Province profile

Quebec

A large, diversified economy with a strong cooperation grade — but the one province where language-of-labelling rules (Charter of the French Language / Bill 96) add a real compliance step beyond tax and registration that businesses from other provinces often don't expect.

Overview

Population

9,016,222

Local time

Internal-trade grade

Net debt / GDP

39.7%

Worth knowing

The only province with its own separate personal income tax return and its own pension plan (QPP) instead of CPP.

Population: Statistics Canada, as of 2026-04-01. Internal-trade grade: CFIB 2026 report card. Net debt/GDP: a compiled cross-provincial estimate, not a single official StatCan table — shown as a data gap for territories rather than assumed zero.

Economy & key industries

Primary sectors

AerospaceManufacturingHydroelectric powerTechnology (AI, gaming)Agri-food

Doing business here

Sales tax

GST 5% + QST 9.975%

Minimum wage

$16.60/hr, effective 2026-05-01

Corp. tax (small biz / general)

11.2% / 26.5%

Corporate registry

Registraire des entreprises du Québec (REQ)

Employment standards

Quebec Act respecting labour standards

Workers' compensation

CNESST

Extra-provincial registration by business type

Assuming you're coming from another province with no physical presence in Quebec yet — the most common starting point. Your actual answer depends on your specific presence and revenue; run the full lookup tool for that.

Business type	Extra-provincial registration
Retail / e-commerce goods	Likely not required
Professional services	Likely not required
Regulated trades & licensing	Depends — confirm
Healthcare & medical professionals	Depends — confirm
Alcohol / cannabis DTC	Likely not required
Trucking & logistics	Likely not required
Food & beverage	Depends — confirm

Trade & market access

Investment / trade office

Investissement Québec

Government tenders

SEAO — Système électronique d'appel d'offres

Liquor & cannabis authority

Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ)

Commercial transport authority

Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ)

Live federal tender listings and business-registry search across all 13 jurisdictions are also on the Resources page.

AI research brief

Have Claude search reputable sources only — Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada, provincial governments, major bank economics desks, established policy institutes, and wire/business press — for current context on Quebec's economy and policy climate. Separate from the sourced dataset above.

Run your own check All provinces

Guidance snapshot: 2026-08-05. Broader review pending. Informational only — not legal advice.