Hope you like neighbours. The Quebec population could top 10 million in the 2060s, projections released by the Institut de la statistique du Québec in July show. And by 2041, the population of the province could grow by 10.3% compared to its 2021 population.

But that growth might not be evenly distributed. Much of it could be concentrated in the regions surrounding Montreal.

The institute anticipates the population of the Laurentides region on the North Shore will have grown by a whopping 21.3% — the most of any region — between 2021 and 2041.

Lanaudière and Montérégie are also up there, with projected population increases of 16% and 15.7%, respectively, in the same 20-year period.

Behind the Laurentides is Estrie, with an expected 17% increase. The population of the Sherbrooke census metro area, Estrie's largest urban centre, could swell by as much as 18.6%.

Projections of growth (as a share of the 2021 population) are more modest in the urban regions: 12.4% in Laval, 11.8% in the Capitale-Nationale and just 3.1% in Montreal.

Though the institute notes that the average growth estimate for the whole of the metro area, including Montreal and surrounding regions, is 10.2%, roughly in line with the provincial average.

The populations of six other regions are on track to grow between now and 2041: those of the Nord-du-Québec (+15.4%), Outaouais (+13.2%), the Centre-du-Québec (+11.9%), Chaudière-Appalaches (+9.7%), Mauricie (+8%) and Abitibi-Témiscaminque (+0.2%).

Four regions, meanwhile, could see their populations shrink: Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine (-0.3%), the Bas-Saint-Laurent (-0.6%), Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (-2%) and the Côte-Nord (-10.2%).

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.