Quebec

Quebec maintains distinctive position within Canada—French-speaking majority, civil law tradition, cultural institutions that parallel federal structures. This distinctiveness shapes economic geography: provincial government intervention exceeds other provinces; Crown corporations (Hydro-Québec, SAQ, Investissement Québec) play roles that market ideology elsewhere eschews. Montreal and Quebec City anchor urban economies, while resource extraction spans the vast northern territory.

Hydro-Québec operates North America's largest hydroelectric system, exporting power to neighboring provinces and US states while providing Quebec manufacturers cheap electricity. The James Bay projects—controversial for Indigenous displacement during construction—now generate revenues that cross-subsidize provincial spending. This energy advantage attracts energy-intensive industries (aluminum smelting, data centers) that higher-cost regions cannot support.

Aerospace manufacturing clusters around Montreal, with Bombardier (now de-merged), Pratt & Whitney, CAE, and supplier networks creating Canada's largest aerospace concentration. Pharmaceutical and life sciences research adds knowledge-economy dimension. Quebec's challenge is maintaining cultural distinctiveness while participating in continental and global economic integration—a tension that sovereignty movements historically exploited and that contemporary politics continue to navigate.