The Capitale-Nationale region covers an area of 20,962 km2, with 62% of public land, mainly in the northern sector. Over 90% of this public land has special status, since there are:
- two wildlife reserves (partly in the region);
- seven wildlife management areas (ZECs);
- three national parks;
- twenty-three outfitting operations.
The region has a population of 666,000, with 80% of the population living in the Ville de Québec. The Huron-Wendat Nation occupies the Wendake Indian Reserve, located within the urban zone. Part of the northern section of the Des Laurentides wildlife reserve overlaps the Nitassinan territory of the Mashteuiatsh native community.
Forestry
 Land used for forestry covers 17,154 km², or 87% of the region’s land area. Public forests make up 70% of the area.
The Capitale-Nationale region has 26 wood processing plants supporting an average of 2,000 direct jobs each year. The processing industry includes sawmills, and facilities producing flooring, doors and windows, and mouldings. Around 2% of the timber supplies come from outside Québec, 10% from private forests, 13% from public forests, and 75% from residue from primary processing at other mills in Québec. Annual shipments of forest products have reached an average of $1.5 billion, or 6.8% of total shipments from Québec.
Wildlife-related activities, recreation and tourism
 Most hunting and fishing takes place on public land, and involves 80,000 sports fishers and 30,000 hunters. In the region, 2.6 million days of wildlife-related recreational activities are recorded each year, generating annual economic benefits of $125 million. Around 1,000 jobs depend on these activities.
Demand for cottage sites is strong in the region, although little public land is available for this type of development. The region also has an extensive network of trails of all kinds with a total length of 4,000 km.
Hydroelectricity and mining
The region has ten small hydroelectric power stations, of which nine are privately owned and one is operated by Hydro-Québec.
The Capitale-Nationale region is Québec’s second-largest producer of architectural stone, and also produces limestone products. A large deposit of pure silica is mined in the Charlevoix area, and the region also has several sand and gravel pits and one peat moss operation.
Future prospects
Although the territory of the Capitale-Nationale region is already highly structured and developed, current projects show that its still has strong potential for future development. The main challenge for the various stakeholders will be to ensure harmonization between the various users of public land.
Integrated public land development in the region is of key importance, given the need to develop the full potential of each individual sector. To achieve this objective, activities on public land will have to be designed to maximize the economic benefits for the region, responding to the needs of the population while minimizing the impact on the environment.
Current regional development projects focus on cottage development, recreational trail construction, wind energy, wildlife development and secondary and tertiary wood processing.
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