The economy of Quebec is diversified and post-industrial with an average potential for growth. It is highly integrated with the economies of the rest of Canada and the United States. Manufacturing and service sectors dominate the economy.
The economic heart of Quebec is the Montreal metropolitan area where half of Quebecers live. This region alone accounts for 53.4% of the province's gross domestic product (GDP), followed by the Quebec City metropolitan area (11.4%), Gatineau (3.2%), Sherbrooke (2.2%), Saguenay (1.9%) and Trois-Rivières (1.8%). In total, Quebec's GDP at market prices was CAD 380.9 billion or 19.0% of Canada's GDP.
For the 2022-2023 period, Quebec's budget was C$22 billion. This budget planned to provide $8,9 billion more to the healthcare sector over 5 years. The economy of Quebec represents 20.36% of the total GDP of Canada. Like most industrialized countries, the economy of Quebec is based mainly on the services sector. Quebec's economy has traditionally been fuelled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and average productivity. The provincial GDP in 2021 was C$504,5 billion, making Quebec the second largest economy in Canada.
The provincial debt-to-GDP ratio peaked at 50.7% in fiscal year 2012–2013, is now resting at 38.1 in 2022, and is projected to decline to 33.8% in 2023–2024. The credit rating of Quebec is currently Aa2 according to the Moody's agency. In June 2017, Standard & Poor's (S&P) rated Quebec as an AA- credit risk, surpassing Ontario for the first time.
Quebec's economy has undergone tremendous changes over the last decade. Firmly grounded in the knowledge economy, Quebec has one of the highest growth rate of GDP in Canada. The knowledge sector represents about 30.9% of Quebec's GDP. In 2011, Quebec experienced faster growth of its research-and-development (R&D) spending than other Canadian provinces. Quebec's spending in R&D in 2021 was equal to C$4.1B or, above the European Union average of 1.84% and will have to reaches the target of devoting 3% of GDP to research and development activities in 2013 according to the Lisbon Strategy. The percentage spent on research and technology is the highest in Canada and higher than the averages for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the G7 countries. Approximately 1.1 million Quebecers work in the field of science and technology.
Economic policies
Environmental and energy policy
Since 2006, Quebec has a green plan in order to achieve the objective of the Kyoto protocol on climate change. The Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs du Québec (Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks) is primarily responsible for implementing environmental policy. For its part, the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (SEPAQ) is the lead agency for the management of national parks and wildlife reserves. Quebec currently protects nearly 8.12% (135,326 km2) of its territory. The first protected area was the creation of Mt. Royal Park in 1876 followed by the Mont-Tremblant National Park in 1894.
The Quebec government has been working to introduce the electric car since 1994, including contributing financing for technologies such as the TM4 MФTIVE, an electric motor designed and manufactured in Quebec. Hydro-Québec has recently tested more than 50 i-MiEV in order to gradually introduce the charging stations across the province. This is the largest pilot test of electric cars in Canada. Quebec was the first province in Canada to allow the ZENN car to drive on the roads. During the inaugural speech of 2011, Jean Charest announced five priorities for the next 30 years including the Plan Nord and called for a revolution in electric cars.