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 (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.[1] According to the 2011 census, 95% of Quebec is francophone, with less than 5% of the population not able to speak French.

Canada Quebec Density 2016

Quebec is also home to "one of the world's most valuable founder populations", the Quebec Founder Population.[2] 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.[2][3] About seven million Canadians (along with several million French Americans in the United States) are descendants of these original 2,600 colonists.[2]

Population

Population since 1824:

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 ^a % Province of Canada population

Vital statistics

Age structure[4]: (2016 census)

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

Quebec's fertility rate is now higher than the Canadian average. At 1.74 children per woman in 2008,[5] it is above the Canada-wide rate of 1.59, and has increased for five consecutive years, reaching its highest level since 1976.[5] 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% (2006)

Birth rate: 9.9% (2005)

Synthetic fertility index: 1.61 (2006)

Death rate: 7.4% (2003)

Net migration rate: 4.1% (2003)

Infant mortality rate: 0.46% (2004)

Stillbirth rate: 3.8% -- 3.5% notwithstanding requested abortions (2002)

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 (1996) Note: This is not the official literacy rate, and should not be used in comparisons with rates calculated using different procedures.

Languages

Main article: Language demographics of Quebec

Mother tongue language

Mother tongue language (Statistics Canada: 2006,[6] 2001,[7] 1996[8])

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 (Statistics Canada: 2006[6])

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

Knowledge of languages

Knowledge of official languages of Canada in Quebec
Language			Percent
English only			4.62%
French only			49.99%
English and French			44.46%
Neither English nor French			0.93%

The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses. The following figures are from the 2016 Canadian Census,[9] and lists languages that were selected by at least one per cent of respondents.

Language	Responses	%
French	7,522,350	94.43
English	3,930,690	49.35
Spanish	390,355	4.90
Arabic	267,965	3.37
Italian	173,710	2.18
Haitian Creole	108,315	1.36

Ethnic origin

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%
Quebecer	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%
Morrocan	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.[10]

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[11]

Future Projections

Ethnic origin by regional group

Group	2016[12]		2036[13][14]
	Number	% of 2016 population (8,164,361)	Number	% of 2036 estimated population (9,526,000)
European origins	6,750,200	87.4%	7,029,000	73.8%
Middle Eastern and South Asian origins	336,480	4.2%	790,000	8.3%
African origins	319,230	4.0%	688,000	7.2%
East and Southeast Asian origins	209,860	2.6%	403,000	4.2%
Aboriginal origins	182,885	2.3%	280,000	2.9%
Latin, Central and South American origins	133,920	1.7%	259,000	2.7%
Other	32,885	0.4%	76,000	0.8%
*Percentages total over 100% due to multiple responses, e.g. German-Indian, Norwegian-Irish.

Visible minorities and Aboriginals

The 2006 census counted a total aboriginal population of 108,425 (1.5%) including 65,085 North American Indians (0.9%), 27,985 Métis (0.4%), and 10,950 Inuit (0.15%). 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 (Kahnawake, Akwesasne and Kanesatake) were not counted.{Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents (7,435,905)}[15]

Visible minority and Aboriginal population (Canada 2011 Census)
Population group		Population	% of total population
European		6,740,370	87.2%
Visible minority group Source:[16]	South Asian	83,320	1.1%
	Chinese	82,845	1.1%
	Black	243,625	3.2%
	Filipino	31,495	0.4%
	Latin American	116,380	1.5%
	Arab	166,260	2.2%
	Southeast Asian	65,855	0.9%
	West Asian	23,445	0.3%
	Korean	6,665	0.1%
	Japanese	4,025	0.1%
	Visible minority, n.i.e.	8,895	0.1%
	Multiple visible minority	17,420	0.2%
Total visible minority population		850,235	11%
Aboriginal group Source:[16]	First Nations	82,425	1.1%
	Métis	40,960	0.5%
	Inuit	12,570	0.2%
	Aboriginal, n.i.e.	4,415	0.1%
	Multiple Aboriginal identity	1,545	0%
Total Aboriginal population		141,915	1.8%
Total population		7,732,520	100%

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:[17]

Rank	Country of origin	Number
1.	France	81,225
2.	Haiti	80,965
3.	Morocco	60,695
4.	Algeria	59,460
5.	Italy	51,025
6.	China	49,555
7.	Lebanon	39,140
8.	Romania	28,690
9.	United States	25,960
10.	Colombia	25,575
11.	Vietnam	25,440
12.	Philippines	24,410
13.	Egypt	19,490
14.	Portugal	18,985
15.	Greece	18,420
16.	India	17,865
17.	Syria	17,775
18.	Iran	17,760
19.	Mexico	15,820
20.	Tunisia	14,775

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. Between 1981 and 2017, Quebec lost 229,700 people below the age of 45 to interprovincial migration.[18] 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.[19]

Interprovincial Migration Between Quebec and Other Provinces and Territories by Mother Tongue[20]

Mother Tongue / Year	1971–1976	1976–1981	1981–1986	1986–1991	1991–1996	1996–2001	2001–2006	2006–2011	Total
French	−4,100	−18,000	−12,900	5,200	1,200	−8,900	5,000	−2,610	−35,110
English	−52,200	−106,300	−41,600	−22,200	−24,500	−29,200	−8,000	−5,930	−289,630
Other	−5,700	−17,400	−8,700	−8,600	−14,100	−19,100	−8,700	−12,711	−95,011

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[21]

Religion

Religion in Quebec (2011 National Household Survey)[22]

  Roman Catholicism (74.7%)

  Other Christian (7.5%)

  Non-religious (12.1%)

  Islam (3.1%)

  Hinduism (0.4%)

  Sikhism (0.1%)

  Buddhism (0.7%)

  Judaism (1.1%)

  Other religions (0.3%)

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 (2001)	Denomination (2001)	Congregation (2001)	Proportion (2001)
Catholic Christian		5,939,795	83.6%
	Roman Catholic	5,930,385	83.23%
	Ukrainian Catholic	3,430	0.05%
Protestant Christian		335,595	4.71%
	Anglican	85,475	1.20%
	United Church of Canada	52,950	0.74%
	Baptist	35,455	0.50%
	Pentecostal	22,670	0.32%
	Lutheran	9,640	0.14%
	Presbyterian	8,770	0.12%
	Methodist	8,725	0.12%
	Adventist	6,690	0.09%
	Mission de l'Esprit Saint	765	0.01%
Orthodox Christian		100,375	1.41%
	Greek Orthodox	50,020	0.70%
	Armenian Orthodox	4,935	0.07%
	Russian Orthodox	2,185	0.03%
	Coptic Orthodox	2,010	0.03%
	Antiochian Orthodox	1,050	0.01%
	Ukrainian Orthodox	985	0.01%
	Serbian Orthodox	920	0.01%
Other Christian		56,755	0.80%
Muslim		108,620	1.52%
Jewish		89,920	1.26%
Buddhist		41,375	0.58%
Hindu		24,530	0.34%
Sikh		8,220	0.12%
Other eastern religions		3,425	0.05%
	Bahá'í	1,155	0.02%
Pagan		1,330	0.02%
Aboriginal spirituality		740	0.01%
No religious affiliation		413,185	5.80%
	No religion	400,325	5.62%
	Atheist	4,335	0.02%
	Agnostic	12,600	0.06%

Percentages are calculated as a proportion of the total number of respondents (7,125,580 in 2001). Only groups of more than 0.01% are shown. [23]

See also

BC

AB

SK

MB

ON

QC

NB

PE

NS

NL

YT

NT

NU

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 Canada
• Population of Canada by province and territory

References

1. "Census 2011 FOLS". Statistics Canada.
2. Amber LePage-Monette. "Powerful Population". BioScienceWorld.ca. Promotive Communications. Archived from the original on 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
3. Flanagan, Nina (August 2005). "Bioresearch Highlights Significance of SNPs". Genetic Engineering News. 25 (14). Mary Ann Liebert. pp. 1, 27–29. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
4. "Census Profile, 2016 Census". Statistics Canada. August 9, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2009-06-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. Statistics Canada. "2006 Community Profiles". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
7. Statistics Canada. "2001 Community Profiles". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
8. Statistics Canada. "1996 Community Profiles". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
9. "Census Profile, 2016 Census - Saskatchewan [Province] and Quebec [Province] - Language". statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
10. Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories - 20% sample data.
11. Ethnic Origin (232), Sex (3) and Single and Multiple Responses (3) (2001 Census)
12. "Census Profile, 2016 Census Quebec [Province] and Canada [Country]". Retrieved 23 April 2020.
13. "Population by visible minority group, place of residence and projection scenario, Canada, 2011 and 2036". Retrieved 23 April 2020.
14. "Projections of the Aboriginal Population and Households in Canada 2011 to 2036" (PDF). Retrieved 23 April 2020.
15. Aboriginal Population Profile (2006 Census)
16. , NHS Profile, Quebec, 2011, Statistics Canada
17. Immigrant Status and Period of Immigration (11), Place of Birth (272), Age (7A) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Divisions and Census Subdivisions, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data
18. Serebrin, Jacob; July 26, Montreal Gazette Updated; 2018 (2018-07-26). "Quebec losing young people to interprovincial migration, report shows | Montreal Gazette". Retrieved 2018-12-28.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
19. "Net population gains or losses from interprovincial migration by language group, provinces and territories, 1991-1996 and 1996-2001". Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
20. "Factors Affecting the Evolution of Language Groups". Statistics Canada. Archived from the original on 2019-05-26. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
21. Statistics Canada, table 051-0012: Interprovincial migrants, by age group and sex, Canada, provinces and territories, annual.
22. 2011 National Household Survey: Data tables
23. Religion (95) and Immigrant Status (Census 2001)

External links

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