We're Breeding Again — Quebec Births Increased 'Slightly' In 2021 After Dropping In 2020

Apparently, Quebec residents are getting busy making babies — or at least busier than they were in 2020. According to new data from the Institut de la Statistique du Québec, Quebec's population growth picked up in 2021 after a slowdown the year before. Though it's not all due to baby-making.

As of July 1, 2021, Quebec counted 8,604,500 inhabitants. That's 25,100 more than at the beginning of the year, the Institut says.

According to the stats, this six-month population increase "is higher than that recorded for the whole of 2020." It's still about only half of what the Institut de la Statistique recorded in the same time period between 2017 and 2019, however.

The slowdown in 2020 can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Institut says, with much less migration into Quebec due to border restrictions and a sharp increase in the number of deaths compared to previous years.

25,200 immigrants settled in the province in 2020. That's 15,400 fewer than in 2019.

Quebec also gained just 14,000 people due to migration in 2020 — that's compared to 93,500 people in 2019, the Institut reports.

And it estimates that during the first 10 months of the pandemic, deaths in Quebec were "9% higher than what we would have expected in normal times."

2021 has brought better news.

In addition to an uptick in migration and immigration, there's been a noted, yet slight increase in the number of recorded births in the province since the end of 2020. While Quebec saw a 3% drop in the number of births in 2020, 2021 numbers are "expected to resemble the average for previous years," according to the Institut.

So keep having those babies, folks. The future of Quebec is in your hands (not really).