Forests
The health and functioning of forests are affected by many factors, including the direct impacts of climate change and indirect ones like pests, diseases, and invasive exotic species. Without adaptation measures, these climate-related disruptions can have serious economic and ecological repercussions on Quebec’s forests.
The essential role forest ecosystems play in climate and biodiversity
Forests are a habitat for biodiversity; they are home to more than half of the animal, plant and insect species on the planet.
Forest ecosystems also regulate the climate and play a major role in mitigating climate change. By absorbing carbon from the air and storing it, they can act as greenhouse gas (GHG) sinks.
Globally, forests contain about half of the carbon accumulated by terrestrial ecosystems. Forests sequester atmospheric carbon by capturing it and fixing it in biomass and in soils, thereby helping to mitigate climate change caused by humans.
However, natural disturbances like fire and pests and human disturbances like logging can affect the natural carbon cycle. These events can change the role of forests: by emitting more GHGs than they sequester, they risk becoming sources of emissions rather than absorption.
In recent years, as a whole, Canada’s managed forests and the wood products made from them have become a net source of carbon. Natural disturbances have contributed to this change, in particular due to the increase in the forest area affected by forest fires and insects.
Definition | Greenhouse gas sink
Any process, activity, or mechanism that absorbs and eliminates a greenhouse aerosol or gas that contributes to climate change, such as CO2. For example, plants act as greenhouse gas sinks by fixing and absorbing CO2 through photosynthesis, which allows them to produce energy. By removing these molecules from the atmosphere, greenhouse gas sinks effectively mitigate global warming.
Definition | Source of greenhouse gases
Any process or activity that emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, such as CO₂, methane (CH4), or nitrous oxide (N2O). These emissions contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Forests: A pillar for communities
Forests are an important economic resource for many communities. Forests also support communities by mitigating the frequency and intensity of many extreme weather events, such as heat waves, storms and floods. By absorbing and retaining rainwater, forests regulate watercourses, which contributes to the supply of clean water and the food security of communities. They also enhance the living environment and provide employment and recreational and socio-cultural benefits to many populations.
Public and private forests
Forests occupy more than half of Quebec’s surface area, covering approximately 907,000 km2.
92% of this area is crown land, in the public domain, meaning that the government is responsible for it. The government manages development activities in order to increase and sustainably diversify the forests’ contribution to Quebec society and to improve the standard of living and the growth of communities.
For sustainable management purposes, several areas are excluded from forest harvesting. These include protected areas, areas with low forest productivity (for example north of the boundary line determined by the government) as well as wetlands and aquatic environments that must be preserved.
Thus, the area that is actually available for harvest is approximately 236,000 km², which corresponds to almost 29% of public forests.
Each year, around 1,800 km² are harvested on public land, which represents approximately 0.2% of the 907,000 km² of forest land.
Private forests represent 8% of the province’s forests and are shared by nearly 163,000 owners. They are mainly concentrated in southern Quebec. These forests, which benefit from the milder climate and fertile soils and are located near processing plants and labour pools, are productive and accessible.
The main forest areas of Quebec
The forests of Quebec are very diverse, and the tree species in the south of the province differ markedly from those in the north. These variations are explained by several factors, including climate, the nature of the soils, the ways in which the trees regenerate, and the natural disturbances they experience, such as fires, insects, wind and diseases. In general, there are three main forest types:
The deciduous forest occupies all of southern Quebec, from Outaouais to Chaudière-Appalaches, where the climate is milder. Maple groves are the most common forest stands there. They are mainly made up of sugar maples, accompanied by other species such as beech, yellow birch and red maple.
The mixed forest is an environment where abundance and diversity coexist, both in terms of conifers (e.g. firs, spruces, pines) and deciduous trees (e.g. yellow birches, red maples, poplars). These forests are made up of species from the north and the south, creating magnificent landscapes in every season.
The boreal forest is the largest forest area in Quebec, covering the regions from Abitibi to the North Shore and Gaspésie. These forests contain mostly conifers, such as firs and spruces, with certain deciduous trees with lower shade tolerance, such as poplar and paper birch.
Figure 1: The main forest areas of Quebec (from the Association forestière du sud du Québec, n.d.)
The forest industry
The forest industry is an important part of the economy in every region of Quebec. More than 900 municipalities, or about 82% of Quebec municipalities, benefit from this industry.
In 2024, exports from this economic sector totalled $11,543.60 million, or 1.7% of Quebec’s GDP. The forest products sector contributed to nearly 57,000 jobs in the province. The majority of the wood harvested comes from crown (public) forests—more than 70% of the volume of wood harvested in 2024-2025. The rest comes from privately owned forests.
Last update of the page : February 2026.
