Québec, October 9, 2024. – Today, the Institut de la statistique du Québec is releasing new results and indicators for the Southern Québec Land Accounts. These results, which are primarily generated from aerial photographs, enable the study of phenomena such as land artificialization and changes to agricultural land and natural environments in Québec in great detail.
Results are released by decade as data becomes available. Today, we are releasing the results of changes between the 2000s and 2010s for the Estrie, Montréal, Laval, Lanaudière, Laurentides and Montérégie regions. Here are the highlights:
- Estrie was among the regions that recorded the largest net loss of agricultural land, with 87 km2 lost there between the 2000s and 2010s. Of this lost agricultural land, 16% (14 km2) was artificialized, while the rest returned to forest.
- Montréal and Laval saw very few changes (+1 km2 and +3 km2 of artificial surfaces respectively between the 2000s and 2010s), as their artificial surfaces were already quite extensive. Artificial surfaces cover 72% of the region of Montréal and 57% of the region of Laval. However, Laval saw the highest rate of artificialization (+18%) among all Québec regions between the 1990s and 2000s.
- Lanaudière recorded artificialization of +22 km2 (+5%), an area approximately equivalent to the municipality of Joliette. The region posted a net loss of 26 km2 of agricultural land (-2%) between the 2000s and 2010s.
- The Laurentides and Montérégie regions saw the largest increase in artificial surfaces in one decade at +50 km2 and +46 km2 respectively (for comparison, the municipality of Mont-Saint-Hilaire covers 45 km2). These are the regions where the most agricultural land was artificialized. The Laurentides region had a net loss of 36 km2 of agricultural land, of which 17 km2 was artificialized. Montérégie recorded a net loss of 75 km2 of agricultural land, 33 km2 of which was artificialized.
These results are added to the results of six other regions released last year. Here is a summary of the results for those regions:
- Capitale-Nationale was among the regions with the largest increase in artificial surfaces (+41 km2) between the 2000s and 2010s, a level comparable to the Laurentides.
- Some of the largest net decreases in agricultural land were in Chaudière-Appalaches (-107 km2) and Bas-Saint-Laurent (-105 km2), mainly due to farmland turning into forests.
- Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine saw little change compared to the other regions. The region’s artificialization (11 km2) was especially concentrated in the sectors of Gaspé, Baie-des-Chaleurs and Murdochville. However, the region had a net loss of 26 km2 of agricultural land.
- Abitibi-Témiscamingue experienced a 23 km2 (+7.3%) increase in artificial surfaces between the 2000s and 2010s, especially in the municipality of Malartic. The net loss of agricultural land (-80 km2) was nearly completely due to farmland turning into forests.
- Artificialization of 32 km2 was recorded in Outaouais. Artificialization was present in all RCMs, but the region’s highest rates of increase were found in the outskirts of Gatineau. A net loss of 82 km2 of agricultural land was observed.
General trends in the 12 regions between the 2000s and 2010s
The main reason for the decrease in agricultural land in all regions was uncultivated farmland turning into forests. On the outskirts of urban centres, however, the loss of agricultural land was often attributable to an increase in artificial surfaces.
The regions with the highest increase in artificial surfaces are especially concentrated around Montréal and Capitale-Nationale. However, the municipalities where the largest increases were recorded in the past decade are Mirabel (+12.4 km2), Gatineau (+11.0 km2), Québec (+10.6 km2), Sherbrooke (+7.9 km2) and Lévis (+7.2 km2).
Annual artificialization slowed between the two periods studied (1990s to 2000s and 2000s to 2010s) in the regions of Estrie, Montréal, Laval, Lanaudière, Laurentides and Montérégie. It accelerated in Bas-Saint-Laurent, Capitale-Nationale, Outaouais, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Chaudière-Appalaches.
In general, artificial surfaces grew largely to the detriment of forests, whereas agricultural land shrank because it was taken over by forests. Combined, these changes mean that in total, forested areas appear to have remained stable or increased.
The data for the five remaining regions will be made available in the coming years. Subscribe to the Institut’s email notifications for updates.
Consult:
- The region-by-region report (PDF, 18.7 MB) (in French only);
- The map to see changes to an area;
- Tables recording artificial surface area per resident in Québec’s municipalities and RCMs.
The Southern Québec Land Accounts report on Québec’s land cover south of the 52nd parallel according to different categories: artificial surfaces, agricultural land, wetlands, forests, and inland water bodies and streams. These accounts make it possible to quantify changes in these areas in km2 between the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.
Several years are necessary to collect and compile the data used to create the land accounts, i.e., the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts’s ecoforestry inventories. Immense areas need to be photographed and interpreted, and photos of a region are not always taken in the same year. Consequently, the results are more easily interpreted by decade.
Land cover changes are measured in the most accurate manner possible based on international environmental accounting standards using existing data for Québec. The results are primarily gathered from analysis of aerial photographs and are independent of zoning established by various bodies. In other words, the exercise deals in effective land cover rather than regulatory designations.
For 25 years, the Institut de la statistique du Québec has been producing, analyzing, and disseminating official, objective and high-quality statistical information on various aspects of Québec society. It is responsible for conducting all statistical surveys of general interest. The relevance of its work makes it a strategic ally for decision makers and an essential source of information for all those wishing to learn more about Québec.