Why Québec?
Business Environment

With a population of over 8 million, Québec is a major economic player on the Canadian scene.

Illustration indicating “$92 billion in exports”, close to 70% to the U.S.”

The province’s unemployment rate has dropped significantly in recent years, down to 5.5% in 2018.
The value of Québec’s exports hit $92 billion in 2018, close to 70% of them going to the U.S.
Québec City and Lévis are part of the first Foreign Trade Zone in Québec and the ninth in Canada. This hub of international trade is set to attract more investors and help businesses access foreign markets.

Photo of an Amazon delivery box, Montreal distribution center In announcing the opening of its data centre in Montréal, Amazon Web Services (AWS) cited the cost and availability of electricity as decisive factors in its choice to locate there. Teresa Carlson, AWS’s Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector, said, “We picked the area that we did because of the hydropower. We did find them (Québec) to be very business friendly.”

Source: Site Selection

Québec: A free-trade champion
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Nearly 66% of Canada’s GDP is tied to international trade, making Canada one of the world’s most open economies.

Québec has privileged access to the planet’s two biggest free-trade zones:

the North American market, with close to 500 million consumers, thanks to CUSMA;
the European market, with over 500 million consumers, thanks to CETA.
the Asian market, with nearly 500 million consumers, thanks to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Here are some of the free-trade agreements in place:

CETA: Canada and the European Union
CUSMA: United States, Mexico and Canada
CKFTA: Canada and South Korea
CCFTA: Canada and Chile
Agreements reached with Israel, Peru, Colombia, Jordan, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica and, most recently, Ukraine
Canadian Free Trade Agreement

The Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) is an intergovernmental trade agreement signed by Canadian first ministers that entered into force on July 1, 2017. Its objective is to enhance interprovincial trade and to establish an open, efficient and stable domestic market.

Share in our linguistic and cultural diversity!
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Québec has an asset that is unique in North America: its linguistic and cultural diversity.

In addition to French and English, some 150 languages are spoken in Québec, including Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Greek, Chinese, German and Portuguese.