Quebec

Quebec is the largest province in Canada as well as the second most populous. It lies to the east of the province of Ontario and to the west of Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Quebec is south of the Arctic Circle and north of the American states of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont.

The Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec was one of the first sites explored by French explorer Jacques Cartier in the 1530s. The province remained an important part of France until it was ceded to Great Britain in 1763. The official language of Quebec is French. Its nickname is La Belle Province (The beautiful province).

General Information

Name: The word Quebec is the Algonquian for "strait" or, alternately, a narrowing of the strait. The strait to which this refers is the section of the St. Lawrence River that passes through modern-day Quebec City.

Provincial Symbols

• Bird: Snowy owl
• Flower: Blue flag
• Tree: Yellow birch
• Motto: Je me souviens (French, "I remember")

Capital: The capital of Quebec is Quebec, which is referred to as Quebec City to differentiate it from the province. Quebec City has an estimated population of 800,296 people (2016 estimate). It is situated on the St. Lawrence River in the southern portion of the province.

People & Culture

Population: According to a 2021 Statistics Canada estimate, the province has a population of 8,604,495 people. Four-fifths of the Quebecois population lives in communities on or near the St. Lawrence River. The province's largest cities are Montreal, with 4,098,927 people (2016 estimate) in the greater metropolitan area and 1,704,694 within the city limits proper, followed by Ottawa-Gatineau (1,323,783), Quebec City (800,296), Sherbrooke (212,105), and Saguenay (160,980). Most Quebecois live in rural areas.

As of the 2016 census, roughly 84 percent of the people in Quebec spoke French as their first language. Quebec has the highest number of francophones in North America. According to the Charter of the French Language, French was given the status of the official language of Quebec, "of Government and Law" as well as "the normal and everyday language of work, instruction, communication, commerce and business." The majority of English-speaking Quebecois live in Montreal.

Quebec considers itself the richer for its population and cultural diversity. Large ethnic groups in Quebec include French, Irish, Italian, English, and Scottish. Most immigrants to Quebec come from North Africa, South and East Asia, and Europe. The predominant religion in Quebec is Roman Catholicism.

Indigenous People: The First Nations are the various tribes of Indigenous peoples who inhabit the Canadian provinces. Inuit and Métis are excluded from this term but are also Indigenous peoples of Canada.

As of the 2011 census, Indigenous peoples comprised about 2 percent of the Quebec population. Among the Indigenous nations who live in Quebec are the Abenakis, Anishinabeg, Atikamekw, Cree, Huron-Wendat, Innu, Inuit, Mi'kmaq, Mohawk, Naskapi, and Wolastoqiyik. The Métis people are Indigenous people of Quebec who are descended from both Indigenous peoples and European settlers. In 2020, there were fifty-five Indigenous communities in the province.

When French explorers, traders, soldiers, and settlers first came to the eastern shores of Canada, they encountered the ancestors of these Indigenous people. In the late nineteenth century, the Government of Canada established a nation-wide system of residential schools that were operated by several Catholic and Protestant denominations. The system forcibly separated an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children students from their families, kept them in unhygienic and unsafe residential facilities, punished them for speaking Indigenous languages, and subjected them to abuse and neglect. In 1948, Parliament recommended ending the residential school system. Yet four of the six residential schools that operated in Quebec were founded in the 1950s and 1960s. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of 2015, by the time the government ended the residential school system in the mid-1990s, 3,200 children across Canada had died in the system, including 38 children in Quebec. In 2021, the discovery of nearly one thousand unmarked student graves at two former residential school grounds, in British Columbia and Saskatchewan respectively, prompted Indigenous leaders and experts to think that the total number of residential school students who died in the system might be much higher.

Since 1985, Quebec has recognized the nationhood of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. The Charter of the French Language does not apply to Crees or Inuit, for example, so they are taught in their own languages in some areas.

In 2015, the Superior Court of Quebec found in the Descheneaux case that sections of the Indian Act treated Indigenous women differently from Indigenous men in terms of their and their descendents' eligibility for registration. This disparity violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms' equality provisions. The court's decision in the Descheneaux case allowed for Parliament to consult with Indigenous communities to determine a legislative remedy for the gender-based inequities in 2016.

Arts & Entertainment: Quebec City and Montreal are considered very cosmopolitan cities and rival many of the capital cities of Europe and the United States in sophistication. Among Quebec's most prominent museums are the Museum of Civilization, the Montreal Museum of Modern Art, the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, and the Musée de la Mer.

There are also many provincial and national historic sites which celebrate the history and heritage of Quebec, including the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, which was built on the Canadian-United States border in 1904; Artillery Park, which has played an important part in the defense of Quebec; and Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial, which pays tribute to Quebec immigration.

Famous artists, authors, and entertainers from Quebec include filmmakers Mack Sennett and Denys Arcand, singers Céline Dion and Leonard Cohen, authors Michel Tremblay and Mordechai Richler, actors William Shatner and Geneviève Bujold, and painters Miyuki Tanobe and Jean-Paul Riopelle.

Quebec also hosts hundreds of festivals each year, including the Festival International de Jazz Montreal, the Montreal World Film Festival, Le Grand Rire Bleue in Quebec City, and the International Garden Festival in the Gaspésie region. In 1976, Montreal was the site of the Summer Olympics; it was also the site of the 1967 World's Fair.

Environment & Geography

Quebec measures 1,667,439 square kilometers (643,802 square miles), 11.5 percent of which is fresh water. It is approximately 2,012 kilometers (1,250 miles) long from north to south and 1,497 kilometers (930 miles) long from east to west. Most of Quebec lies within the so-called Canadian Shield, a bare rock, mineral-rich area that dates back to the Precambrian era. Glaciation during the last ice age (about ten thousand years ago) exposed the rock. As a result, many of the rivers and streams in the region are still unformed.

Important geographic features of Quebec include the St. Lawrence River Valley (the population center of Quebec) and La Grand Rivière, on which are built important regional hydroelectric power plants. To the north of the province lie the Hudson Strait, Ungava Bay, and Hudson Bay. The Laurentian and Appalachian Mountains are also prominent parts of the province. The highest point in Quebec is Mont D'Iberville, also known as Mount Caubvik, at 1,652 meters (5,420 feet), although the summit actually lies in Labrador.

Important conservation areas in Quebec include biodiversity efforts by the provincial and national governments and regional plans to preserve wilderness lands and protect animal and plant species.

Topography: Quebec is divided into three distinct topographical zones: the St. Lawrence Valley, the Laurentian Mountains, and the Notre Dame Mountains, which form part of the Appalachian Mountain Range. The most important geographical feature of Quebec is the St. Lawrence River, which stretches 3,058 kilometers (1,900 miles) from the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic Ocean. Quebec's biomes include evergreen and deciduous forests, taiga, and tundra.

The province is dotted with lakes and rivers of all sizes; one estimate places the number of lakes and other marine ecosystems at over one million. Quebec is separated from the United States by the Appalachian Mountains. Much of Quebec lies within the Canadian Shield.

National Parks: Canadian national parks in Quebec include the Forillon National Park, La Mauricie National Park, Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, and Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park. There are also many provincial parks in Quebec, including Gaspésie Provincial Park in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts and Jacques Cartier Provincial Park in Charlesbourg.

National historic sites in Quebec include the Forges du Saint-Maurice, the first industrial center in Canada; Fort Chambly National Historic Site, a military fortification dating from the early eighteenth century; and the Fortifications of Quebec National Historic Site, which commemorates the history of Quebec City.

Natural Resources: Provincial natural resources include minerals (iron ore, gold, copper, asbestos, and limestone), energy (hydroelectricity, natural gas coal, and petroleum), fish, and wood products (paper, pulp, and lumber). The provincial government is considered very progressive in its policy regarding the sustainable development of Quebec's natural resources. There is a system of programs and legislation that attempts to preserve both the natural integrity of Quebec and the people who work in natural resource industries.

Plants and Animals: Common trees found throughout Quebec are the black and white spruce, maple, oak, and balsam fir. The tundra region of Quebec is covered in lichen, moss, and low bushes typical of that climate.

There are many types of animal found throughout Quebec: mammals including the snowshoe hare, humpback whale, polar bear, and river otter; nesting birds including the common loon and the bald eagle, fish including many varieties of trout and bass, as well as amphibians and reptiles, including numerous types of salamanders and anurans (toads and frogs). Among the many endangered or threatened species of Quebec are the Blanding's, spotted, and wood turtles, yellow-banded and Suckley cuckoo bumblebees, redfish, and polar bears.

Climate: There are four climate zones in Quebec: humid continental, which affects the major population area in southern Quebec; subarctic, which affects the central portion of Quebec; arctic, which affects the northernmost points of Quebec; and eastern maritime, which affects the Îles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Seasonal changes between summer and winter can be quite extreme, with warm summers and severely cold winters. Average July temperatures in the capital, Québec City, range from 13 to 25 degrees Celsius (55 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit), while average January temperatures range from −15 to −8 degrees Celsius (5 to 21 degrees Fahrenheit). Temperatures are more moderate in the southern city of Montreal and more extreme in the far north. Winters may last as long as eight months and as short as five months. Average annual snowfall is about three meters (ten feet).

Economy

Quebec has one of the most vibrant economies in the world. Its most important industrial sector is the service sector, which employed about 85 percent of Quebecois workers between 2015 and 2017, according to Service Canada. Important industries in this sector include real estate, finance, education, health services, and high technology. Construction and manufacturing are also important aspects of the economy. Its machinery, aeronautics, and metallic manufacturing sectors are among its most important for export. Quebec is an important producer of iron ore, aluminum, gold, and other minerals.

Statistics Canada estimates that 512,000 Quebecois in the workforce in 2012 were employed in the manufacturing sector, while 531,200 worked in the health and social assistance sector. According to Institut de la statistique du Québec, approximately 40 percent of all Quebec's workers are union members, while 81.2 percent of the public sector was unionized in 2012.

Tourism: Like other provinces in Canada, tourism is an important part of the Quebec economy and is considered an important export. The majority of visitors to Quebec's tourist attractions actually live in the province. In 2017–18, 93 million people visited Quebec, including 7.9 million people from outside the province. Quebec's Indigenous tourism sector drew 1.2 million visitors during that period.

Tourists frequent the major attractions in both metropolitan and rural areas. Among those offered in Quebec are the historical attractions in the major metropolitan regions of both Montreal (the Montreal Biodome and Olympic Park) and Quebec City (Old Town Quebec and the Plains of Abraham battle site). Other important tourist activities include ecotourism in several wildlife preserves and agritourism throughout the province. In all, there are twenty tourist regions in the province that showcase Quebec's social and political history, natural history, and First Peoples heritage.

Agriculture: Agriculture appears to be declining throughout Quebec. In 2013, the number of farms and area of farmland were down from previous years, while the revenue from farming remained relatively flat. Dairy farming is the dominant type of farm activity. Hogs and corn are important agricultural products.

Transportation: The Autoroute (French highway system) in Quebec has been in operation since 1959, when the Laurentian Autoroute opened. Construction of the provincial highway system accelerated in the 1960s and 1970s. There are also major international airports and seaports in Montreal and Quebec City.

Government & History

Government: Quebec is governed by the unicameral Assemblée Nationale, which was created by a constitutional act in 1791. This body was a bicameral legislature until 1968. Major political parties operating in Quebec are the Liberal Party and Parti Quebecois.

History: Since the founding of New France in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Quebec has been at the center of Canadian culture and history. The area around the St. Lawrence River Valley was originally explored and settled by the French. In 1663, King Louis XIV of France named it a royal province. France and Great Britain fought several different wars in North America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

After the final war, known as the French and Indian War, Great Britain took control of the region. Quebec City and Montreal were scenes of fierce fighting during these wars. Quebec City was lost to the British after an infamous battle in 1759 between the forces of French general Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon and British general James Wolfe. After the final surrender of the French, the region became known as British North America.

Between 1763 and 1791, the region of Quebec consisted of an area very different from the modern-day province. For many years, southern Quebec was also known as Lower Canada. The Act of Union of 1840 merged Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada, with Quebec being known as Canada East.

It joined the Canadian Confederation in 1867, with the adoption of the British North America Act. Other colonies to join at this time were New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. This act also split the Province of Canada into the separate provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Since its establishment as a province, Quebec has always been predominantly French in both culture and language. This has differentiated it from most of the population throughout Canadian history and led to political disputes with other provinces over the status of Quebec within greater Canada and the status of the Quebecois among other Canadians. In 1977 the Charte de la langue française (Charter of the French Language; also known as Bill 101) made French the language of the government, legislation, courts, business, and education. Bill 101 was subsequently challenged and some of its provisions, particularly those mandating French as the language of legislation and the courts, were overturned or reformed. In 2021 provincial government proposed further reforms of Bill 101 as well as an amendment to the Canadian Constitution that would institute French as the province's only official language.

At various times, legislation has been proposed to either grant special status to Quebec or simply secede from Canada altogether, giving rise to the Quebec Separatist movement, which has enjoyed periods of great popularity in Quebec history.

Trivia

• Quebec City is the oldest city settled by Europeans in North America, and also one of the only remaining fortified cities.
• The type of green ink used to print United States currency was invented by Thomas Sterry Hunt, a professor at McGill University in Montreal.

Bibliography

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Labour Market Analysis Directorate. "Labor Market Bulletin - Quebec, August 2013." N.p.: Employment and Social Development Canada, 11 Sept. 2013. PDF file.

Laurendeau, Sylvain. Sectoral Outlook 2013–2015: Québec Region. N.p.: Service Canada, Fall 2013. PDF file.

Ministère des Finances et de l’Économie du Québec. "2013 Economic and Financial Profile of Québec." Quebec: Gouvernement du Québec, 2013. PDF file.

Montpetit, Jonathan, and Benjamin Shingler. "Quebec's Residential School System Started Later Than Most in Canada — and Also Has History of Abuse." CBC News, 7 June 2021, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-residential-schools-1.6053558. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.

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