What Natural Resources Does Quebec Have in Abundance?

Quebec covers nearly 1.7 million square kilometres, from the southern St. Lawrence Valley, where most Quebecers live, to the far northern Inuit village of Ivujivik in Nunavik ^[14][16]. As Canada’s largest province, it shouldn't be a surprise that it has a wide range of natural resources, from fast-flowing rivers and vast forests to abundant reserves of gold, iron ore, critical minerals, and yes, even natural gas, despite an exploration and development ban.

Today, these resources (except natural gas) support hundreds of thousands of jobs, fund public services, and supply the everyday products Canadians and customers worldwide rely on.

Below are several facts showing what natural resources Quebec has in abundance and how the La Belle Province relies on them as a source of strength.

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• What Natural Resources Does Nova Scotia Have in Abundance?

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Hydroelectricity in Quebec

Quick Facts

#1 – Hydro-Québec operated 62 hydroelectric generating stations in Quebec at the end of 2025, with a combined installed capacity of 36,809 megawatts (MW) ^[1]

#2 – Quebec produced 172.5 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of hydroelectricity in 2024, or 50.2% of all hydroelectricity generated in Canada, making it an absolute hydro powerhouse ^[2]

#3 – The Robert-Bourassa station in northern Quebec has a capacity of 5,616 MW and is both Canada’s and North America's largest hydroelectricity-generating facility ^[1][4]

#4 – Hydro-Québec contributed $4.4 billion to the Quebec government's revenue in 2025, while its contribution to Quebec's GDP reached $26.1 billion ^[1]

#5 – Quebec exports significant amounts of electricity to states such as New England and New York ^[4]

Quebec is Canada’s hydro powerhouse, and for good reason. The province is home to 3% of the world’s fresh water, with countless interconnecting lakes, rivers, and streams. Hydro-Québec, the province’s government-owned utility provider, operates more than 60 hydroelectric generating stations connected to a robust power grid with nearly 260,000 kilometres (km) of transmission and distribution lines ^[13].

As a result, hydropower accounts for more than 94% of the electricity generated in the province, according to the latest available data ^[4]. The sector contributed $4.4 billion to Quebec’s revenue in 2025 and added more than $26 billion to provincial GDP ^[1], also making hydro a critical component of the province’s economy.

Learn more about Quebec's electricity sector and hydropower in Canada today.

Mining in Quebec

Quick Facts

#1 – Mining accounted for 4.9% of Quebec’s GDP in 2024, playing a critical role in economic opportunities for Quebecers ^[12]

#2 – Quebec's mineral production was valued at nearly $13.3 billion in 2025 (preliminary), more than one-fifth of Canada's total of nearly $61.7 billion ^[5]

#3 – Quebec mines produced about 28% of Canada's total gold output in 2024, second only to Ontario ^[6]

#4 – Quebec produced 41.8 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate in 2024, representing 60% of Canada's total production ^[7]

#5 – Quebec accounted for more than 37% of Canada's nickel mine production in 2024 at about 46,500 tonnes, second only to Ontario’s 50,000 tonnes of production ^[8]

#6 – The Lac des Iles mine in Quebec was the only active graphite-producing mine in Canada in 2024, while the North American Lithium mine near Val-d'Or, Quebec, restarted production in 2023 and is one of Canada's two producing lithium mines ^[9][10]

Quebec is one of Canada’s most prominent mining jurisdictions. Home to 32 producing mines in 2024, Quebec’s active mining operations include a wide range of metals and minerals such as iron, gold, nickel, niobium, titanium, lithium, graphite, salt, mica and feldspar, along with 31 major mining projects at the development stage, representing $23.6 billion in potential investment ^[12].

Gold and iron ore are two of the province’s most valuable mining resources. In 2025, Quebec's gold shipments were worth about $5.3 billion and its iron ore concentrate shipments about $4.0 billion (preliminary) ^[5].

Additionally, 9 of Canada's 10 primary aluminum smelters are located in Quebec, and Canada was the world's fourth-largest primary aluminum producer in 2024 at about 3.3 million tonnes ^[3].

Learn more about mining in Quebec and critical minerals found in Canada today.

Forestry in Quebec

Quick Facts

#1 – Quebec's forests cover more than 900,000 square kilometres, more than half of the province's land surface area ^[14]

#2 – Quebec is home to about 2% of the world's forests ^[14]

#3 – 92% of Quebec's forest area is under the responsibility of the provincial government ^[14]

#4 – Quebec's forest sector employed 57,298 people in 2024 and generated $6.6 billion in GDP and $11.5 billion in exports ^[14]

#5 – Quebec's 160 sawmills consumed about 24.2 million cubic metres (m³) of roundwood in 2024 ^[14]

Supporting nearly 58,000 direct jobs and contributing $6.6 billion to provincial GDP, the forestry sector plays a critical role in Quebec’s economy – particularly in vast, rural, and remote regions of the province where the sector is the most prominent.

Across Quebec, sawmills, pulp and paper mills and panel plants turn domestically harvested wood into products sold at home and abroad ^[14]. In 2024, Quebec harvested about 19.9 million m³ of wood from its public forests, compared with an annual allowable cut of about 31.5 million m³ ^[14]. That gap suggests the sector has room to supply more Canadian-made wood products.

Learn more about Quebec's forestry sector with these fun facts and statistics today!

Fresh Water in Quebec

Quick Facts

#1 – Quebec holds nearly 3% of the planet's renewable freshwater reserves ^[15]

#2 – The province has tens of thousands of rivers and about 3.6 million bodies of fresh water ^[16]

#3 – About 40% of Quebec's renewable freshwater is found in the St. Lawrence River basin ^[16]

#4 – Bodies of water, rivers, streams and the St. Lawrence River cover an area representing 22% of Quebec's territory ^[16]

#5 – Nearly 70% of Quebecers, or 5.7 million people, get their drinking water from surface water, and the St. Lawrence River alone supplies 2.5 million people ^[16]

With roughly 3.6 million bodies of fresh water, accounting for 3% of the planet’s reserves, Quebec’s fresh water sustains the drinking water supply for millions of Canadians.

This water supply also serves agriculture, energy production, industry and tourism across the province ^[16]. It fuels Quebec's hydroelectric system, which in turn supports energy-intensive industries such as aluminum smelting ^[3][4].

Learn more about Canada's fresh water resources today!

Agriculture & Maple Syrup in Quebec

Quick Facts

#1 – Quebec was home to 28,200 farms in 2024, down from 29,400 farms in 2021, where almost 90% of farming companies are small businesses with fewer than 10 employees ^[19]

#2 – Agriculture and agri-food contributed $29.7 billion to Quebec’s GDP, representing around 6.9% to 7.4% of the provincial economy ^[21]

#3 – Agriculture and agri-food support more than 530,000 jobs across Quebec, representing 12% of provincial employment ^[21]

#4 – Quebec produced 17 million gallons of maple syrup in 2025, accounting for 90.0% of Canada's production ^[17]

#5 – Quebec produced about 72.8% of the world's maple syrup in 2024 ^[18]

#6 – More than 13,300 Quebec maple producers operated 7,838 businesses in 2024, with a harvest valued at about $794 million ^[18]

Agriculture is another prominent resource-based Quebec industry, with the entire supply chain accounting for more than 530,000 jobs, or 12% of provincial employment. Contributing nearly $30 billion to GDP, it also accounts for around 7% of the economy.

Dairy, hog, field crops, and specialty items like maple syrup and berries are some of the most prominent agricultural subsectors in Quebec. The province is also the world’s maple syrup champion, accounting for nearly 73% of the world’s global supply in 2024.

Learn more about farming in Quebec today!

Challenges for Quebec's Natural Resource Economy

Despite having significant natural gas reserves estimated at 22 trillion cubic feet ^[22], Quebec does not allow oil or gas exploration or development. In 2022, its government passed Bill 21, an Act mainly to end petroleum exploration and production and the public financing of those activities ^[19]. This matters because Quebec imports significant amounts of the natural gas it relies on for heating, industry, and other uses from the United States, raising energy-security concerns if supplies were ever in jeopardy.

Additionally, the province's two refineries, in Montreal and Lévis, have a combined capacity of 402,000 barrels per day and receive crude oil from western Canada and the U.S. through Enbridge's Line 9, as well as by tanker and rail ^[4]. This presents another energy security concern, as the province relies heavily on imported oil.

Another challenge is heavy reliance on a single export market. In 2024, 91% of Canada's aluminum exports went to the United States ^[3], while Canadian softwood lumber shipped to the U.S. faces anti-dumping and countervailing duties along with a 10% Section 232 tariff that took effect on October 14, 2025 ^[20]. Quebec also exports a vast majority of its mining products to the U.S. 

Quebec is also seeing significant demand for electricity, pushing its provincial utility hydro provider to the limits. Its historic energy surpluses are projected to run out by 2027, driven by surging domestic demand and industrial electrification ^[23]. In short, Quebec will need to develop more hydro power plants or other forms of electricity generation to meet its future needs.

To secure a prosperous future, Canadians must support the continued development of Quebec's natural resources and the power plants, power lines, ports, railways and roads needed to support domestic use, but also reach new markets. Doing so will strengthen not only Quebec, but Canada as a whole.

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The world needs more Canadian mining, food, forestry and energy products! https://t.co/c4CnXSJoMZ

— Canada Action (@CanadaAction) October 3, 2026

SOURCES:

_{1 - https://www.hydroquebec.com/data/documents-donnees/pdf/hq-rapport-annuel-2025-anglais.pdf}

_{2 - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/251022/dq251022c-eng.htm}

_{3 - https://natural-resources.canada.ca/minerals-mining/mining-data-statistics-analysis/minerals-metals-facts/aluminum-facts}

_{4 - https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-markets/provincial-territorial-energy-profiles/provincial-territorial-energy-profiles-quebec.html}

_{5 - https://mmsd.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/PDF/MIS2025TableG01-en.pdf}

_{6 - https://natural-resources.canada.ca/minerals-mining/mining-data-statistics-analysis/minerals-metals-facts/gold-facts}

_{7 - https://natural-resources.canada.ca/minerals-mining/mining-data-statistics-analysis/minerals-metals-facts/iron-ore-facts}

_{8 - https://natural-resources.canada.ca/minerals-mining/mining-data-statistics-analysis/minerals-metals-facts/nickel-facts}

_{9 - https://natural-resources.canada.ca/minerals-mining/mining-data-statistics-analysis/minerals-metals-facts/graphite-facts}

_{10 - https://natural-resources.canada.ca/minerals-mining/mining-data-statistics-analysis/minerals-metals-facts/lithium-facts}

_{11 - https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-niobium.pdf}

_{12 - https://mining.ca/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2026/05/MAC-Facts-and-Figures-Report_2026-FINAL-for-screen.pdf13 -}

_{13 - https://www.hydropower.org/our-members/hydro-quebec}

_{14 - https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/forets/documents/entreprises/RA_chiffres-cles_forets_MRNF.pdf}

_{15 - https://www.quebec.ca/nouvelles/actualites/details/devoilement-du-plan-national-de-leau-une-richesse-collective-a-preserver-500-m-pour-proteger-notre-eau-au-quebec-58291}

_{16 - https://www.environnement.gouv.qc.ca/eau/strategie-quebecoise/strategie2018-2030-en.pdf}

_{17 - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/251211/dq251211f-eng.htm}

_{18 - https://ppaq.ca/app/uploads/2025/05/2024_Statistiques_acericoles.pdf}

_{19 - https://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-21-42-2}

_{20 - https://www.international.gc.ca/controls-controles/softwood-bois_oeuvre/other-autres/faq.aspx?lang=eng}

_{21 - https://www.ouranos.ca/en/economy-infrastructures/agriculture-background}

_{22 - https://energynow.ca/2025/05/comeentary-what-is-holding-up-quebecs-natural-gas-development/}

_{23 - https://borrumenergysolutions.ca/blogs/blog/quebec-is-running-out-of-energy-supply}