Québec - Joie de Vivre
From beautiful Canadian parks and wildlife, to preserved historical sites and stunning buildings, Québec combines the Canadian experience with its own unique Francophone culture. Whether you are looking for a thriving economy, or cultural vitality, Québec offers both and is second largest administrative division in Canada.
Québec has one of Canada’s largest reserves of fresh water covering 12% of its 595,391 square mile (1,542,056 square kilometer) surface. The province’s parks and wildlife offer great opportunities for hiking, moose watching, mountain biking, canoeing, fishing, hunting and mini-rafting. Meanwhile, with its history as a colonial regime, Québec offers evidence of its past with preserved mills, lighthouses, ancestral homes, covered bridges and historic churches and chapels.
The province is predominantly French-speaking, and has a population of just over 7.9 million people. Deeply rooted in the soil of North America and fiercely proud of its French heritage, Québec is a delightful blend of the Old and New World. Its enthusiastic and friendly people are known for their passion, spontaneity and unique joie de vivre.
Québec is graced with an incredible variety of landscapes, including a fertile fluvial plain between the Canadian Shield to the North, the Appalachian Mountains to the South, and wide swaths of forest, taiga and tundra, all of which share over a million lakes and thousands of rivers. Additionally, the entire southern portion of Quebec is dissected by the St. Lawrence, one of the largest rivers in the world.
The metropolitan area of Montréal offers everything of the average large city, but it is also one-of-a-kind, multicultural area that blends its French accent with that of over 80 other ethnic communities.Visitors are charmed by its Euro-American ambiance. Montréal is also innovative and invigorating, offering a whirlwind of cultural creations, both traditional and modern. Its downtown bustles with life at the foot of its mountain, while history is rooted in the old quarters near the river. With its year-round party atmosphere, Montréal beats to the rhythm of its festivals: jazz, comedy, cinema, fireworks and more! The city beckons you to discover its fashionable boutiques and famed cuisine. It’s no wonder that Celine Dion’s Montreal-area mansion topped the Québec real-estate charts in May 2012!
Québec’s Laurentides region is home to its largest protected area. Parc National du Mont-tremblant has a wide array of outdoor sports. Nestled at the base of the 968 meter (3,176-foot) mountain of the same name, the village of Tremblant repeatedly tops the list of eastern North America’s best resorts. The liveliness of its pedestrian village combined with a great range of activities such as downhill and cross-country skiing, swimming, cycling, golf, and luge are but a few to have earned Tremblant its enviable popularity.
The beauty of Québec’s ability to preserve history and culture, while continuing to thrive as Canada’s only predominantly French Province, makes it a truly remarkable province. Its historical roots, paired with its modern culture, and opportunity for outdoor activity, offer something for every interest, and make it one of the most diverse and developed provinces in Canada.