Demographics of Quebec


The demographics of Quebec constitutes a complex and sensitive issue, especially as it relates to the National question. Quebec is the only province in Canada to feature a francophone majority, and where anglophones 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 is francophone, with less than 5% of the population not able to speak French.
Quebec is also home to "one of the world's most valuable founder populations", the Quebec Founder Population. 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; though this influx was large, a high proportion of the immigrants either died or returned to France, leaving a founder population of approximately 2,600 people. About seven million Canadians are descendants of these original 2,600 colonists.

Population

Population since 1824:
YearPopulationFive-year
% change		Ten-year
% change		%
Canada
1822427,465n/an/an/a
1831553,134n/a29.4n/a
1841650,000n/a17.560.07
1851892,061n/a37.048.32
18611,111,566n/a24.944.42
18711,191,516n/a7.932.3
18811,359,027n/a14.131.4
18911,488,535n/a9.530.8
19011,648,898n/a10.830.7
19112,005,776n/a21.627.8
19212,360,665n/a17.826.9
19312,874,255n/a21.827.7
19413,331,882n/a15.929.0
19514,055,681n/a21.828.9
19564,628,37814.1n/a28.8
19615,259,21113.629.728.8
19665,780,8459.924.928.8
19716,027,7654.314.627.9
19766,234,4453.47.827.1
19816,438,4033.36.826.4
19866,532,4601.54.825.8
19916,895,9635.67.125.2
19967,138,7953.59.324.5
20017,237,4791.45.023.8
20067,546,1314.35.723.4
20117,903,0014.79.223.1
20128,085,900n/an/a23.3
20138,155,500n/an/a23.2
20148,214,500n/an/a23.1
20158,259,500n/an/a23.0
20168,326,1005.316.623.0
20178,398,2003.8n/a22.0

Source: Statistics Canada
% Province of Canada population

Vital statistics

Age structure: '
Age groupsTotalMaleFemale
0–4 years444,930227,965216,970
5–9 years469,165240,225228,940
10–14 years419,160214,345204,815
15–19 years429,825219,070210,755
20-24 years500,100252,600247,500
25-29 years495,410248,030247,380
30-34 years 515,505256,440259,070
35–39 years550,540274,595275,945
40–44 years506,525254,100252,425
45–49 years519,425260,410259,015
50–54 years619,435309,070310,370
55–59 years636,475314,190322,285
60–64 years562,670276,140286,535
65-69 years488,175236,395251,775
70-74 years373,590176,905196,690
75-79 years256,905116,020140,890
80-84 years187,83578,390109,450
85 years and over188,68561,885126,805
Total8,164,3604,016,7604,147,605

Quebec's fertility rate is now higher than the Canadian average. At 1.74 children per woman in 2008, it is above the Canada-wide rate of 1.59, and has increased for five consecutive years, reaching its highest level since 1976. However, it is still below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman. 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 minimal immigration, a natural growth rate matched today only by some African countries.
Although Quebec is home to only 23.0% 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: 0.7%
Birth rate: 9.9%
Synthetic fertility index: 1.61
Death rate: 7.4%
Net migration rate: 4.1%
Infant mortality rate: 0.46%
Stillbirth rate: 3.8% -- 3.5% notwithstanding requested abortions
Life expectancy: In 2002, life expectancy was 76.3 years for males and 81.9 years for females.
Urbanisation: In 2001, 80.4% of Quebecers lived in urban areas.
Literacy: International Adult Literacy Survey 47% Prose, 42% Document, 40% Quantitative
Note: This is not the official literacy rate, and should not be used in comparisons with rates calculated using different procedures.

Languages

Mother tongue language

Language spoken at home

LanguagePopulationPercentage
French6,027,73581.1
English744,43010.0
Both English and French52,3250.7
Non-official languages518,3207.0
Both French and a non-official language54,4900.7
Both English and a non-official language26,5600.4
French, English and a non-official language12,0350.2
Total population7,435,905100

Knowledge of languages

The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses. The following figures are from the 2016 Canadian Census, and lists languages that were selected by at least one per cent of respondents.
LanguageResponses%
French7,522,35094.43
English3,930,69049.35
Spanish390,3554.90
Arabic267,9653.37
Italian173,7102.18
Haitian Creole108,3151.36

Ethnic origin

Ethnic originPopulationPercent
Colombian14,8450.20%
Mexican14,2150.19%
Berbers13,4150.18%
Inuit12,9150.17%
Iranian12,3700.17%
Peruvian12,3350.17%
Jamaican11,9350.16%
Pakistani11,7100.16%
Chilean11,5850.16%
Turk11,3850.15%
Austrian11,2950.15%
Sri Lankan10,7500.14%
Congolese10,1900.14%
Cambodian10,1750.14%
Welsh9,8150.13%
Black9,5200.13%
Tunisian7,8700.11%
Bulgarian6,9550.09%
Guatemalan6,8800.09%
Laotian6,4250.09%
Norwegian6,3500.09%
Bangladeshi6,0950.08%
Yugoslav6,0900.08%
Swedish5,9750.08%
Afghan5,8550.08%
Lithuanians5,6650.08%
Korean5,5550.07%
Czech5,5400.07%
West Indian5,4200.07%
Barbadian5,3400.07%
Croatian5,3300.07%
Latin/Central/South American5,2700.07%
European5,1300.07%
Danish5,1300.07%
Palestinian4,9400.07%
Trinidadian/Tobagonian4,8100.06%
Japanese4,5600.06%
Slovak4,5600.06%

Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents 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:
Origins2001%
North American4,989,23070.02%
French2,123,18529.80%
British Isles547,7907.69%
Southern European409,0955.74%
Aboriginal159,9002.24%
Western European153,7502.16%
Arab135,7501.91%
East and Southeast Asian132,2801.86%

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

Future Projections

Visible minorities and Aboriginals

The 2006 census counted a total aboriginal population of 108,425 including 65,085 North American Indians, 27,985 Métis, and 10,950 Inuit. There is a significant undercount, as many of the biggest Indian bands regularly refuse to participate in Canadian censuses for political reasons regarding the question of aboriginal sovereignty. In particular, the largest Mohawk Iroquois reserves were not counted.

Migration

Immigration

Quebec welcomes about 50,000 immigrants per year. The 2016 Canadian census counted a total of 1,091,305 immigrants living in Quebec. The most commonly reported countries of birth for all immigrants living in Quebec were:
RankCountry of originNumber
1.France81,225
2.Haiti80,965
3.Morocco60,695
4.Algeria59,460
5.Italy51,025
6.China49,555
7.Lebanon39,140
8.Romania28,690
9.United States25,960
10.Colombia25,575
11.Vietnam25,440
12.Philippines24,410
13.Egypt19,490
14.Portugal18,985
15.Greece18,420
16.India17,865
17.Syria17,775
18.Iran17,760
19.Mexico15,820
20.Tunisia14,775

Quebec

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.

Religion

Quebec is unique among the provinces in its overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population, though now has a low church attendance. This is a legacy of colonial times when only Roman Catholics were permitted to settle in New France.
Religion Denomination Congregation Proportion
Catholic Christian5,939,79583.6%
Roman Catholic5,930,38583.23%
Ukrainian Catholic3,4300.05%
Protestant Christian335,5954.71%
Anglican85,4751.20%
United Church of Canada52,9500.74%
Baptist35,4550.50%
Pentecostal22,6700.32%
Lutheran9,6400.14%
Presbyterian8,7700.12%
Methodist8,7250.12%
Adventist6,6900.09%
Mission de l'Esprit Saint7650.01%
Orthodox Christian100,3751.41%
Greek Orthodox50,0200.70%
Armenian Orthodox4,9350.07%
Russian Orthodox2,1850.03%
Coptic Orthodox2,0100.03%
Antiochian Orthodox1,0500.01%
Ukrainian Orthodox9850.01%
Serbian Orthodox9200.01%
Other Christian56,7550.80%
Muslim108,6201.52%
Jewish89,9201.26%
Buddhist41,3750.58%
Hindu24,5300.34%
Sikh8,2200.12%
Other eastern religions3,4250.05%
Bahá'í1,1550.02%
Pagan1,3300.02%
Aboriginal spirituality7400.01%
No religious affiliation413,1855.80%
No religion400,3255.62%
Atheist4,3350.02%
Agnostic12,6000.06%

Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents. Only groups of more than 0.01% are shown.