For the administrative divisions of Quebec with a meaningful government, see Regional county municipality.
The province of Quebec, Canada, is officially divided into 17 administrative regions. Traditionally (and unofficially), it is divided into around twenty regions. They have no government of their own, but rather serve primarily to organize the provision of provincial government services, most significantly the allocation of regional economic development funding. As of the 2021 Canadian census, the population of Quebec was 8,501,833, the land area was 1,298,599.75 km (501,392.17 sq mi) and the population density was 6.54 inhabitants per square kilometre (16.9/sq mi).
Function
Administrative regions are used to organize the delivery of provincial government services. They were also the basis of organization for regional conferences of elected officers (French: conférences régionales des élus, CRÉ), with the exception of the Montérégie and Nord-du-Québec regions, which each had three CRÉs or equivalent bodies. In the Nord-du-Québec region, the Kativik Regional Government and Cree Regional Authority, in addition to their other functions, played the role of a CRÉ. The subregions of Montérégie and Nord-du-Québec had their own regional conference of elected officers (CRÉ).
Administrative regions
Along with the administrative regions, municipalities with 20,000-plus populations in the 2021 Census are also indicated, with those 50,000 or more shown in bold print.
| Code | Region | Population Canada 2021 Census |
Land area | Density (pop. per km) |
Major cities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Bas-Saint-Laurent | 199,039 | 22,188.19 km (8,566.91 sq mi) | 9.0 | Rimouski, Rivière-du-Loup |
| 02 | Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean | 275,552 | 95,542.70 km (36,889.24 sq mi) | 2.9 | Alma, Saguenay |
| 03 | Capitale-Nationale | 757,950 | 18,684.78 km (7,214.23 sq mi) | 40.6 | Quebec City |
| 04 | Mauricie | 273,055 | 35,475.80 km (13,697.28 sq mi) | 7.7 | Shawinigan, Trois-Rivières |
| 05 | Estrie | 337,701 | 10,197.88 km (3,937.42 sq mi) | 33.1 | Granby, Magog, Sherbrooke |
| 06 | Montréal | 2,004,265 | 498.29 km (192.39 sq mi) | 4,022.3 | Côte-Saint-Luc, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Mont-Royal, Montreal, Pointe-Claire |
| 07 | Outaouais | 405,158 | 30,457.52 km (11,759.71 sq mi) | 13.3 | Gatineau |
| 08 | Abitibi-Témiscamingue | 147,082 | 57,325.74 km (22,133.59 sq mi) | 2.6 | Rouyn-Noranda, Val-d'Or |
| 09 | Côte-Nord | 88,525 | 234,442.27 km (90,518.67 sq mi) | 0.4 | Baie-Comeau, Sept-Îles |
| 10 | Nord-du-Québec | 45,740 | 707,306.52 km (273,092.57 sq mi) | 0.06 | |
| 11 | Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine | 89,342 | 20,271.24 km (7,826.77 sq mi) | 4.4 | |
| 12 | Chaudière-Appalaches | 433,312 | 15,071.51 km (5,819.14 sq mi) | 28.8 | Lévis, Saint-Georges, Thetford-Mines |
| 13 | Laval | 438,366 | 246.13 km (95.03 sq mi) | 1,781.0 | Laval |
| 14 | Lanaudière | 528,598 | 12,300.62 km (4,749.30 sq mi) | 43.0 | Joliette, L'Assomption, Mascouche, Repentigny, Saint-Lin-Laurentides, Terrebonne |
| 15 | Laurentides | 636,083 | 20,557.42 km (7,937.26 sq mi) | 30.9 | Blainville, Boisbriand, Mirabel, Saint-Eustache, Saint-Jérôme, Sainte-Thérèse |
| 16 | Montérégie | 1,591,620 | 11,111.82 km (4,290.30 sq mi) | 143.2 | Beloeil, Boucherville, Brossard, Candiac, Chambly, Châteauguay, La Prairie, Longueuil, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Saint-Constant, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Saint-Lambert, Saint-Lazare, Sainte-Julie, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Sorel-Tracy, Varennes, Vaudreuil-Dorion |
| 17 | Centre-du-Québec | 250,445 | 6,921.32 km (2,672.34 sq mi) | 36.2 | Drummondville, Victoriaville |
| Total | 8,501,833 | 1,298,599.75 km (501,392.17 sq mi) | 6.5 |
- Mauricie–Bois-Francs was split in 1997 to create Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec administrative regions (note, the notion of Mauricie as a traditional region long predates this)
- In January 2000, Québec administrative region was renamed Capitale-Nationale.
Historical and traditional names
Quebec has a number of regions that go by historical and traditional names. Often, they have similar but distinct French and English names.
- Abitibi
- Lower Saint Lawrence (Bas-Saint-Laurent)
- Beauce (within Chaudière-Appalaches)
- Bois-Francs (within Centre-du-Québec)
- Charlevoix (eastern part of the Capitale-Nationale administrative region)
- Chateauguay Valley
- North Shore/Lower North Shore
- Eastern Townships (Cantons-de-l'Est)
- Gaspésie/Gaspé
- Lac-Saint-Jean/Lake St. John
- Magdalen Islands (Îles de la Madeleine)
- James Bay (Jamésie)
- Lanaudière
- Laurentians (Laurentides)
- Mauricie
- Montérégie
- Montreal region/Greater Montreal/Island of Montreal
- Nord-du-Québec (or Grand-Nord)
- Nunavik
- Ottawa Valley
- Outaouais
- Pontiac
- Quebec City region (corresponds to Capitale-Nationale)
- Rupert's Land
- Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
- South Shore (Montreal) (Rive-Sud)
- Timiskaming (Témiscamingue)
- Ungava District
See also
- Administrative divisions of Canada
- Administrative divisions of Quebec
- Culture of Quebec#Regional cultures
- Regional county municipality
- Lists of people from Quebec by region
- Regional conference of elected officers (CRÉ)
- Regional municipality, a type of municipal government in Ontario
Notes
- Coextensive with the urban agglomeration of the same name
- Coextensive with the equivalent territory and municipality of the same name
References
- Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2022-02-09). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories". www150.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
- "Population and Dwelling Count Highlight Tables, 2021 Census - Economic regions". 2021 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. 2017-02-06. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
| Administrative divisions of Quebec | |
|---|---|
| Subdivisions | |
| Communities | |
| Major cities | |
| Regions | |
| Portal:Canada | |
| List of regions of Canada (by province or territory) | |
|---|---|
| Provinces | |
| Territories | |
