Quebec Subdivisions

There are three levels of territorial divisions in Quebec: administrative regions, municipalité régionale de comté (MRC or counties) and municipalities.

Quebec is first divided into 17 administrative regions, which however have no elected representatives:

• 01 Bas-Saint-Laurent
• 02 Saguenay/Lac-Saint-Jean
• 03 Capitale-Nationale
• 04 Mauricie
• 05 Estrie
• 06 Montréal
• 07 Outaouais
• 08 Abitibi-Témiscamingue
• 09 Côte-Nord
• 10 Nord-du-Québec
• 11 Gaspésie/Îles-de-la-Madeleine
• 12 Chaudière-Appalaches
• 13 Laval
• 14 Lanaudière
• 15 Laurentides
• 16 Montérégie
• 17 Centre-du-Québec

Region 02 has a flag created in 1938 and adopted as regional flag by the municipalities in 1988.

Region 06 had no MRC-level divisions until 2002 ; the flag of the Communauté urbaine de Montréal could then also be considered a regional flag until 2002. The Communauté urbaine de Montréal was dissolved in 2002, and all the municipalities were merged with Montreal; the flag of Montreal can then be considered a regional flag from 2002 to 2006. From 01/01/2006, some former municipalities will be reinstated, so there will no longer be a flag that flies over the whole region.

Region 13 consists of a single city (Laval), so its flag can be considered a regional flag as well.

If you drive around Quebec, you will notice that the region boundaries noted on road signs are slightly different than the list above. This is because road signs indicate tourist regions rather than administrative regions (Administrative Region). The differences between the 17 Administrative Regions and the 20 Toutist Regions are the following:

Gaspésie/Îles-de-la-Madeleine is split in two separate Tourist Regions, and the Gaspésie Tourist Region also includes three MRC from the Bas-Saint-Laurent Administrative Region.

Capitale-Nationale is split into two Tourist Regions: Québec and Charlevoix.

The Aadministrative Region Estrie forms, along with two MRC of the Montérégie Administrative Region, the Tourist Region called Cantons-de-l'Est/Eastern Townships.

The Tourist Region Abitibi-Témiscamingue includes a few adjacent localities of the Nord-du-Québec Administrative Region.

Côte-Nord Administrative Region is split into two Tourist Regions: Duplessis and Manicouagan.

Originally in 1966 the territory was divided into only 10 Administrative Region. Region 01 starts at the mouth of the Saint Lawrence river and the numbers 02 to 07 increase westward (up the river) until you reach the Ottawa river (the border with Ontario). The three next numbers follow a snake shape: 08 is immediately north of 07, 09 is east of 08 and 10 is the northern most region.

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