regions like Quebec. Quebec has a higher replacement rate than the Canadian average (1,47). Quebec's rate can also be both higher (ex. Switzerland (1.48), Portugal (1.42), Japan (1.36), Italy (1.29), etc.) or lower (ex. United States (1.73), New Zealand (1.75), Sweden (1.70), England (1.65), etc.) than other industrialised regions'. In Quebec, a lowered rate of giving birth has been mostly observed in people in their 20s. From 30 years of age and onwards, the rate is either increasing or stable. This demonstrates a trend towards wanting to form a family later in life. As of 2020, the average lifespan is 82.3 years. Between 2010 and 2019, there were between 1000 and 1600 deaths every week, with deaths being at their highest levels in January and their lowest levels in July. In 2021, the region's life expectancy increased after a decline amid the pandemic, reaching 83 years.

Population history

Year	Population	Five-year % change	Ten-year % change	% Canada
1822	427,465	n/a	n/a	n/a
1831	553,134	n/a	29.4	n/a
1841	650,000	n/a	17.5	60.07[a]
1851	892,061	n/a	37.0	48.32[a]
1861	1,111,566	n/a	24.9	44.42[a]
1871	1,191,516	n/a	7.9	32.3
1881	1,359,027	n/a	14.1	31.4
1891	1,488,535	n/a	9.5	30.8
1901	1,648,898	n/a	10.8	30.7
1911	2,005,776	n/a	21.6	27.8
1921	2,360,665	n/a	17.8	26.9
1931	2,874,255	n/a	21.8	27.7
1941	3,331,882	n/a	15.9	29.0
1951	4,055,681	n/a	21.8	28.9
1956	4,628,378	14.1	n/a	28.8
1961	5,259,211	13.6	29.7	28.8
1966	5,780,845	9.9	24.9	28.8
1971	6,027,765	4.3	14.6	27.9
1976	6,234,445	3.4	7.8	27.1
1981	6,438,403	3.3	6.8	26.4
1986	6,532,460	1.5	4.8	25.8
1991	6,895,963	5.6	7.1	25.2
1996	7,138,795	3.5	9.3	24.5
2001	7,237,479	1.4	5.0	23.8
2006	7,546,131	4.3	5.7	23.4
2011	7,903,001	4.7	9.2	23.1
2012	8,085,900	n/a	n/a	23.3
2013	8,155,500	n/a	n/a	23.2
2014	8,214,500	n/a	n/a	23.1
2015	8,259,500	n/a	n/a	23.0
2016	8,326,100	5.3	16.6	23.0
2017	8,398,200	3.8	n/a	22.0

Source: Statistics Canada [2][3][4] Template:Webarchive[5] ^a  % Province of Canada population

Ethnic origin

File:Ethnic map of Quebec (2021).jpg

Largest ethnic origin in Quebec by census division besides Canadian, 2021 census

Ethnic origin	Population	Percent
Canadien/Canadian	4,474,115	60.1%
French	2,151,655	28.8%
Irish	406,085	5.5%
Italian	299,655	4.0%
English	245,155	3.3%
First Nations	219,815	3.0%
Scottish	202,515	2.7%
Québécois	140,075	1.9%
German	131,795	1.8%
Chinese	91,900	1.24%
Haitian	91,435	1.23%
Spanish	72,090	0.97%
Jewish	71,380	0.96%
Greek	65,985	0.89%
Polish	62,800	0.84%
Lebanese	60,950	0.83%
Portuguese	57,445	0.77%
Belgian	43,275	0.58%
East Indian	41,600	0.56%
Romanian	40,320	0.54%
Russian	40,155	0.54%
Moroccan	36,700	0.49%
American (USA)	36,695	0.49%
Métis	36,280	0.49%
Vietnamese	33,815	0.45%
Acadian	32,950	0.44%
Ukrainian	31,955	0.43%
African (Black)	30,170	0.41%
Filipino	25,680	0.35%
Algerian	25,150	0.34%
British Isles	23,445	0.32%
Armenian	23,230	0.31%
Dutch	23,015	0.31%
Hungarian	22,585	0.30%
Swiss	20,280	0.27%
Egyptian	17,950	0.24%
Salvadoran	15,770	0.21%
Syrian	14,925	0.20%

Ethnic origin	Population	Percent
Colombian	14,845	0.20%
Mexican	14,215	0.19%
Berbers	13,415	0.18%
Inuit	12,915	0.17%
Iranian	12,370	0.17%
Peruvian	12,335	0.17%
Jamaican	11,935	0.16%
Pakistani	11,710	0.16%
Chilean	11,585	0.16%
Turk	11,385	0.15%
Austrian	11,295	0.15%
Sri Lankan	10,750	0.14%
Congolese	10,190	0.14%
Cambodian	10,175	0.14%
Welsh	9,815	0.13%
Black	9,520	0.13%
Tunisian	7,870	0.11%
Bulgarian	6,955	0.09%
Guatemalan	6,880	0.09%
Laotian	6,425	0.09%
Norwegian	6,350	0.09%
Bangladeshi	6,095	0.08%
Yugoslav	6,090	0.08%
Swedish	5,975	0.08%
Afghan	5,855	0.08%
Lithuanians	5,665	0.08%
Korean	5,555	0.07%
Czech	5,540	0.07%
West Indian	5,420	0.07%
Barbadian	5,340	0.07%
Croatian	5,330	0.07%
Latin/Central/South American	5,270	0.07%
European	5,130	0.07%
Danish	5,130	0.07%
Palestinian	4,940	0.07%
Trinidadian/Tobagonian	4,810	0.06%
Japanese	4,560	0.06%
Slovak	4,560	0.06%

Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents (7,435,905) and may total more than 100 percent due to dual responses.
Only groups with 0.06 percent or more of respondents are shown.

Ethnicity according to the older more general system of classification is shown below:

Origins	2001	%
North American	4,989,230	70.02%
French	2,123,185	29.80%
British Isles	547,790	7.69%
Southern European	409,095	5.74%
Aboriginal	159,900	2.24%
Western European	153,750	2.16%
Arab	135,750	1.91%
East and Southeast Asian	132,280	1.86%

Origins	2001	%
Eastern European	130,410	1.83%
Caribbean	108,475	1.52%
Other European	86,450	1.21%
Latin, Central and South American	65,150	0.91%
South Asian	62,585	0.88%
African	48,715	0.68%
West Asian	40,960	0.57%
Northern European	15,295	0.21%

Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents (7,125,580) and may total more than 100% due to dual responses
Only groups of more than 0.02% are shown

Future projections

Panethnic origin projections in Quebec (2031–2041)

Panethnic group	2031		2036		2041
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
EuropeanTemplate:Efn	6,913,000		6,805,000		6,677,000
African	620,000		722,000		829,000
Middle EasternTemplate:Efn	498,000		588,000		683,000
Indigenous	283,000		305,000		325,000
East AsianTemplate:Efn	225,000		255,000		284,000
Latin American	212,000		238,000		265,000
South Asian	169,000		189,000		207,000
Southeast AsianTemplate:Efn	155,000		170,000		185,000
Other/multiracialTemplate:Efn	66,000		77,000		90,000
Projected Quebec population	9,141,000		9,349,000		9,545,000

Visible minorities and Indigenous peoples

The 2021 census counted a total Indigenous population of 205,010 (2.5%) including 116,550 First Nations (1.4%), 61,010 Métis (0.7%), and 15,800 Inuit (0.2%). The Indigenous population tends to be undercounted, as some Indian bands regularly refuse to participate in Canadian censuses for political reasons regarding the question of Indigenous sovereignty. 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.{Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents (7,435,905)}

Approximately 16% of the population of Quebec belongs to a visible minority group, as of the 2021 Canadian census. This is a lower percentage than that of British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba but higher than that of the remaining five provinces. Most visible minorities in Quebec live in or near Montreal.

Visible minority and Indigenous population
(2011 Canadian census, 2016 Canadian census, & 2021 Canadian census)

Population group		Population (2011)	% (2011)	Population (2016)	% (2016)	Population (2021)	% (2021)
EuropeanTemplate:Efn		6,740,370		6,750,200		6,762,735
Visible minority group Source:	South Asian	83,320		90,335		127,990
	Chinese	82,845		99,505		115,240
	Black	243,625		319,230		422,405
	Filipino	31,495		34,910		44,885
	Latin American	116,380		133,920		172,925
	Arab	166,260		213,740		280,075
	Southeast Asian	65,855		62,820		70,455
	West Asian	23,445		32,405		43,985
	Korean	6,665		8,055		10,360
	Japanese	4,025		4,570		5,305
	Visible minority, n.i.e.	8,895		9,840		12,150
	Multiple visible minority	17,420		23,045		34,960
Total visible minority population		850,235		1,032,365		1,340,735
Indigenous group Source:	First Nations (North American Indian)	82,425		92,655		116,550
	Métis	40,960		69,365		61,010
	Inuk (Inuit)	12,570		13,940		15,800
	Indigenous responses n.i.e.	4,415		4,170		8,515
	Multiple Indigenous responses	1,545		2,760		3,135
Total Indigenous population		141,915		182,885		205,010
Total number of responses		7,732,520	100%	7,965,450	100%	8,308,480	100%
Total population		7,732,520	100%	8,164,361	100%	8,501,833	100%

File:Communautés autochtones du Québec.png

Map of indigenous communities in Quebec, this includes reserves, settlements and northern villages. Template:Legend table

The indigenous peoples of Quebec have inhabited the region for several millennia. Each community possesses its own social structure, culture and territorial entity. In 2016, the indigenous population of Quebec numbered 182,885 people. However, because federal law only recognized children of indigenous fathers until the 1980s, the actual number may be higher.

All the ethnicities living primarily south of the 55th parallel are collectively referred to in Quebec as "Amerindians", "Indians", "First Nations" or, obsolete, "Redskins". The ten First Nations ethnic groups in Quebec are linked to two linguistic groups. The Algonquian family is made up of eight ethnic groups: the Abenaki, the Algonquin, the Atikamekw, the Cree, the Wolastoqiyik, the Mi'kmaq, the Innu and the Naskapi. These last two formed, until 1978, a single ethnic group: the Innu. The Iroquoian family is made up of the Wendat and the Mohawks. Only the Mohawks were part of the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee), along with five other Indigenous groups from New York State and Ontario. The eleventh indigenous ethnic group in Quebec, the Inuit (or, obsolete, the Eskimos), belong to the Inuit–Aleut family. The Inuit live mainly in Nunavik, Nord-du-Québec (Nouveau Quebec) and make up the majority of the population living north of the 55th parallel.

Of these indigenous peoples, so-called "nomadic" tribes exist, specifically the tribes of Algonquian cultures (e.g.: the Algonquins, the Cree and the Innu), as well as more "sedentary" ones, specifically the tribes of Iroquoian traditions (e.g.: the Iroquois and the Wendat). The more sedentary groups are the ones who developed more complex forms of social organization. Traditionally, nomadic tribes follow the migration of herds of animals that serve as prey, such as bison, moose or seals. The way of life of the Algonquian and Inuit tribes is dictated by the obligations of hunting and fishing. The traditions of the Iroquoian tribes, producers of the Three Sisters (corn, beans and squash), are instead developed around a matriarchal structure derived from the "long cabin" called a longhouse which houses within it several families under the authority of one dean.

Relations with Québécois

File:Inuksuk Quebec city.jpg

An Inuit inuksuk at the Template:Ill in front of the Parliament of Quebec.

Although they represent today approximately 3% of the Quebec population, the indigenous peoples of Quebec have contributed a lot to Quebec society thanks to their ideals of respect for flora, fauna, nature and the environment as well as thanks to their values of hospitality, generosity and sharing. Economically, through the fur trade and the development of relationships with settlers, including coureurs des bois, merchants, cartographers and Jesuit fathers. In addition to contributing to Template:Ill, indigenous peoples also contributed through their more advanced knowledge than settlers in the following areas: holistic medicine, the functioning of human biology, remedies for several diseases, curing scurvy at settlers' arrival (its thought this was done with a cure made from fir, white cedar or anneda), winter clothing (tanning), architecture that insulates against the cold, means of faster transport on snow (snowshoes and dogsled) and on water (canoes, kayaks and rabaskas), l'acériculture (the process of making maple syrup), sports (lacrosse and ice fishing), moose and caribou hunting, trapping, the territory and its components, watersheds and their watercourses and natural resources.

When Europeans arrived in America in the 16th century, the Algonquian-speaking peoples and the St. Lawrence Iroquoians made allies with the French colonists for the purpose of trade. The first connection was made with the arrival of Jacques Cartier when he set foot in Gaspé and met Donnacona, chief of the village of Stadacona (Stadaconé, today, the city of Quebec), in 1534. Moreover, the legend of the Kingdom of Saguenay prompted King Francis I to finance new trips to the New World.

Rather than by conquest and by force, it is by promoting commercial and military alliances, and by concluding numerous peace and friendship treaties that relations between the two peoples solidified.

Rights of indigenous people

File:Nemiscau QC 2006.jpg

Nemiscau: the village in Nord-du-Québec home to the Grand Council of the Crees.

In the Royal Proclamation of 1763, issued by King George III, the indigenous peoples were stated to have an indisputable right to their lands. However, quickly following the proclamation and after the peace treaties with New France and France concluded, the British Crown decided to institute territorial treaties which allowed British authorities to proceed with the total extinction of the land titles of the Indigenous groups.

Entirely under federal tutelage and direction, indigenous rights were enunciated in the Indian Act and adopted at the end of the 19th century. This act confines First Nations within the Indian 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 Indian 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. As a result, these three ethnic groups were able to break away from their subjugation to the Indian Act.

In recent times, discussions have been underway for several years 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. Moreover, in January 2010, an agreement between Quebec City and the Innu granted the Mashteuiatsh Band Council the ability to plan out development in the entire Ashuapmushuan Wildlife Reserve, which is located on the Nitassinan of the community of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh.

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

Indigenous lands

The following table shows the traditional territories of the First Nations and Inuit peoples who live in Quebec, including the basins of the St. Lawrence Valley and James Bay, as well as on the Labrador peninsula.

File:Aire co-territoriale abénaki.png

Map of the traditional territory and co-territorial area of the Abenakis, which overlaps between Quebec and Massachusetts.

Traditional territories of the different Indigenous peoples of Quebec

Groups	Sub-groups	Name of territory	Territorial division	Other names for territory
Ojibwe		Anishinaabewaki	Osogonek	Anishinaabe Ahiki
	Algonquins	Osogonek
Attikameks		Kitaskino		Nehirowisi Aski / Nitaskinan
Iroquois confederation		Haudenosauneega	Kanienkeh	Aquanishuonigy
	Mohawks	Kanienkeh
Wabanaki confederation		Wabanaki	***
	Abenaki	Ndakinna		N'dakina
	Wolastoqiyik	Wolastokuk
	Mi'kmaq	Mi'kma'ki		Migmagi
Cree		Eeyou Istchee
Wendat		Wendake
Innu (Montagnais)		Nitassinan	Innu Assi
Inuit		Inuit Nunangat	Nunavik
	Nunavimmiutitut	Nunavik
Naskapis		Nutshimiu-Aschiiy		Nuchimiiyu - chhiiy

Acadians

File:Bassin-marina-fete-acadie-idlm2006.jpg

Boats docked in the Magdalen Islands are sometimes decorated with Acadian flags.

File:Acadian percent in Quebec (2021).jpg

Percentage of Acadians in Quebec by census division, 2021 census

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

Quebec houses an Acadian community spread out across several regions. Nowadays, 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" or "Petite Cadie", and some cities and villages use the demonym "Cadien".

The Festival Acadien des Îles-de-la-Madeleine is a festival which occurs every year in memory of the founders of the first villages on the Magdalen Islands. The festival is held in Havre Aubert for about two weeks. There, Québécois and Acadians from all corners of Quebec and other neighbouring lands mingle to celebrate Acadian culture. The town of Bonaventure, in Gaspesia, also houses the Musé Acadien du Québec which features permanent exhibitions on Acadians in Quebec, like Une Acadie québécoise and Secrets d'Acadiens, les coulisses de la rue Grand-Pré. In 2002, on National Acadian Day, the Commission de la capitale nationale du Québec unveiled a monument to Acadians entitled "Towards the Light". The monument symbolizes and explains the predominant role that the Acadians and their descendants played in the history of Quebec. The Premier of Quebec, Bernard Landry, declared at this unveiling that:

Between the Québécois people and the Acadian people, there is more than friendship, there is kinship.

Languages

File:Quebec langues.png

Template:Legend-table

Quebec differs from other Canadian provinces in that French is the only official and preponderant language, while English predominates in the rest of Canada. French is the common language, understood and spoken by 94.46% of the population. Quebec is the only Canadian province whose population is mainly Francophone; 6,102,210 people (78.1% of the population) recorded it as their sole native language in the 2011 Census, and 6,249,085 (80.0%) recorded that they spoke it most often at home. Knowledge of French is widespread even among those who do not speak it natively; in 2011, about 94.4% of the total population reported being able to speak French, alone or in combination with other languages.

A considerable number of Quebec residents consider themselves to be bilingual in French and English. In Quebec, about 42.6% of the population (3,328,725 people) report knowing both languages; this is the highest proportion of bilinguals in any Canadian province. The federal electoral district of Lac-Saint-Louis, located in the Bilingual Belt, is the most bilingual area in the province with 72.8% of its residents claiming to know English and French, according to the 2011 census. In contrast, in the rest of Canada, in 2006, only about 10.2 percent (2,430,990) of the population had a knowledge of both of the country's official languages.

The Quebec government defends the French language and the Francophonie in the face of the mostly English-dominated rest of North America. The Gendron Commission report of 1968 established the foundations for the white book of the government of Quebec' linguistic policy. Dependent on commissions of inquiry, this policy statement is also accompanied the Charter of the French language -or "Bill 101"- since 1977.

"The campaign of systematic disinformation waged by English-language newspapers about Quebec began with the Charter and has never ceased to draw on the Charter; it gave rise to stubborn prejudices and maintains a profound ignorance of the reality of Quebec."

Knowledge of languages

Top languages known in Quebec 2021 censusTemplate:Efn
Language			Percent
French			93.72%
English			51.96%
Spanish			5.46%
Arabic			4.14%
Italian			2.02%
Creoles			1.63%
ChineseTemplate:Efn			1.29%
Portuguese			0.79%
GermanTemplate:Efn			0.70%
HindustaniTemplate:Efn			0.69%

The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses, and first appeared on the 1991 Canadian census.Template:Efn

Knowledge of Languages in Quebec (1991–2021)
Language	2021 Canadian census		2016 Canadian census		2011 Canadian census		2006 Canadian census		2001 Canadian census		1996 Canadian census		1991 Canadian census
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
French	7,786,740		7,522,350		7,375,900		7,028,740		6,739,050		6,612,305		6,371,920
English	4,317,180		3,930,690		3,692,585		3,354,650		3,234,745		3,019,100		2,786,745
Spanish	453,905		390,355		348,920		291,010		231,315		190,990		145,665
Arabic	343,680		267,965		211,825		157,025		115,785		91,770		74,680
Italian	168,040		173,710		177,890		191,340		188,925		192,595		190,430
Creoles	135,275		115,445		99,045		78,230		62,910		59,340		42,780
ChineseTemplate:Efn	106,915		90,060		80,025		73,550		52,565		46,390		36,555
Portuguese	65,605		55,100		47,640		46,795		45,450		42,765		42,565
GermanTemplate:Efn	57,855		56,120		58,785		61,460		66,745		72,040		76,725
HindustaniTemplate:Efn	56,945		32,115		27,475		28,440		22,100		17,620		11,860
Russian	55,485		46,665		39,015		29,925		22,285		17,595		10,800
Greek	50,370		51,060		53,020		52,490		52,050		53,035		54,575
PersianTemplate:Efn	44,745		32,965		22,825		16,950		13,160		10,515		8,020
Romanian	44,515		42,655		33,690		30,375		15,155		12,935		8,615
Vietnamese	37,650		34,580		37,370		32,775		28,755		28,835		24,115
AlgonquianTemplate:Efn	35,985		37,515		34,555		33,280		29,265		27,255		22,245
Punjabi	34,290		17,860		14,480		15,435		13,050		9,155		4,850
Tagalog	33,810		26,705		25,320		19,400		15,140		12,430		8,585
Armenian	22,095		20,290		18,645		18,540		16,960		17,215		16,840
Tamil	20,050		17,245		19,460		13,965		13,180		9,440		5,315
Hebrew	19,210		18,035		19,150		18,835		18,225		19,510		17,200
Polish	16,790		17,760		18,365		20,945		22,330		24,325		25,755
Inuit–Inuktut–Inuktitut	13,905		12,595		12,550		10,415		9,255		8,525		7,525
Serbo-Croatian	11,145		11,990		10,415		11,605		9,595		8,085		2,950
Gujarati	10,645		7,950		7,485		7,155		7,005		5,455		4,040
Ukrainian	10,185		9,015		6,780		7,900		8,180		9,360		9,180
Japanese	9,300		7,040		6,135		4,625		3,630		3,610		2,720
Korean	9,265		6,260		5,365		4,290		3,285		3,145		2,420
Hungarian	6,850		7,215		8,230		9,730		9,805		11,460		12,400
Dutch	5,175		5,060		5,475		5,555		5,590		5,750		5,960
ScandinavianTemplate:Efn	3,340		3,065		3,120		3,000		3,200		2,700		2,920
Total responses	8,308,480		7,965,450		7,815,955		7,435,900		7,125,580		7,045,085		6,810,300
Total population	8,501,833		8,164,361		7,903,001		7,546,131		7,237,479		7,138,795		6,895,963

Mother tongue language

Mother tongue language in Quebec (Statistics Canada: 2006, 2001, 1996)

Language(s)	2011		2006		2001		1996
	Population	Percentage (%)	Population	Percentage (%)	Population	Percentage (%)	Population	Percentage (%)
French	6,102,210	78	5,877,660	79	5,761,765	80.8	5,742,575	80.4
English	599,225	7.6	575,555	7.7	557,040	7.8	568,405	8.0
Both English and French	64,800	0.8	43,335	0.6	50,060	0.7	97,225	1.4
Total population	7,815,950	100	7,435,905	100	7,125,580	100	7,138,795	100

Language spoken at home

Language spoken most often at home in Quebec (Statistics Canada: 2006)

Language	Population	Percentage (%)
French	6,027,735	81.1
English	744,430	10.0
Both English and French	52,325	0.7
Non-official languages	518,320	7.0
Both French and a non-official language	54,490	0.7
Both English and a non-official language	26,560	0.4
French, English and a non-official language	12,035	0.2
Total population	7,435,905	100

French

French is the official language of Quebec. Québécois French is the most widely used variant. The oversees the application of the linguistic policy on the territory jointly with the Superior Council of the French Language and the Commission de toponymie du Québec. Their recommendations then become part of the debate on the standard for Quebec French and are represented in Le Grand Dictionnaire terminologique (GDT), the Template:Ill (BDL) and various other works. Through its linguistic recommendations, the GDT fights against the invasion of Frenglish into the French language. Since the 1970s, scientific research on the matter has been carried out by university organizations, including the Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ) and the Template:Ill.

The French settlers who settled in New France came largely from the western and northern provinces of France. They generally spoke a variety of regional languages of the Oïl language family. Thus, creating the need for the colonists to "unify their patois" ("unite their dialects") and creating Quebec French. Québécois French became the vernacular language of New France, and it remained as such until the British's conquest of New France.

File:Arrival of the Brides - Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale.png

The King's Daughters were sent to the New World to fix the gender imbalance in the colonies and boost population growth.

Early on, colonists borrowed words from Algonquin, a language they frequently interacted with, often to name and describe new aspects of geography, temperature, fauna or flora not present in the Old World. Then, Quebec French's evolution was affected by the French court due to the arrival of the King's daughters. These 800 women were mostly orphaned girls that had been adopted by the state as part of a program sponsored by King Louis XIV, and been educated in convents to become exemplary settlers and wives. Once their training was complete, between 1663 and 1673, they were sent to New France and married among the colonists, instilling the King's French into the population in the process.

In his 1757 Memoir on the State of New France, Bougainville writes:

"Canadians have natural spirit; they speak with ease, they cannot write, their accent is as good as in Paris, their diction is full of vicious phrases, borrowed from the language of the Indians or from marine terms, applied in the ordinary style."

The British conquest of 1759 turned the evolution of French in Quebec and North America upside down. By having ties severed with France, the French spoken in Quebec definitively separated from the French spoken in metropolitan France. Quebec French was then truly born, retaining the peculiarities of the old languages of Oïl (which were almost extinct in France at that point) and the King's French, and being both influenced and threatened by the language of the new English conquerors. Quebec's French continued to evolve in its own direction, retaining some aspects the non-isolated rest of the French-speaking world lost, and, over time, new influences and remoteness formed the regional accents and different dialects of Quebec French.

Canada is estimated to be home to between 32 and 36 regional French accents, 17 of which can be found in Quebec. There are 11 accents exclusive to mainland Quebec; they are the regional accents of Gaspé (Gaspésien), Bas-Saint-Laurent, Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean (Saguenéen), Quebec-Charlevoix, Beauce (Beauceron), the Eastern Townships, Mauricie-Haute-Mauricie (Magoua), Greater Montreal, Eastern Montreal-Laval, Rouyn-Noranda and Côte-Nord. There are 4 accents off the mainland, 1 on the Isle-aux-Coudres, and 3 on the Îles-de-la-Madeleine: the accents of Villages Medelinots, Havre-aux-Maisons, and Havre-Aubert. Finally, there are 2 accents that cross provincial borders: the accents of Outaouais-Eastern Ontario (Outaouais) and Témiscouata-Madawaska (Brayon). There are also people in Quebec who will naturally speak using Standard Québécois or Joual, both of which are considered sociolects rather than regional accents.

Fragility and protection of French

File:Situation Quebec.png

The evolution of the proportion of francophones, anglophones and allophones between 1844 and 2006.

During the days of New France, there began to be an extremely pronounced demographic increase of anglophones versus francophones in North America, a trend which continues to this day. In 1700, for every 250,000 English-speakers, there was 16,500 French-speakers.

After the conquest of 1759, this reality became more brutal for Quebec, which now had to avoid assimilation by the British Empire's regime and survive culturally as well as linguistically.

Still today, as French's demographic weight on the continent and in Canada continues to decline, Quebec faces the threat of assimilation. Since 2011, the population with French as their mother tongue on the Island of Montreal, Quebec's metropolis, has fallen below 50%, with only 49% of the population being francophone due to a sharp increase in the immigrant allophone population (whose mother tongue is neither French nor English).

Efforts have been made to preserve the primacy of the French language in Quebec. Such efforts include: instating the Charter of the French language, Quebec's participation in the Francophonie since 1971, French immigration to Quebec, etc. Several institutions seek to protect and promote French such as the , the Superior Council of the French Language, the Commission de toponymie du Québec, etc.

English

As of 2011, English is the mother tongue of nearly 650,000 Quebecers (8% of the population). Anglo-Quebecers constitute the second largest linguistic group in Quebec. In addition, in 2001, roughly 50,000 people (0.7% of the population) considered their mother tongue to be both French and English. According to the latest censuses of 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016, the percentage of anglophones in the population has more or less stabilized, but in absolute numbers, they are constantly increasing. Allophones, on the other hand, are increasing sharply in absolute numbers as well as in percentage. According to the 2016 census, 49.1% of people living in Quebec say they can conduct a conversation in English (English as mother tongue or as a second language). As for French-English bilingualism, 44.5% of people in Quebec state that they are bilingual, that is to say, able to conduct a conversation in both French and English.

English made its first appearance in Quebec in 1760, when the British invaded and conquered Canada (New France). Shortly afterwards, the first English and Scottish merchants came to settle in the cities of Québec City and Montreal. In 1784, United Empire Loyalists flooded Quebec following their expulsion from the Thirteen Colonies during the United States' War of Independence. This dramatically increased the number of English speakers in Quebec. These Loyalists, avoiding the French-speaking and Catholic countryside, settled mainly in then underdeveloped regions, such as the Eastern Townships and the Outaouais. The proclamation of the Act of Union of 1840 caused massive immigration from the British Isles to Quebec, which introduced Celtic languages for the first time, and was aimed at the linguistic assimilation of the French-speaking population, which had a considerable impact on French-language culture in Quebec. Today, Anglo-Quebecers reside mainly in Montreal and the Pontiac region.

Anglophones in Quebec have several institutions and infrastructural systems. At the school level, anglophones in Quebec have several school boards grouped together into the Association des commissions scolaire anglophones du Québec. In terms of media, anglophones own, among others, the Montreal Gazette in Montreal, and the Chronicle-Telegraph in Quebec City. Other organisations include the Quebec Writers' Federation, which is a group of English-speaking Quebec authors, and the Voice of English-speaking Quebec, which represents the interests of the English-speaking community in the Québec region.

Other languages

The term "allophone" is used to refer to people whose mother tongue is neither French nor English. We can distinguish two groups of allophones: people who speak indigenous languages, and those who speak so-called immigrant languages.

In the 2016 census, where one could note more than one language as their mother tongue, Quebec had 1,171,045 people (14.5% of the population) who reported a mother tongue that was neither French nor English, and 1,060,830 people (13.2% of the population) who did not declare French or English as a mother tongue at all. In this census, 47,025 (0.6% of the population) reported an aboriginal language as a mother tongue, while 1,124,020 (13.9% of the population) reported an immigrant language as a mother tongue.

Indigenous languages

Three families of aboriginal languages exist in Quebec, which encompass eleven languages. Each of these languages belong to and are spoken by members of a specific ethnic group. Sometimes, the language in question is spoken natively by all members of the group, sometimes they are spoken only by a few individuals. These languages are also sometimes sub-divided into different dialects in the indigenous communities.

File:Mistassini roadsign.jpg

A multilingual road sign in Mistissini, showing Cree, English and French.

• Algonquian language family
  • Abenaki (spoken by the Abenakis of Centre-du-Québec)
  • Algonquin (spoken by the Algonquins of the Outaouais)
  • Maliseet-Passamaquoddy (spoken by the Wolastoqiyik of Bas-Saint-Laurent)
  • Mi'kmaq (spoken by the Micmacs of Gaspésie and the Magdalen Islands)
  • the linguistic continuum of:
    • Atikamekw (spoken by the Attikameks of Lanaudière and Mauricie)
    • Cree (spoken by the Crees of Nord-du-Québec)
    • Innu-aimun (spoken by the Innu-Montagnais of the Côte-Nord and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean)
    • Naskapi (spoken by the Innu-Naskapi of the Côte-Nord)
• Inuit-Aleut language family
  • Nunavimmiutitut (Inuktitut dialect spoken by the Inuit of Nord-du-Québec)
• Iroquoian language family
  • Mohawk, also known as "agnier" (spoken by the Iroquois-Mohawks of Montérégie and the Laurentides)
  • Wendat (spoken by the Wendat of the Capitale-Nationale)

In the 2016 census, 50,895 people in Quebec said they knew at least one indigenous language. Furthermore, 45,570 people declared having an aboriginal language as their mother tongue. For 38,995 of them, it was the language most frequently spoken at home. Additionally, 1,195 people who did not have an aboriginal language as their mother tongue reported using an aboriginal language most often at home.

In Quebec, most indigenous languages are currently transmitted quite well from one generation to the next with a mother tongue retention rate of 92%.

Immigrant languages

In the 2016 census, 1,124,020 people declared having an immigrant language as their mother tongue in Quebec. The most cited languages are Arabic (2.5% of the total population), Spanish (1.9%), Italian (1.4%), Creole languages (mainly Haitian Creole) (0.8%) and Mandarin (0.6%).

Both the number and proportion of allophones have been increasing in Quebec since the 1951 census.

In 2015, the vast majority (89%) of young allophone students in Quebec attended French-language schools.

Religion

Religion, more precisely the Roman Catholic Church, has long occupied a central and integral place in Quebec society since the arrival of the first French settlers in New France. However, since the Quiet Revolution and the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, there has been a real separation between state and religion, and society in general sees religion as a private matter.

From the beginning of Canada, and throughout French-Canadian history, catholicism and the Catholic Church have played a preponderant role in the social and political development of Quebec.

The first mass in what would become Quebec was celebrated in 1535, by the priest accompanying Jacques Cartier on his voyage to the New World. Amerindians were evangelized by Catholic missionaries before the founding of parishes. In 1627, Cardinal Richelieu recited a royal proclamation by Louis XIII which banished all non-Catholics, including Huguenots, from New France. In 1658, the apostolic vicariate of Quebec was founded, followed by the Archdiocese of Quebec in 1674. The archbishop of Quebec, who today is the primate of the Catholic Church of Canada, was once part of the Sovereign Council of New France.

The extraordinary power that the Catholic Church once had in Quebec is reflected in all areas of culture, from language to the fine arts, theater, literature and film. The golden age for ecclesiastics would come in the mid-nineteenth century (around 1840) as this was a period during which the Church, influenced by ultramontanism, concretized its influence (see Clericalism in Quebec). The influence of the Church began to wane a hundred years later, when, after the Grande Noirceur, Quebec society was profoundly transformed by the Quiet Revolution. Created in 1966, the Template:Ill deals with current issues concerning ethical and moral values (ex. gay marriage, euthanasia and abortion).

Several holy men and women from Quebec have been recognized for their venerable actions and canonized as saints:

• Saint Brother André Bessette canonized in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.
• Saint Kateri Tekakwitha canonized on October 21, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
• Saint Mary of the Incarnation canonized in 2014 by Pope François.
• Saint François de Laval canonized in 2014 by Pope François.

File:Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Québec.jpg

The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity is an important symbol of the protestant religion in Quebec.

Protestantism, a practice consisting of reformed catholicism, has been present in Quebec for a long time. From the very beginning of Canada, several Huguenots of the calvinist religion were present in Quebec. Huguenots have been identified in almost all classes of society: settlers, fishermen, daughters of the king, etc. During the early French Regime, the number of protestant immigrants was estimated to be 1,450 people. In 1627, protestantism became no longer tolerated in New France. After Quebec was conquered by the British, the Protestant religion, more particularly of the Anglican faith, became tolerated again. This was because British immigrants who came to certain regions of Quebec followed this religion.

The Template:Ill preceded Catholicism in Quebec.

While the first synagogue was established in Montreal in 1777, Jews remained a negligible religious group in Quebec until the early 20th century when a wave of Jewish immigrants settled in Montreal. The Jewish community of today, established mainly on the island of Montreal, now numbers about 120,000 people. In 2010, this community was made up of 26.1% traditionalist Jews, 24.3% orthodox, 15.2% conservative, 9% reconstructionist and reformist, and 25.4% of Montreal Jews say they have no religious affiliation. In the 20th century, successive waves of immigrants from Africa, Asia, Greece, Ireland and Italy settled in Montreal, bringing their cultural and religious customs. Some religious communities, such as Eastern Christians, then established places of worship.

Religious groups in Quebec (1981−2021)
Religious group	2021 Canadian census		2011 Canadian census		2001 Canadian census		1991 Canadian census		1981 Canadian census
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Christianity	5,385,240		6,356,880		6,432,430		6,349,220		6,098,710
Irreligion	2,267,720		937,545		413,190		262,800		132,935
Islam	421,710		243,430		108,620		44,925		12,115
Judaism	84,530		85,100		89,920		97,730		102,355
Buddhism	48,365		52,390		41,375		31,635		12,000
Hinduism	47,390		33,540		24,525		14,125		6,690
Sikhism	23,345		9,275		8,225		4,525		1,790
Indigenous spirituality	3,790		2,025		740		170		305
Other	26,385		12,340		6,555		5,170		2,170
Total responses	8,308,480		7,732,520		7,125,580		6,810,300		6,369,070
Total population	8,501,833		7,903,001		7,237,479		6,895,963		6,438,403

Main religious denominations in Quebec

	2001		2011		2021
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Total population	7,125,580	100	7,732,520	100	8,308,480	100
Christianity	6,432,520	90.4	6,356,880	82.2	5,383,240	64.8
- Catholicism	5,939,795	83.6	5,775,740	74.7	4,472,555	53.8
- Christian (n.o.s)					464,020	5.6
- Christian Orthodox	100,375	1.4	129,780	1.7	145,845	1.8
- Anglican Church of Canada	85,475	1.2	73,550	1.0	55,290	0.7
- Pentecostal	22,670	0.3	39,070	0.5	39,700	0.5
- Baptist	35,455	0.5	36,615	0.5	33,755	0.4
- United Church of Canada	52,950	0.7	32,930	0.4	19,595	0.2
- Presbyterian	8,770	0.1	11,440	0.1	8,010	0.1
- Lutheran	9,640	0.1	7,200	0.1	4,875	0.1
- Other Christian Denominations1	72,935	1.0	248,560	3.2	141,635	1.8
No religious affiliation	413,185	5.8	937,545	12.1	2,260,720	27.3
- Muslim	108,620	1.5	243,430	3.2	421,710	5.1
- Jewish	89,920	1.3	85,100	1.1	84,530	1.0
- Buddhist	41,375	0.6	52,390	0.7	48,365	0.6
- Hindu	24,530	0.3	33,540	0.4	47,390	0.6
- Sikh	8,220	0.1	9,275	0.1	23,345	0.3
- Indigenous Religion	740	<0.1	2,025	<0.1	3,790	<0.1
- Other Religions	6,470	0.1	12,340	0.2	26,385	0.3
1 Includes Christian(n.o.s) in 2001 and 2011

• Largest non-Christian religion in Quebec by census division, 2021 census
  Largest non-Christian religion in Quebec by census division, 2021 census
• Largest non-Christian religion in Quebec by census division, 2011 census
  Largest non-Christian religion in Quebec by census division, 2011 census
• Largest non-Christian religion in Quebec by census division, 2001 census
  Largest non-Christian religion in Quebec by census division, 2001 census
• Largest non-Christian religion in Quebec by census division, 1991 census
  Largest non-Christian religion in Quebec by census division, 1991 census

Religion and politics

File:Visite, Hotel du Parlement du Quebec - 14.jpg

A Crucifix had been hanging above the seat of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1936 until It was removed on July 9, 2019.

Many aspects of life for French-speaking Quebeckers remained dominated by the Catholic Church in the decades following 1867. The Church operated many of the institutions of the province, including most French-language schools, hospitals, and charitable organizations. The leader of the Catholic Church in Quebec was the Bishop of Montreal, and from 1840 to 1876 this was Ignace Bourget, an opponent of liberalism. Bourget eventually succeeded in gaining more influence than the liberal, reformist Institut Canadien. At his most extreme, Bourget went so far as to deny a Church burial to Joseph Guibord, a member of the Institut, in 1874. A court decision forced Bourget to allow Guibord to be buried in a Catholic cemetery, but Bourget deconsecrated the burial plot of ground, and Guibord was buried under army protection. The conservative approach of the Catholic Church was the major force in Quebec society until the reforms of the Quiet Revolution during the 1960s. In 1876, Pierre-Alexis Tremblay was defeated in a federal by-election because of pressure from the Church on voters, but succeeded in getting his loss annulled with the help of a new federal law. He quickly lost the subsequent election. In 1877, the Pope sent representatives to force the Quebec Churchto minimize its interventions in the electoral process.

Lionel Groulx, a Catholic priest, professor, and journalist, wanted to build a nationalistic French-Canadian identity, to protect the power of the Church and dissuade the public from popular-rule and secularist views. Groulx propagated French-Canadian nationalism and argued that maintaining a Roman Catholic Quebec was the only means to 'emancipate the nation against English power.' He believed the powers of the provincial government of Quebec could and should be used within Confederation, to bolster provincial autonomy (and thus Church power), and argued that it would benefit the French-Canadian nation economically, socially, culturally and linguistically. Groulx successfully promoted Québécois nationalism and the ultra-conservative Catholic social doctrine, to which the Church would maintain dominance in political and social life in Quebec. In the 1920s–1950s, this form of traditionalist Catholic nationalism became known as clerico-nationalism.

In 1936, Maurice Duplessis hung a crucifix in the National Assembly of Quebec. It hung there for 83 years, until it was removed on 10 July 2019.

During the 1940s and 1950s, the Union Nationale, party of Premier Maurice Duplessis, often had the active support of the Roman Catholic Church during political campaigns, using the slogan Le ciel est bleu; l'enfer est rouge ("Heaven is blue; hell is red"; red is the colour of the Liberal party, and blue was the colour of the Union Nationale).

Sharia law is explicitly banned in Quebec, upheld by a unanimous vote against it in 2005 by the National Assembly.

Churches

File:Front View of the Basilica and the Fountain of Saint Anne and the Holy Child Mary – Basilique Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré 2.jpg

The Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.

The oldest parish church in North America is the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec. Its construction began in 1647, when it was then known under the name Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix, and it was finished in 1664. Its first mass was celebrated by Father Vimont on December 24, 1650. This church obtained the status of cathedral in 1674, when François de Laval became archbishop of Quebec, and then the status of minor basilica in 1874. It was also rebuilt twice after the siege of Quebec in 1759 and the fire of 1922.

The most frequented place of worship in Quebec is the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. This basilica welcomes millions of visitors each year, especially during the novena of Saint Anne, on July 26. The Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré basilica is recognized for its numerous miracles, which is why thousands of crutches can be found at its entrance.

Saint Joseph's Oratory is the largest place of worship in the world dedicated to Saint Joseph. Located beside Mount Royal, it is known for its 283 steps, which pilgrims come to climb on their knees every year, reciting a prayer on each of the steps.

Many pilgrimages include places such as Saint Benedict Abbey, Template:Ill, Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Marie-Reine-du-Monde de Montréal Basilica-Cathedral, Saint-Michel Basilica-Cathedral, Saint-Patrick's Basilica, etc.

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.

In August 2019, the Minister of Culture, Nathalie Roy, announced the allocation of $15 million to preserve the cultural heritage that the churches of Quebec embody, and $5 million for the requalification of places of worship.

Migration

Immigration

Quebec immigration statistics (1844–2021)
Census year	Immigrant percentage	Immigrant population	Total responses	Total population	Source(s)
1844 Census of Lower Canada		87,180	697,084	697,084	Template:Rp
1851 Census of Canada East		94,853	890,261	890,261	Template:Rp
1861 Census of Canada East		96,002	1,111,566	1,111,566	Template:RpTemplate:Rp
1871 Canadian census		78,479	1,191,516	1,191,516	Template:RpTemplate:Rp
1881 Canadian census		76,137	1,359,027	1,359,027	Template:Rp
1891 Canadian census		81,521	1,488,535	1,488,535	Template:Rp
1901 Canadian census		88,708	1,648,898	1,648,898	Template:Rp
1911 Canadian census		147,070	2,005,776	2,005,776	Template:Rp
1921 Canadian census		188,565	2,360,510	2,360,510	Template:RpTemplate:Rp
1931 Canadian census		251,748	2,874,662	2,874,662	Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:Rp
1941 Canadian census		223,943	3,331,882	3,331,882	Template:RpTemplate:Rp
1951 Canadian census		228,923	4,055,681	4,055,681	Template:RpTemplate:Rp
1961 Canadian census		388,449	5,259,211	5,259,211	Template:Rp
1971 Canadian census		468,925	6,027,760	6,027,764	Template:Rp
1981 Canadian census		525,955	6,369,070	6,438,403
1986 Canadian census		527,135	6,454,485	6,532,461
1991 Canadian census		591,205	6,810,300	6,895,963
1996 Canadian census		664,495	7,045,085	7,138,795
2001 Canadian census		706,965	7,125,580	7,237,479
2006 Canadian census		851,560	7,435,900	7,546,131
2011 Canadian census		974,895	7,732,520	7,903,001
2016 Canadian census		1,091,305	7,965,450	8,164,361
2021 Canadian census		1,210,595	8,308,480	8,501,833

The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 1,210,595 persons or 14.6 percent of the total population of Quebec.

Immigrants in Quebec by country of birth

Country of birth	2021 census		2016 census		2011 census		2006 census		2001 census		1996 census		1991 census		1986 census		1981 census		1971 census		1961 census		1951 census Template:Rp		1941 census Template:Rp		1931 census Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:Rp
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
France & Belgium	102,335Template:Efn		90,670Template:Efn		77,095Template:Efn		68,355Template:Efn		58,625Template:Efn		53,545Template:Efn		47,480Template:Efn		44,350Template:Efn		46,615Template:Efn		42,010		30,217		10,106		7,476		8,816
Algeria & Tunisia	93,180Template:Efn		74,240Template:Efn		56,610Template:Efn		35,810Template:Efn		20,155Template:Efn		10,455Template:Efn		5,525Template:Efn		3,695Template:Efn		3,655		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Haiti	86,105		80,965		69,075		56,755		47,850		45,470		37,210		30,155		25,850		9,685		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Lebanon & Syria	69,125Template:Efn		56,915Template:Efn		48,600Template:Efn		44,275Template:Efn		37,120Template:Efn		36,070Template:Efn		32,605Template:Efn		12,100Template:Efn		7,340		—	—	—	—	—	—	1,358		1,440
Morocco	68,870		60,695		48,375		33,565		20,185		16,515		13,465		10,305		9,405		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
China & Taiwan	54,995Template:Efn		52,290Template:Efn		46,645Template:Efn		42,355Template:Efn		27,160Template:Efn		19,800Template:Efn		12,290Template:Efn		8,525Template:Efn		7,300Template:Efn		6,160		3,356		1,474		2,027		2,506
Italy	43,975		51,025		57,710		65,550		69,450		74,705		78,685		84,300		88,895		90,375		64,822		12,447		9,195		9,797
Cameroon & DR Congo	35,980Template:Efn		24,905Template:Efn		14,265Template:Efn		10,205Template:Efn		6,085Template:Efn		4,095		1,675		1,075		465		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Philippines	31,345		24,410		22,630		16,335		13,670		10,910		7,225		4,550		4,095		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Colombia	29,670		25,575		21,320		13,390		4,385		2,790		2,595		1,935		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Romania	27,515		28,690		25,770		26,955		14,505		12,840		8,440		7,080		6,490		7,050		7,166		5,063		5,704		7,293
Vietnam	25,480		25,435		27,235		24,445		22,890		23,510		20,720		18,080		11,360		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
India	24,990		17,870		16,985		16,185		14,540		13,085		9,705		8,420		8,230		4,150		1,022		469		329		356
United States	24,945		25,960		26,780		26,575		25,255		27,130		27,770		34,750		40,415		46,480		45,933		42,286		50,229		49,406
Russia & Ukraine	21,350Template:Efn		20,015Template:Efn		18,485Template:Efn		15,135Template:Efn		10,555Template:Efn		7,680Template:Efn		9,175Template:Efn		10,895Template:Efn		13,245Template:Efn		17,065Template:Efn		23,333Template:Efn		19,495Template:Efn		19,859Template:Efn		21,833Template:Efn
Egypt	20,325		19,495		17,240		15,830		14,850		16,585		15,690		13,555		13,715		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Iran	20,235		17,760		11,675		8,830		7,535		6,635		5,235		1,360		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
El Salvador & Guatemala & Nicaragua	19,125Template:Efn		18,265Template:Efn		16,295Template:Efn		16,750Template:Efn		15,185Template:Efn		15,590Template:Efn		12,100Template:Efn		5,635Template:Efn		2,200		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Mexico	17,395		15,820		15,260		8,615		4,335		3,010		1,980		1,210		960		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Portugal	17,000		18,985		18,615		21,420		22,520		22,850		24,155		21,215		21,595		12,110		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Greece	16,130		18,420		20,650		22,270		22,485		23,730		25,700		26,080		28,635		26,315		14,062		1,559		1,112		1,294
Ivory Coast	14,575		8,745		4,200		1,735		955		600		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Peru	13,885		13,265		11,610		9,780		6,545		5,490		3,615		2,110		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Cambodia & Laos	12,770Template:Efn		13,165Template:Efn		13,935Template:Efn		12,405Template:Efn		11,695Template:Efn		12,245Template:Efn		12,150Template:Efn		8,700Template:Efn		5,820		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
United Kingdom	12,290		12,905		14,540		16,030		17,585		20,910		25,600		31,990		42,740		65,605		77,286		71,216		76,590		92,374
Pakistan	11,250		10,005		8,985		9,630		6,650		3,935		2,715		2,050		2,415		1,150		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Sri Lanka	10,910		10,720		12,295		9,725		9,390		6,770		3,200		2,305		160		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Moldova	10,580		8,935		5,590		1,590		360		80		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Brazil	9,705		7,340		5,845		2,550		1,925		1,470		1,225		890		680		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Poland	9,675		10,735		11,715		13,685		15,540		17,605		19,010		19,410		19,540		22,290		25,261		21,421		13,692		13,822
Germany & Austria	9,565Template:Efn		11,235Template:Efn		12,050Template:Efn		13,390Template:Efn		14,150Template:Efn		14,810Template:Efn		15,385Template:Efn		17,485Template:Efn		19,760Template:Efn		24,520		28,214		7,563		5,631		5,686
Afghanistan	9,545		7,285		5,390		4,400		2,640		1,125		430		190		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Former Yugoslavia	9,335		9,560		9,470		10,655		9,665		8,035		4,940		4,830		5,600		5,300		4,532		1,359		1,451		1,658
Bangladesh	8,965		7,940		8,045		7,145		5,215		3,975		1,400		785		315		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Chile	8,530		8,450		8,090		8,350		7,355		7,405		6,385		5,105		3,900		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Jamaica & Trinidad and Tobago	8,310Template:Efn		8,735Template:Efn		9,675Template:Efn		9,945Template:Efn		10,520Template:Efn		10,945Template:Efn		11,505Template:Efn		10,510Template:Efn		11,890		5,530		3,695Template:Efn		815Template:Efn		1,199Template:Efn		1,362Template:Efn
Senegal	8,035		6,150		4,125		1,665		1,075		825		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Venezuela	7,700		5,950		4,785		3,460		2,460		1,805		1,155		810		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Turkey	7,450		6,550		7,125		6,295		5,345		5,445		4,945		3,935		3,440		—	—	—	—	—	—	319		238
Mauritius	6,970		6,055		4,985		3,475		2,730		2,800		1,695		945		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Cuba	6,845		6,205		3,615		2,400		1,390		860		455		300		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Burundi	6,470		4,290		3,390		2,385		1,115		510		305		175		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Bulgaria	6,285		5,975		5,780		4,870		1,940		1,650		695		310		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	126		141
Dominican Republic	6,230		5,445		4,555		3,700		2,715		2,760		1,370		845		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Israel & Palestine	5,980		6,205		6,065		5,750		4,780		5,225		4,665		3,555		3,415		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
South Korea	5,180		4,225		4,290		3,515		3,025		2,910		2,450		1,155		380		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Switzerland	5,140		5,545		5,620		5,745		5,730		5,675		4,950		4,500		5,065		3,970		3,221		1,425		1,106		1,213
Hong Kong	4,905		4,725		4,845		5,380		5,500		7,370		5,105		2,765		2,600		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Argentina	4,905		4,650		4,815		4,865		2,470		2,385		2,220		1,835		1,585		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Guinea	4,600		3,905		3,000		1,600		815		280		130		55		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Nigeria & Ghana	4,275Template:Efn		3,245Template:Efn		2,975Template:Efn		2,570Template:Efn		2,265Template:Efn		2,015Template:Efn		1,335		570		400		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Iraq	4,090		3,735		3,860		2,295		2,375		1,710		1,270		1,015		545		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Rwanda	4,015		3,135		2,390		1,530		1,410		495		265		155		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Spain	3,910		4,000		3,455		4,215		4,315		4,890		4,750		5,670		5,705		5,025		—	—	—	—	161		187
Hungary	2,930		3,320		4,430		5,030		5,525		6,855		7,180		8,185		8,940		11,015		13,550		3,863		3,330		3,771
Kenya & Tanzania & Uganda	2,810Template:Efn		2,340Template:Efn		1,935Template:Efn		2,230Template:Efn		1,375Template:Efn		1,215Template:Efn		1,170Template:Efn		1,310Template:Efn		1,445		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Czech Republic & Slovakia	2,110		2,495		2,475		2,965		3,350		3,805		4,385		4,345		4,610		5,475		5,720		4,252		3,398		4,563
Australia & New Zealand	1,400		1,120		1,090		990		695		750		880		895		1,100		1,845		1,053		1,362		586		484
ScandinaviaTemplate:Efn	1,305		1,425		1,520		1,660		1,450		1,305		1,790		1,985		2,560		3,500		4,480		3,192		3,693		5,450
Ireland	640		820		1,060		695		820		995		1,205		1,455		1,010		3,465		8,073		8,754		8,473		11,305
Total immigrants	1,210,595		1,091,305		974,895		851,560		706,965		664,495		591,205		527,135		525,955		468,925		388,449		228,923		223,943		251,743
Total responses	8,308,480		7,965,450		7,732,520		7,435,900		7,125,580		7,045,085		6,810,300		6,454,485		6,369,070		6,027,765		5,259,211		4,055,681		3,331,882		2,874,255
Total population	8,501,833		8,164,361		7,903,001		7,546,131		7,237,479		7,138,795		6,895,963		6,532,461		6,438,403		6,027,764		5,259,211		4,055,681		3,331,882		2,874,255

Recent immigration

The 2021 Canadian census counted a total of 202,740 people who immigrated to Quebec between 2016 and 2021.

Recent immigrants to Quebec by country of birth (2016 to 2021)
Country of birth	Population	% recent immigrants
France	20,980
Algeria	13,975
Syria	13,390
China	10,735
Morocco	9,510
Cameroon	8,835
Haiti	8,600
Philippines	8,480
India	8,460
Tunisia	6,640
Ivory Coast	6,305
Colombia	4,300
United States	4,140
Iran	4,130
Democratic Republic of the Congo	4,050
Lebanon	3,620
Brazil	2,580
Mexico	2,525
Afghanistan	2,515
Egypt	2,390
Burundi	2,290
Pakistan	2,160
Senegal	2,150
Venezuela	1,695
Ukraine	1,660
Total recent immigrants	202,740

Interprovincial migration

Since it began being recorded in 1971 until 2018, each year Quebec has had negative interprovincial migration, and among the provinces it has experienced the largest net loss of people due to the effect. Between 1981 and 2017, Quebec lost 229,700 people below the age of 45 to interprovincial migration. Per capita, Quebec has lost significantly fewer people than other provinces. This is due to the large population of the province and the very low migration rate of francophone Quebeckers. However, Quebec receives much fewer than average in-migrants from other provinces.

In Quebec, allophones are more likely to migrate out of the province than average: between 1996 and 2001, over 19,170 migrated to other provinces; 18,810 of whom migrated to Ontario.

Interprovincial migration between Quebec and other provinces and territories by mother tongue

Mother Tongue / Year	1971–1976	1976–1981	1981–1986	1986–1991	1991–1996	1996–2001	2001–2006	2006–2011	2011-2016	Total
French	−4,100	−18,000	−12,900	5,200	1,200	−8,900	5,000	−2,610	−9,940	−45,050
English	−52,200	−106,300	−41,600	−22,200	−24,500	−29,200	−8,000	−5,930	−11,005	−300,635
Other	−5,700	−17,400	−8,700	−8,600	−14,100	−19,100	−8,700	−12,710	−16,015	−111,025

Interprovincial migration in Quebec

	In-migrants	Out-migrants	Net migration
2008–09	20,307	27,726	−7,419
2009–10	21,048	24,306	−3,258
2010–11	19,884	24,647	−4,763
2011–12	20,179	27,094	−6,915
2012–13	16,879	27,310	−10,431
2013–14	16,536	30,848	−14,312
2014–15	16,611	32,753	−16,142
2015–16	19,259	30,377	−11,118
2016–17	19,531	27,658	−8,127
2017–18	20,777	26,470	−5,693
2018–19	24,604	27,653	−3,049
2019–20	33,843	35,066	−1,223

Source: Statistics Canada

See also

<div class="thumbinner" style="width:px"><div style="position: relative; width:;">

BC

AB

SK

MB

ON

QC

NB

PE

NS

NL

YT

NT

NU

[[File:||Canadian Provinces and Territories]]

Demographics of Canada's provinces and territories

• Demographics of Canada
• Demographic history of Quebec
• Demolinguistics of Quebec
• Demographics of Montreal
• Cahiers québécois de démographie academic journal
• Immigration to Quebec
• Immigration to Canada
• Population of Canada by province and territory

External links

• Institut de la statistique du Québec
• Statistics Canada
• PopulationData.net