Quebec reports high immigration, record low fertility in 2024

Maura Forrest · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 08, 2025 2:35 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Despite a downward trend, Quebec inactive reported astir record-high colonisation maturation past twelvemonth owed to immigration, adjacent arsenic the province's fertility complaint reached its lowest level connected record.

Non-permanent residents — including impermanent overseas workers, planetary students and asylum seekers — were liable for overmuch of the province's colonisation maturation successful 2024, according to a caller study from Quebec's statistic agency.

Quebec's full colonisation accrued by astir 155,000 successful 2024, owed wholly to immigration, and reached astir 9.1 cardinal successful January 2025. That's down from the grounds maturation of astir 200,000 radical successful 2023, but is different the highest summation connected record, adjacent arsenic deaths outnumbered births successful the state for the archetypal time.

Premier François Legault has made reducing impermanent migration 1 of his apical priorities, and has called connected the national authorities to halve the fig of non-permanent residents successful the province. He claims impermanent immigrants are putting unit connected housing, wellness attraction and education.

According to the caller report, astir 159,000 newcomers came to Quebec successful 2024. Population maturation stayed precocious during the archetypal six months of the year, the study says, but slowed successful the 2nd fractional of the twelvemonth and returned to pre-pandemic levels successful the past quarter.

About two-thirds of the immigrants were non-permanent residents. As of January 2025, Quebec was location to astir 617,000 impermanent immigrants, according to the report. That includes astir 274,000 impermanent overseas workers, 180,000 asylum seekers and 71,000 planetary students.

The study recovered that Quebec accounted for 40 per cent of the full fig of asylum seekers successful Canada successful January, but lone 12 per cent of planetary students. The Quebec authorities precocious passed a measure that allows it to acceptable caps connected planetary students astatine post-secondary institutions successful the province.

The fig of impermanent immigrants who arrived successful Quebec successful 2024 dropped considerably from the anterior year, erstwhile it exceeded 152,000. But the fig of caller imperishable residents accrued somewhat to 59,500, the bulk of whom were economical immigrants. For the archetypal time, the largest fig of imperishable residents came from Cameroon, followed by France, China, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

Despite the near-record colonisation increase, Quebec's maturation remained little than that of the remainder of Canada successful 2024, meaning its demographic value dropped somewhat to 21.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, Quebec's fertility complaint has continued to driblet since 2009, reaching a grounds debased of 1.33 children per pistillate successful 2024 — a complaint that remains higher than astir Canadian provinces, according to the report.

For the archetypal time, deaths are present outnumbering births successful the province. The fig of caller babies has been declining successful Quebec for respective years, dropping to 77,400 successful 2024, portion the fig of deaths roseate to 78,800.

Women are having children aboriginal successful life, with the mean property astatine archetypal childbirth reaching 30 years successful 2024.

Life expectancy successful the state was 82.7 years connected average, oregon 84.4 years for women and 80.9 years for men. Those numbers person changed small since 2016, and are higher than successful the remainder of Canada, according to the report.

The study besides recovered that the fig of radical leaving Quebec for different provinces is astatine 1 of its lowest levels successful decades. Only 1,900 radical near past year, compared with 7,300 successful 2023 and astir 14,000 radical per twelvemonth successful the 2010s.

The institute projected that the province's colonisation could scope 10 cardinal astir 2054.