Quebec recorded a modest rise in births in 2025, with the total reaching 78,200, an increase of 974 compared with the previous year. The uptick marks the first year since 2021 that the province has experienced year‑over‑year growth in its birth count, though the figure remains well below the levels seen before the pandemic.
Statistics Canada reported that the province's fertility rate also moved upward in 2025, following a rate of 1.35 in 2024. While the exact 2025 rate was not disclosed, the agency described the change as modest, indicating a slight improvement in the number of children born per woman.
The increase comes after two consecutive years of decline, during which Quebec's birth numbers fell each year. In 2024, the province registered 77,226 births, a figure that had already been lower than pre‑COVID‑19 statistics. The recent growth, albeit small, suggests a tentative reversal of that downward trend.
Demographers note that the province's overall birth count still lags behind the pre‑pandemic era, when annual births were consistently higher. The modest rise may reflect a combination of factors, including gradual changes in family planning decisions and the easing of pandemic‑related uncertainties.
Policy makers and health officials will likely monitor the trend closely, as the fertility rate remains below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. Continued growth would be needed to offset the province's aging population and to sustain long‑term demographic stability.
For now, the 2025 data provides a small but positive signal for Quebec's demographic outlook, indicating that the province may be moving away from the sustained decline that characterized the early 2020s.