Quebec's economy represents 20.36% of Canada's total GDP. Like most industrialized countries, Quebec's economy is mainly based on the service sector. Quebec's economy has traditionally been fueled by abundant natural resources, well-developed infrastructure and average productivity. The impact of RDPs has been most clearly felt in smaller regions, especially in the most depressed areas of the Canadian Atlantic.
Economy), policies implemented by the governments of Ontario and Quebec have contributed to, rather than mitigating, economic problems in those provinces. On the contrary, while Ontario and Quebec increased corporate income taxes, governments of all ideological tendencies in Western Canada lowered them. Increased residential construction activity in Nova Scotia, combined with a new solar garden project that contributed to electrical power engineering construction (+62.8%), helped the construction sector lead the growth of goods-producing industries. Like the rest of Canada, Quebec has had its economic ups and downs, but it remains fundamental to Canada's economy.
The unequal distribution of jobs (compared to population) in Canada is measured by variations in the proportion of the local population of working age (15-64 years); the percentage of that population in the labor force; and the unemployment rate. The population concentration in the southern part of Quebec developed in response to the fine-level soils of the lowlands and undulating moraine-covered plateaus of the Appalachian region. Income disparities between Prairie Provinces and the rest of Canada are reflected in severe fluctuations in per capita income, the result of dependence on primary production (wheat, oil, natural gas, potash) and demand levels, which are often determined by natural and international factors uncontrollable factors. However, the general consensus among economists is that RDPs targeting the area, such as those practiced during the 1970s and 1980s, have not profoundly altered the pattern of regional development in Canada.
Quebec, once having the coveted economic status now held by Ontario, declined in relative terms during the second half of the 20th century. In the 21st century, Quebec has re-emerged as a business destination and is home to a thriving technology industry. The fur trade has played a role in Quebec's economy since the beginning of the French regime and remains important today in the Ungava region, which is populated by the Inuit. The faster pace of development in some other Canadian regions also influenced Quebec's relative decline.
In Quebec, per capita income and employment levels in the Gaspé region have consistently remained below those in the Greater Montreal region. Before the Confederation, the combined population of Quebec and Ontario was already considerably larger than that of the Seafarers. Quebec's economy is strong, but it is hitting below “its demographic weight, suffers from labor shortages and is below the national average in terms of productivity and market diversification,” according to the information kit provided to the minister of the federal economic development agency in Quebec as took office last October.
