(Redirected from Province of Quebec)
:''This article is about the Canadian province. For the similar historical entity, see
Province of Quebec (1763-1791). For the city, see
Quebec City. For wee other uses, see
Quebec (disambiguation) and
Québécois (disambiguation).
'Quebec' ( or ) or, in
French, 'Québec' (pronounced
) is a
province in
Canada. As of 2006, the Canadian House of Commons recognized "that the
Québécois form a
nation within a united Canada"
[5][6][7] although there is considerable debate and uncertainty over what this means.
[8][9][10][11]
Affectionately known as ''la belle province'' ("the beautiful province"), Quebec is bordered to the west by the
province of
Ontario,
James Bay and
Hudson Bay. To the north are the
Hudson Strait and
Ungava Bay, to the east the
Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the provinces of
New Brunswick and
Newfoundland and Labrador, and to the south the
United States (the states of
New York,
Vermont,
New Hampshire and
Maine). It also shares maritime borders with the Territory of
Nunavut and the provinces of
Prince Edward Island and
Nova Scotia.
Quebec is
Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest
administrative division; only the territory of
Nunavut is larger. It is the second most populated province, and most of its inhabitants live along or close to the banks of the
Saint Lawrence River. The central and north portion of the province is sparsely populated and inhabited by the
aboriginal peoples of Canada. Quebec operates North America's largest and most extensive civil service.
The
official language of Quebec is
French; it is the sole Canadian province whose population is mainly
French Canadian, and where
English is not an official language at the provincial level. Quebec has a strong and active
nationalist movement, and has had controversial
referendums on
independence in
1980 and
1995.
While the province's substantial
natural resources have long been the mainstay of its economy, Quebec has renewed itself to function effectively in the
knowledge economy: information and communication technologies,
aerospace,
biotechnology, and health industries.
Etymology and boundary changes
The name "Quebec", which comes from a
Míkmaq word meaning "strait, narrows", and originally referred to the area around
Quebec City, where the
Saint Lawrence River narrows to a cliff-lined gap. Early variations in spelling of the name include ''Québecq'' (Levasseur, 1601) and ''Kébec'' (Lescarbot 1609).
[12]. French explorer
Samuel de Champlain chose ''Québec'' in 1608 for the colonial outpost he would use as the administrative seat for the French colony of
Canada and
New France.
[13].
The
Province of Quebec was founded in the
Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the
Treaty of Paris formally transferred the
French colony of
New France to Britain after the
Seven Years' War. It restricted the province to an area along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River.
The Quebec Act of 1774 expanded the territory of the province to include the
Great Lakes and the
Ohio River Valley. The
Treaty of Versailles, 1783 ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the
United States. After the
Constitutional Act of 1791, the territory was divided between
Lower Canada (present day Quebec) and
Upper Canada (present day
Ontario), with each being granted an elected
Legislative Assembly. In 1840, these become
Canada East and
Canada West after the British Parliament unified Upper and Lower Canada into the
Province of Canada. This territory was redivided into the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario at
Confederation in 1867. Each became one of the first four
provinces.
In
1870, Canada purchased
Rupert's Land from the
Hudson's Bay Company and over the next few decades the
Parliament of Canada transferred portions of this territory to Quebec that would more than triple the size of the province.
[14] In
1898, the Canadian Parliament passed the first
Quebec Boundary Extension Act that expanded the provincial boundaries northward to include the lands of the
aboriginal Cree. This was followed by the addition of the
District of Ungava through the
Quebec Boundaries Extension Act of 1912 that added the northernmost lands of the aboriginal
Inuit to create the modern Province of Quebec.
Geography
Main articles: Geography of Quebec
The province occupies a vast territory (nearly three times the size of
France), most of which is very sparsely populated. Quebec's highest point is
Mont D'Iberville, which is located on the border with
Newfoundland and Labrador in the northeastern part of the province.
The most populated region is the
Saint Lawrence River valley in the south, where the capital,
Quebec City, and the largest city,
Montreal, are situated. The region is low-lying and flat, except for isolated
igneous outcrops near Montreal called the
Monteregian Hills. The combination of rich and easily arable soils and Quebec's warmest climate make the valley Quebec's most prolific agricultural area. A distinctive landscape is divided into narrow rectangular tracts of land that date back to settlement patterns in 17th century
New France. The river is one of the worlds largest, sustaining large inland
Atlantic ports at
Montreal,
Trois-Rivières, and
Quebec City. The
Saint Lawrence Seaway provides a link between the
Gulf of Saint Lawrence and
Great Lakes starting at the
Saint Lambert locks in Montreal.
More than 90 percent of Quebec's area lies within the
Canadian Shield, a rough, rocky terrain sculpted and scraped clean of soil by successive
ice ages. It is rich in the mineral and hydro-electric resources that are a mainstay of the Quebec economy. In the
Labrador Peninsula portion of the Shield, the far northern region of
Nunavik includes the
Ungava Peninsula and consists of
Arctic tundra inhabited mostly by the
Inuit. Further south lie
subarctic taiga and
boreal forest, where
spruce,
fir, and
poplar trees provide raw materials for Quebec's
pulp and paper and
lumber industries. Although inhabited principally by the
Cree,
Naskapi, and
Innu First Nations, thousands of temporary workers reside at
Radisson to service the massive
James Bay Hydroelectric Project on the
La Grande and
Eastmain rivers. The southern portion of the shield extends to the
Laurentians, a mountain range just north of Montreal and Quebec City that attracts local and international tourists to ski hills and lakeside resorts.
The tree-covered
Appalachian Mountains flank the eastern portion of the province, extending from
New England into the
Eastern Townships, northeastward through the
Beauce region, and on to the
Gaspé Peninsula, where they disappear into the
Gulf of St. Lawrence. This region sustains a mix of forestry, industry, and tourism based on its natural resources and landscape.
Climate
Quebec has three main climate regions. Southern and western Quebec, including most of the major population centres, have a
humid continental climate (
Koppen climate classification ''Dfb'') with warm, humid summers and long, cold winters. The main climatic influences are from western and northern
Canada which move eastward and from the southern and central
United States that move northward. Due to the influence of both storm systems from the core of
North America and the
Atlantic Ocean, precipitation is abundant throughout the year, with most areas receiving more than 1,000 mm (40 inches) of precipitation, including over 300 cm (120 inches) of snow in many areas. Severe summer weather (such as
tornadoes and
severe thunderstorms) are far less common than in southern
Ontario, although they occasionally occur.
Most of central Quebec has a
subarctic climate (Koppen ''Dfc''). Winters here are long and among the coldest in eastern Canada, while summers are warm but very short due to the higher latitude and the greater influence of
Arctic air masses. Precipitation is also somewhat less than farther south, except at some of the higher elevations.
The northern regions of Quebec have an
arctic climate (Koppen ''ET''), with very cold winters and short, much cooler summers. The primary influences here are the
Arctic Ocean currents (such as the
Labrador Current) and continental air masses from the
High Arctic.
History
Main articles: History of Quebec
First Nations: before 1500
At the time of first European contact and later colonization,
Algonquian,
Iroquoian and
Inuit groups were the peoples of what is now Québec. Their lifestyles and cultures reflected the land on which they lived. Seven Algonquian groups lived nomadic lives based on hunting, gathering, and fishing in the rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield: (James Bay
Cree,
Innu,
Algonquins) and Appalachian Mountains (
Mi'kmaq,
Abenaki).
St. Lawrence Iroquoians lived more settled lives, planting squash and maize in the fertile soils of St. Lawrence Valley. The Inuit continue to fish, whale, and seal in the harsh Arctic climate along the coasts of Hudson and Ungava Bay. These peoples traded fur and food, and sometimes warred with each other.
Early European exploration: 1500
Basque whalers and fishermen traded furs with Saguenay natives throughout the 1500s.
[3]
The first French explorer to reach Quebec was
Jacques Cartier, who planted a cross either in
Gaspé in 1534 or at
Old Fort Bay on the
Lower North Shore. He sailed into the
St. Lawrence River in 1535 and established an ill-fated colony near present-day Quebec City at the site of
Stadacona, an Iroquoian village.
New France
Main articles: New France
Samuel de Champlain was part of a 1603 expedition from France that traveled into the
St. Lawrence River. In 1608, he returned as head of an exploration party and founded
Quebec City with the intention of making the area part of the
French colonial empire. Champlain's ''Habitation de Quebec'', built as a permanent fur trading outpost, was where he would forge a trading, and ultimately a
military alliance, with the
Algonquin and
Huron nations. Natives traded their furs for many French goods such as metal objects, guns, alcohol, and clothing.
Hélène Desportes, born July 7, 1620, to French habitants Pierre Desportes and his wife Françoise Langlois, was the first child of European descent born in Quebec.
From Quebec,
coureurs des bois,
voyageurs and Catholic missionaries used river
canoes to explore the interior of the North American continent, establishing fur trading forts on the
Great Lakes (
Étienne Brûlé 1615),
Hudson Bay (
Radisson and
Groseilliers 1659-60),
Ohio River and
Mississippi River (
La Salle 1682), as well as the
Prairie River and
Missouri River (
de la Verendrye 1734-
1738).
After
1627, King
Louis XIII of France introduced the
seigneurial system and forbade settlement in
New France by anyone other than
Roman Catholics.
Sulpician and
Jesuit clerics founded missions in
Trois-Rivières (Laviolette) and Montréal or Ville-Marie (
Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve and
Jeanne Mance) to convert
New France's
Huron and
Algonkian allies to
Catholicism. The seigneurial system of governing New France also encouraged immigration from the motherland.
New France became a Royal Province in 1663 under King
Louis XIV of France with a
Sovereign Council that included
intendant Jean Talon. This ushered in a golden era of
settlement and colonization in New France, including the arrival of les "
Filles du Roi". The population would grow from about 3,000 to 60,000 people between 1666 and 1760. Colonists built farms on the banks of St. Lawrence River and called themselves "
Canadiens" or "
Habitants". The colony's total population was limited, however, by a winter climate significantly harsher than that found in France; by the spread of diseases; and by the refusal of the French crown to allow
Huguenots, or French Protestants, to settle. The population of New France lagged far behind that of the
13 Colonies to the south, leaving it vulnerable to attack.
Conquest of New France
In 1753 France began building a series of forts in the British
Ohio Country. They refused to leave after being notified by the British Governor and, in 1754,
George Washington launched an attack on the French
Fort Duquesne (now
Pittsburgh) in the
Ohio Valley in an attempt to enforce the British claim to take territory. This frontier battle set the stage for the
French and Indian War in North America. By 1756, France and Britain were battling the
Seven Years' War worldwide. In 1758, the
British mounted an attack on
New France by sea and took the French fort at
Louisbourg.
On 13 September 1759, General
James Wolfe defeated General
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm on the
Plains of Abraham outside Quebec City. France ceded its
North American possessions to
Great Britain through the
Treaty of Paris (1763). By the
British Royal Proclamation of 1763, Canada (part of New France) was renamed the
Province of Quebec.
In 1774, fearful that the French-speaking population of Quebec (as the colony was now called) would side with the rebels of the
Thirteen Colonies to the south, the British Parliament passed the
Quebec Act giving recognition to French law, Catholic religion and French language in the colony; before that Catholics had been excluded from public office and recruitment of priests and brothers forbidden, effectively shutting down Quebec's schools and colleges. The first British policy of assimilation (1763-1774) was deemed a failure. Both the petitions and demands of the Canadiens' élites, and Governor
Guy Carleton, played an important part in convincing London of dropping the assimilation scheme, but the looming American revolt was certainly a factor. By the Quebec Act, the Quebec people obtained their first Charter of rights. That paved the way to later official recognition of the
French language and
French culture. The Act allowed ''
Canadiens'' to maintain French
civil law and sanctioned the freedom of religious choice, allowing the
Roman Catholic Church to remain. It also restored the
Ohio Valley to Quebec, reserving the territory for the fur trade.
The act, designed to placate one North American colony, had the opposite effect among its neighbors to the south. The Quebec Act was among the
Intolerable Acts that infuriated
American colonists, who launched the
American Revolution. A
1775 invasion by the American
Continental Army met with early success, but was later repelled at
Quebec City.
The English defeat at Yorktown 1781
When the American army came to Quebec they found many sympathetic supporters. According to Baby, Tachereau and Williams, as many as 747 people in Quebec took up active service with the Americans. Most notably
Clément Gosselin of the
2nd Canadian Regiment. At sea,
Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil beat the British Navy at the
Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
John Graves Simcoe, the founder of Ontario, was soundly defeated by the French Cavalry of the Duke of
Lauzun, who was brought to America by Louis-Philippe.
William Howe who led the attack on the
Plains of Abraham before Wolfe, was met by the
2nd Canadian Regiment at the
Battle of Brandywine in 1777. This was a diversion battle while other Quebecers in the
1st Canadian Regiment of
James Livingston defeated
John Burgoyne at the
Battle of Saratoga in 1777.
At the end of the war, 50,000 Loyalists came to Canada and settled amongst a population of 90,000 French people. English Canada was built by the British who were defeated by the Americans, French and Quebecers at the
Battle of Yorktown.
The
American Revolutionary War was ultimately successful in winning the independence of the Thirteen Colonies. With the
Treaty of Paris (1783), the British would cede its territory south of the
Great Lakes to the new United States of America.
The ''Patriotes' Rebellion in Lower and Upper Canada
Main articles: Lower Canada Rebellion
Like their counterparts in
Upper Canada, in 1837,
English and
French speaking residents of Lower Canada, led by
Louis-Joseph Papineau and
Robert Nelson, formed an armed resistance group to seek an end to British colonial rule. They made a Declaration of rights with equality for all citizens without discrimination, and a Declaration of Independence in 1838. Their actions resulted in rebellions in both Lower and Upper Canada. An unprepared
British Army had to raise a local
militia force and the rebel forces were soon defeated after having scored a victory in
Saint-Denis, Quebec, east of
Montreal. The British army also burned the Church of St-Eustache, killing the rebels who were hiding within it. The bullet and cannonball marks on the walls of the church are still visible to this day.
Act of Union
After the rebellions,
Lord Durham was asked to undertake a study and prepare a
report on the matter and to offer a solution for the British Parliament to assess.
The final report recommended that the population of Lower Canada be assimilated. Following Durham's
Report, the British government merged the two colonial provinces into one
Province of Canada in 1840 with the Act of Union.
However, the political union proved contentious. Reformers in both Canada West (formerly Upper Canada) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada) worked to repeal limitations on the use of the French language in the Legislature. The two colonies remained distinct in administration, election, and law.
In 1848, Baldwin and LaFontaine, allies and leaders of the Reformist party, obtained the grant (from
Lord Elgin) for responsible government and returned the French language to legal status in the Legislature.
Canadian Confederation
In the 1860s, the delegates from the colonies of
British North America (Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland) met in a series of conferences to discuss self-governing status for a new confederation.
The first
Charlottetown Conference took place in
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island followed by the
Quebec Conference in Quebec City which led to a delegation going to
London,
England to put forth the proposal for the national union.
As a result of those deliberations, in 1867 the
Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the
British North America Act, providing for the Confederation of most of these provinces.
The former
Province of Canada was divided into its two previous parts as the provinces of
Ontario (Upper Canada) and Quebec (Lower Canada).
★
New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia joined Ontario and Quebec in the new
Dominion of Canada.
★
Prince Edward Island joined in 1873 and the
Dominion of Newfoundland entered Confederation in 1949.
The "Quiet Revolution"
Main articles: Quiet Revolution
The
conservative government of
Maurice Duplessis and his
Union Nationale dominated Quebec politics from 1944 to 1960 with the support of the
Roman Catholic church.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau and other liberals formed an intellectual opposition to Duplessis's regime, setting the groundwork for the
Quiet Revolution under
Jean Lesage's
Liberals. The Quiet Revolution was a period of dramatic social and political change that saw the decline of Anglo supremacy in the Quebec economy, the decline of the Roman Catholic Church's influence, the
nationalization of
hydro-electric companies under
Hydro-Québec and the emergence of a sovereignist movement under former Liberal minister
René Lévesque.
The Quiet Revolution has been described by some people as the time when everyone stopped going to church; so that by the end of 1963 the Catholic churches were virtually empty. Whether this is a factual comment or simply an expression of the felt change that Quebec was going through at the time, it provides a telling commentary to the widespread change that the people in Quebec underwent during the Quiet Revolution. The period spawned
a significant movement for statehood which resulted in two
referendums (in 1980 and 1995) which rejected sovereignty-association.
Beginning in 1963, a
terrorist group that became known as the
Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks directed primarily at English institutions, resulting in at least five deaths. In 1970, their activities culminated in events referred to as the
October Crisis [4] when
James Cross, the British trade commissioner to Canada, was kidnapped along with
Pierre Laporte, a provincial minister and Vice-Premier, who was murdered a few days later. In their published Manifesto, the terrorists stated: "In the coming year Bourassa (Quebec Premier) will have to face reality; 100,000 revolutionary workers, armed and organized."
At the request of Premier
Robert Bourassa, Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau invoked the
War Measures Act. Once the emergency Act was in place, arrangements were made for all detainees to see legal counsel. In addition, the Quebec
Ombudsman [5], Louis Marceau, was instructed to hear complaints of detainees and the Quebec government agreed to pay damages to any person unjustly arrested (only in Quebec). On February 3, 1971,
John Turner, the
Minister of Justice of Canada, reported that 497 persons had been arrested throughout Canada under the War Measures Act, of whom 435 had been released. The other 62 were charged, of which 32 were crimes of such seriousness that a
Quebec Superior Court judge refused them bail. The crisis ended after a few weeks after the death of Pierre Laporte at the hands of his captors. The fallout of the crisis marked the zenith and twilight of the FLQ which lost membership and public support.
In 1977, the newly elected
Parti Québécois government of
René Lévesque introduced the
Charter of the French Language. Often known as
Bill 101, it defined French as the only official language of Quebec in areas of provincial jurisdiction.
The Parti Québécois and constitutional crisis
Lévesque and his party had run in the 1970 and 1973 Quebec elections under a platform of separating Quebec from the rest of Canada. The party failed to win control of Quebec's National Assembly both times — though its share of the vote increased from 23% to 30% — and Lévesque himself was defeated both times in the
riding he contested. In the 1976 election, he softened his message by promising a referendum (plebiscite) on
sovereignty-association rather than outright separation, by which Quebec would have independence in most government functions but share some other ones, such as a common currency, with Canada. On November 15, 1976, Lévesque and the Parti Québécois won control of the provincial government for the first time. The question of
sovereignty-association was placed before the voters in the
1980 Quebec referendum. During the campaign,
Pierre Trudeau promised that a vote for the NO side was a vote for reforming Canada. Trudeau advocated the
patriation of Canada's Constitution from the
United Kingdom. The existing constitutional document, the
British North America Act, could only be amended by the
United Kingdom Parliament upon a request by the Canadian parliament.
Sixty percent of the Quebec electorate voted against the proposition. Polls showed that the overwhelming majority of English and immigrant Quebecers voted against, and that French Quebecers were almost equally divided, with older voters less in favour, and younger voters more in favour. After his loss in the referendum, Lévesque went back to Ottawa to start negotiating a new constitution with Trudeau, his minister of Justice
Jean Chrétien and the nine other provincial premiers. Lévesque insisted Quebec be able to veto any future constitutional amendments. The negotiations quickly reached a stand-still.
Then on the night of November 4, 1981 (widely known in Quebec as ''La nuit des longs couteaux'' or the "Night of the Long Knives"'), Federal Justice Minister Jean Chretien met all the provincial premiers except
René Lévesque to sign the document that would eventually become the new Canadian constitution. The next morning, they put Lévesque in front of the "fait accompli." Lévesque refused to sign the document, and returned to Quebec. In 1982, Trudeau had the new constitution approved by the British Parliament, with Quebec's signature still missing (a situation that persists to this day). The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed Trudeau's assertion that every province's approval is not required to amend the constitution.
In subsequent years, two attempts were made to gain Quebec's approval of the constitution. The first was the
Meech Lake Accord of 1987, which was finally abandoned in 1990 when the provinces of
Manitoba and
Newfoundland refused to support it. This led to the formation of the sovereignist
Bloc Québécois party in
Ottawa under the leadership of
Lucien Bouchard, who had resigned from the federal cabinet. The second attempt, the
Charlottetown Accord of 1992, was rejected by 56.7% of all Canadians and 57% of Quebecers. This result caused a split in the
Quebec Liberal Party that led to the formation of the new
Action Démocratique (Democratic Action) party led by
Mario Dumont and Jean Allaire.
On October 30, 1995, with the
Parti Québécois back in power since 1994, a
second referendum on sovereignty took place. This time, it was rejected by a slim majority (50.6% NO to 49.4% YES); a clear majority of French-speaking Quebecers voted in favour of sovereignty.
The referendum was enshrouded in controversy. Federalists complained that an unusually high number of ballots had been rejected in pro-federalist areas, notably in the largely Jewish and Greek riding of Chomedey (11.7 % or 5,500 of its ballots were spoiled, compared to 750 or 1.7% in the general election of 1994) although Quebec's chief electoral officer found no evidence of outright fraud. The Government of Canada was accused of not respecting provincial laws with regard to spending during referendums (leading to a corruption scandal that would become public a decade later, greatly damaging the Liberal Party's standing), and to having accelerated the naturalization of immigrant people living in the province of Quebec (43,850 immigrants were naturalized in 1995, whereas the average number between 1988 and 1998 was 21,733).
The same night of the referendum, an angry
Jacques Parizeau, then premier and leader of the "Yes" side, declared that the loss was due to "
money and the ethnic vote". Parizeau resigned over public outrage and as per his commitment to do so in case of a loss.
Lucien Bouchard became Quebec's new premier in his place.
Federalists accused the sovereignist side of asking a vague, overly complicated question on the ballot. Its English text read as follows:
''Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Québec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?''
After winning the next election, Bouchard retired from politics in 2001.
Bernard Landry was then appointed leader of the
Parti Québécois and premier of Quebec. In 2003, Landry lost the election to the
Quebec Liberal Party and
Jean Charest. Landry stepped down as PQ leader in 2005, and in a crowded race for the party leadership,
André Boisclair was elected to succeed him. The PQ has promised to hold another referendum should it return to government.
Quebec as a nation
Given the province's heritage and the preponderance of French (unique among the Canadian provinces), there is an ongoing debate in Canada regarding the status of Quebec and/or its people (wholly or partially). Prior attempts to amend the Canadian constitution to acknowledge Quebec as a '
distinct society' – referring to the province's uniqueness within Canada regarding law, language, and culture – have been unsuccessful; however, the federal government under
prime minister Jean Chrétien would later endorse recognition of Quebec as a distinct society. On
October 30,
2003, the National Assembly voted unanimously to affirm "that the Quebecers form a
nation".
[15]
On
November 27 2006, the
House of Commons passed a motion moved by prime minister
Stephen Harper declaring that "this House recognize[s] that the
Québécois form a nation within a united Canada."
[5][6][7], although there is considerable debate and uncertainty over what this means.
[8][9]
Government
Main articles: Politics of Quebec,
Monarchy in Quebec
The
Lieutenant Governor represents
Queen Elizabeth II as
head of state. The head of government is the
Premier (called ''premier ministre'' in French) who leads the largest party in the
unicameral National Assembly or ''Assemblée Nationale'', from which the Council of Ministers is appointed.
Until 1968, the Quebec
legislature was
bicameral, consisting of the
Legislative Council and the
Legislative Assembly. In that year the Legislative Council was abolished, and the Legislative Assembly was renamed the National Assembly. Quebec was the last province to abolish its legislative council.
The government of Quebec awards an order of merit called the
National Order of Quebec. It is inspired in part by the
French Legion of Honour. It is conferred upon men and women born or living in Quebec (but non-Quebecers can be inducted as well) for outstanding achievements.
Administrative subdivisions
Quebec has subdivisions at the regional, supralocal and local levels. Excluding administrative units reserved for Aboriginal lands, the primary types of subdivision are:
At the regional level:
★ 17
administrative regions.
At the supralocal level:
★ 86
regional county municipalities or RCMs (''municipalités régionales de comté'', ''MRC'');
★ 2
metropolitan communities (''communautés métropolitaines'').
At the local level:
★ 1,117
local municipalities of various
types;
★ 11
agglomerations (''agglomérations'') grouping 42 of these local municipalities;
★ within 8 local municipalities, 45
boroughs (''arrondissements'').
Population centres
The data are from the 2006 census of Canada.
[6]
Census metropolitan areas by population
Census
metropolitan
area | 2006 pop. | 2001 pop.¹ | Region² | Image |
|---|
| Greater Montreal | 3,635,571 | 3,451,027 | Montréal | |
Quebec City
(provincial capital) | 715,515 | 686,569 | Capitale-Nationale | |
| Gatineau³ | 283,959 | 261,704 | Outaouais | |
| Sherbrooke | 186,952 | 175,950 | Estrie | |
| Saguenay | 151,643 | 154,938 | Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean | |
| Trois-Rivières | 141,529 | 137,507 | Mauricie | |
¹These figures are adjusted to reflect boundary changes for the 2006 census.
²Where a metropolitan area straddles more than one administrative region, the region of the central municipality is given.
³These figures pertain to the part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area that is in Quebec. The total figures for the CMA, including the part in Ontario, are 1,130,761 (2006), 1,067,800 (2001).
Major municipalities
The municipalities of the Montreal, Quebec, and Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan areas exceeding 50,000 in population in 2006 are given below with their
administrative regions in parentheses.
Montreal CMA:
★
Montreal (
Montréal), 1,620,693;
★
Laval (
Laval), 368,709;
★
Longueuil (
Montérégie), 229,330;
★
Terrebonne (
Lanaudière), 94,703;
★
Repentigny (
Lanaudière) 76,237;
★
Brossard (
Montérégie), 71,154;
★
Saint-Jérôme (
Laurentides), 63,729.
The population of the Island of Montreal was 1,854,442.
Quebec CMA:
★
Quebec City (
Capitale-Nationale), 491,142;
★
Lévis (
Chaudière-Appalaches), 130,006.
Ottawa-Gatineau CMA:
★
Gatineau (
Outaouais), 242,124.
The population of
Ottawa, Ontario is 812,129.
Other census agglomerations
Census
agglomeration | 2006 | 2001¹ | Region² |
|---|
| Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu | 87,492 | 79,600 | Montérégie |
| Drummondville | 78,108 | 72,778 | Centre-du-Québec |
| Granby | 68,352 | 63,069 | Montérégie |
| Shawinigan | 56,434 | 56,412 | Mauricie |
| Saint-Hyacinthe | 55,823 | 54,275 | Montérégie |
| Victoriaville | 48,893 | 46,908 | Centre-du-Québec |
| Sorel-Tracy | 48,295 | 47,802 | Montérégie |
| Rimouski | 46,807 | 46,012 | Bas-Saint-Laurent |
| Joliette | 43,595 | 39,720 | Lanaudière |
| Rouyn-Noranda | 39,924 | 39,621 | Abitibi-Témiscamingue |
| Salaberry-de-Valleyfield | 39,672 | 39,028 | Montérégie |
| Alma | 32,603 | 32,930 | Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean |
| Val-d'Or | 32,288 | 32,433 | Abitibi-Témiscamingue |
| Saint-Georges | 31,364 | 29,759 | Chaudière-Appalaches |
| Baie-Comeau | 29,808 | 30,401 | Côte-Nord |
| Sept-Îles | 27,827 | 27,623 | Côte-Nord |
| Thetford Mines | 26,107 | 26,721 | Chaudière-Appalaches |
| Rivière-du-Loup | 24,570 | 23,229 | Bas-Saint-Laurent |
| Amos | 17,918 | 18,302 | Abitibi-Témiscamingue |
| Matane | 16,438 | 16,597 | Bas-Saint-Laurent |
| La Tuque | 15,293 | 15,725 | Mauricie |
| Dolbeau-Mistassini | 14,546 | 14,879 | Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean |
| Cowansville | 12,666 | 12,558 | Montérégie |
| Lachute | 11,832 | 11,628 | Laurentides |
¹These figures are adjusted to reflect boundary changes for the 2006 census.
²Where a census agglomeration straddles more than one administrative region, the region of the central municipality is given.
The municipalities of Quebec which are not part of a CMA or CA but which had populations exceeding 10,000 in 2006, with administrative regions in parentheses, are:
Gaspé (
Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine), 14,819;
Saint-Lin-Laurentides (
Lanaudière), 14,159;
Mont-Laurier (
Laurentides), 13,405;
Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine (
Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine), 12,560;
Sainte-Marie (
Chaudière-Appalaches), 11,584;
Montmagny (
Chaudière-Appalaches), 11,353;
Sainte-Adèle (
Laurentides), 10,634;
Roberval (
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean), 10,544;
Saint-Félicien (
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean), 10,477;
Sainte-Sophie (
Laurentides), 10,355;
Prévost (
Laurentides), 10,132;
Rawdon (
Lanaudière), 10,058.
Economy
Main articles: Economy of Quebec
Montreal, North America's Francophone metropolis
The St. Lawrence River Valley is a fertile agricultural region, producing dairy products, fruit, vegetables, foie gras, maple syrup (Quebec is the world's largest producer), and livestock.
North of the St. Lawrence River Valley, the territory of Quebec is extremely rich in resources in its coniferous forests, lakes, and rivers—pulp and
paper,
lumber, and
hydroelectricity are still some of the province's most important industries.
High-tech industries are very important around
Montreal. It includes the aerospace companies like aircraft manufacturer
Bombardier, the jet engine company
Pratt & Whitney, the flight simulator builder
CAE and defence contractor
Lockheed Martin, Canada. Those companies and other major subcontractors make Quebec the fourth biggest player worldwide in the aviation industry.
Château Frontenac, the world's most photographed hotel, is iconic to the province of Quebec.
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Quebec
Quebec is the largest French-speaking society in the
Americas. Most
French Canadians live in Quebec, though there are other concentrations of French-speakers throughout Canada with varying degrees of ties to Quebec.
Montreal is the cosmopolitan cultural heart of Quebec.
English-speaking Quebecers constitute an official language minority whose number, according to the 2001 census and depending on the method of reckoning, ranges from 557,040 (mother tongue, single response) to 918,955 ("first official language spoken" English plus half of those with both English and French as first official language spoken), constituting 7.8% to 12.9% of the population.
[7] [8] [9]
Quebec is also home to 11 aboriginal nations. The total Aboriginal identity population of Quebec was 79,400 in 2001.
Demographics
Main articles: Demographics of Quebec
Quebec's
fertility rate is now among the lowest in Canada. At 1.48, it is well below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1. This contrasts with the fertility rate before 1960 which was among the highest of any industrialized societies. The fertility rate in 2006 was 1.62.
Although Quebec represents only 24% 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 of Quebec since 1851
| Year | Population | Five-year
% change | Ten-year
% change | Rank among
provinces |
|---|
| 1851 | 892,061 | n/a | n/a | 2 |
| 1861 | 1,111,566 | n/a | 24.6 | 2 |
| 1871 | 1,191,516 | n/a | 7.2 | 2 |
| 1881 | 1,359,027 | n/a | 14.1 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1,488,535 | n/a | 9.5 | 2 |
| 1901 | 1,648,898 | n/a | 10.8 | 2 |
| 1911 | 2,005,776 | n/a | 21.6 | 2 |
| 1921 | 2,360,665 | n/a | 17.8 | 2 |
| 1931 | 2,874,255 | n/a | 21.8 | 2 |
| 1941 | 3,331,882 | n/a | 15.9 | 2 |
| 1951 | 4,055,681 | n/a | 21.8 | 2 |
| 1956 | 4,628,378 | 14.1 | n/a | 2 |
| 1961 | 5,259,211 | 13.6 | 29.7 | 2 |
| 1966 | 5,780,845 | 9.9 | 24.9 | 2 |
| 1971 | 6,027,765 | 4.3 | 14.6 | 2 |
| 1976 | 6,234,445 | 3.4 | 7.8 | 2 |
| 1981 | 6,438,403 | 3.3 | 6.8 | 2 |
| 1986 | 6,532,460 | 1.5 | 4.8 | 2 |
| 1991 | 6,895,963 | 5.6 | 7.1 | 2 |
| 1996 | 7,138,795 | 3.5 | 9.3 | 2 |
| 2001 | 7,237,479 | 1.4 | 5.0 | 2 |
| 2006 | 7,546,131 | 4.3 | 5.7 | 2 |
''Source:
Statistics Canada''
[10][11]
Ethnic origins
| Ethnic origin | Population | Percent |
|---|
| "Canadian" | 4,897,475 | 68.73% |
| French | 2,111,570 | 29.67% |
| Irish | 291,545 | 5.09% |
| Italian | 249,205 | 3.70% |
| English | 218,415 | 3.07% |
| Scottish | 156,140 | 2.19% |
| North American Indian | 130,165 | 1.83% |
| German | 88,700 | 1.24% |
| Jewish | 82,450 | 1.16% |
| Haitian | 74,465 | 1.05% |
The information regarding ethnicities at the right is from the
2001 Canadian Census.
The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g., "French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the category "Canadian".) Groups with greater than 70,000 responses are included.
Religious groups
Quebec is unique among the provinces in its overwhelmingly
Roman Catholic population. This is a legacy of colonial times; only Catholics were permitted to settle in the
New France colony.
★ 90.2%
Christian
★
★ 83.3%
Roman Catholic
★
★ 4.7%
Protestant
★
★ 1.4%
Eastern Orthodox
★
★ 0.8% other
Christian
★ 7.1%
non-religious
★ 1.5%
Muslim
★ 1.2%
Jewish
Language
Main articles: Demolinguistics of Quebec
Quebec is the only Canadian province where French is the only official language. In 2001 the population was:
[12]
★ French speakers: 82.0%
★ English speakers: 7.9%
★ Others: 10.1% (Italian 5.2%, Spanish 2.3%, Arabic 2.9%, and others)
Symbols and emblems
The 'Fleurdelisé' leads a ship to harbour near Quebec City.
The motto of Quebec is
''Je me souviens'' ("I remember"), which is carved into the Parliament Building façade in Quebec City and is seen on the coat of arms and licence plates.
The graphic emblem of Quebec is the
fleur-de-lis, usually white on a blue background, as on the
flag of Quebec, the ''Fleurdelisé''. As indicated on the government of Quebec's Web site, the flag recalls the French
Royal banner said to have accompanied the army of
General Montcalm, Marquis de Saint-Véran during the victorious
battle of Carillon in 1758. While the fleur-de-lis, a symbol of France's
Ancien Régime, may be thought of as "counter-revolutionary" in France today, it is a modern symbol in Quebec (which was never ruled by the French Republic) and is prominent in its
coat of arms.
The floral emblem of Quebec is the ''
Iris versicolor''. It was formerly the
Madonna lily, to recall the fleur-de-lis, but has been changed to the iris, which is native to Quebec.
The ''harfang de neige'' (
snowy owl) is a common symbol of Quebec.
The avian emblem of Quebec is the
snowy owl.
In addition to the other emblems, an insect emblem has been chosen by popular vote in October 1998 during a poll sponsored by the
Montreal Insectarium: The
White Admiral (''Limenitis arthemis'')
[13] won with 32 % of the 230 660 votes. The butterfly was in competition with four other candidates: the Spotted
lady beetle (''Coleomegilla maculata lengi''), the Ebony Jewelwing
damselfly (''Calopteryx maculata''), a species of
bumble bee (''Bombus impatiens'') and the six-spotted
tiger beetle (''Cicindela sexguttata sexguttata''). The
Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs supports and finances actions to officially recognize the White Admiral as the insect emblem.
The patron saints of French Canada are
Saint Anne and
John the Baptist. ''La Saint-Jean'',
June 24, is Quebec's national day and has been officially called the
Fête nationale du Québec since 1977. The song "
Gens du pays" by
Gilles Vigneault is sometimes regarded as Quebec's unofficial anthem.
Sports teams
★
National Hockey League
★
★
Montreal Canadiens
★
Canadian Football League
★
★
Montreal Alouettes
★
Can-Am League
★
★
Quebec Capitales
★
National Women's Hockey League
★
★
Montreal Axion (currently on hiatus)
★
★
Quebec Avalanche (currently on hiatus)
★
United Soccer Leagues
★
★
Montreal Impact
Former sports teams
★
National Hockey League
★
★
Quebec Nordiques (moved to
Denver, Colorado and are now the
Colorado Avalanche)
★
★
Quebec Bulldogs (moved to
Hamilton, Ontario and became the
Hamilton Tigers for the rest of the team's existence)
★
★
Montreal Maroons (defunct)
★
★
Montreal Wanderers (defunct)
★
Major League Baseball
★
★
Montreal Expos (moved to
Washington, D.C. and are now the
Washington Nationals)
★
American Hockey League
★
★
Quebec Citadelles (merged with the
Hamilton Bulldogs)
★
★
Quebec Aces (moved to
Richmond, Virginia and became the
Richmond Robins for the rest of the team's existence)
★
Canadian-American League
★
★ Quebec Braves/Alouettes/Athletics (defunct)
★
★ Trois-Rivieres Royals (defunct)
See also
★
Alliance Quebec
★
Anglo-Quebecer
★
Autoroute (Quebec) (Quebec's Autoroute system)
★
Canada
★
Charter of the French Language
★
Cinema of Quebec
★
Civil Code of Quebec
★
Civil unions in Quebec
★
Distinct society
★
Education in Quebec
★
État québécois
★
French in Canada
★
A few acres of snow
★
Irish Quebecer
★
Jews in Canada
★
List of Canadian provincial and territorial symbols
★
List of cities in Canada
★ Quebec lists:
★ :
Cathedrals ·
Communities ·
County seats ·
Lieutenant Governors ·
Actors ·
Authors ·
Counties (historic) ·
County regional municipalities (current) ·
Premiers ·
Provincial highways ·
Regions ·
Universities ·
Quebecers ·
Airports ·
''Quebec-related topics''
★
Musicians of Quebec
★
National Assembly of Quebec
★
National Order of Quebec
★
New France
★
Office québécois de la langue française
★
Politics of Canada
★
Quebec French
★
Quebec general elections
★
Quebec sovereignty movement
★
Québécois
★
Same-sex marriage in Quebec
★
Scots-Quebecer
★
Scouting in Québec
★
Timeline of Quebec history
References
1. According to the Canadian government, 'Québec' (with the acute accent) is the official name in French and 'Quebec' (without the accent) is the province's official name in English; the name is one of 81 locales of pan-Canadian significance with official forms in both languages. In this system, the official name of the capital is Québec in both official languages. The Quebec government renders both names as ''Québec'' in both languages.
2. Addressing Guidelines from Canada Post
3. Statistics Canada Population Estimates
4. Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, by province and territory
5. Hansard; 39th Parliament, 1st Session; No. 087; November 27, 2006
6. Galloway, Gloria; Curry, Bill; Dobrota, Alex; ''Globe and Mail'': 'Nation' motion passes, but costs Harper; November 28, 2006
7. Bonoguore, Tenille; Sallot, Jeff; ''Globe and Mail'': Harper's Quebec motion passes easily; November 27, 2006
8. Debate: The motions on the Québécois nation
9. Who's a Québécois? Harper isn't sure
10. Dion questions definition of nationhood in Montreal Martin Leblanc
11. Charles Taylor, Reconciling the Solitudes, Essays on Canadian Federalism and Nationalism, p. 141[1]
12. Afable, Patricia O. and Madison S. Beeler (1996). "Place Names". In "Languages", ed. Ives Goddard. Vol. 17 of ''Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pg. 191
13. Canada: A People's History - The birth of Quebec
14. Library of the Parliament of Canada, [2].
15.
16. Hansard; 39th Parliament, 1st Session; No. 087; November 27, 2006
17. Galloway, Gloria; Curry, Bill; Dobrota, Alex; ''Globe and Mail'': 'Nation' motion passes, but costs Harper; November 28, 2006
18. Bonoguore, Tenille; Sallot, Jeff; ''Globe and Mail'': Harper's Quebec motion passes easily; November 27, 2006
19. Debate: The motions on the Québécois nation
20. Who's a Québécois? Harper isn't sure
External links
★
Discover the Quebec in pictures,photos
★
Government of Quebec
★
All Quebec: live radio stations, newspapers, history, biographies, sports, love, etc.
★
Bonjour Québec, Quebec government official tourist site
★
Laws to protect the endangered French languages
★
CBC Digital Archives - Quebec Elections: 1960-1998
★
Agora, online encyclopaedia from Quebec
★
'History:'
★
Quebec History, online encyclopaedia made by Marianapolis College
★
History of the 1759 British invasion of Quebec
★
The 1837-1838 Rebellion in Lower Canada, Images from the McCord Museum's collections
★
Bibliothèque nationales du Québec Map Collection, 5,000 digitized maps
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