New strategy on cycling tourism in Québec: a 2025-2030 roadmap

Québec is a Canadian province of about 9 million inhabitants and it just released an ambitious strategy for cycling tourism, spanning the period 2025-2030. Cycling tourism generated more than $700M expenditures a year (6% more than regular tourists) and 1,6 million overnights in Québec. A strategy was needed, and the collaborative creation process involved more than 500 stakeholders.

To learn more about it, EuroVelo Director Agathe Daudibon interviewed Jean-François Rheault, CEO of Vélo Québec, the organisation that coordinated the process. Vélo Québec is the ECF associated member in Canada.

Agathe Daudibon (AD): What is the ambition of 'La Grande Traversée', the roadmap for cycling tourism in Québec 2025-2030?

Jean-François Rheault (JFR): Cycling tourism has a lot of potential for international and domestic visitors in Québec and brings positive impacts on communities, especially in the economic sphere. To unlock its potential, we needed a clear vision. That is why, in 2023, we initiated a large consultation to design a roadmap for cycling tourism development in Québec. More than 500 participants from 14 regions and six different sectors connected to cycling tourism took part. In January 2025, we released the results of the consultation and published a summary and the full report of 'La Grande Traversée', both available in French.

AD: Why a new strategy on cycling tourism in Québec?

JFR: In Québec, we have lots of great cycling infrastructure. We have over 10,000 kilometres of cycle routes. Our most famous cycle route, La Route Verte, is 5,000 kilometres long and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. This cycle route network connects all the province, and I invite everyone to discover the cycling facilities of Québec. Moreover, our long-lasting experience is recognised worldwide – we are regularly asked to share our knowledge with international partners. In addition to this, the regional partners within Québec have been channelling a lot of energy to develop and invest in cycling tourism over the past years.

The regional tourism agencies started to work more and more on cycling offers and promotion, but we still lacked a global vision for cycling tourism at the provincial scale. This is why we felt the need to launch this consultation, define a strategy together, and get organised to implement it.

AD: How do you intend to develop cycling tourism in Québec in the next 5 years?

JFR: The roadmap identifies 15 priority actions organised in three different categories. The first category is about collaboration between actors. We want to make sure that the knowledge and the information are shared between the different stakeholders and that our collective effort is as effective as possible. The second category focuses on cycling infrastructure and services to increase the quality of the offers, from the maintenance of cycle routes to the cycling-friendliness of accommodation and other service providers. The third category is the promotion of Québec as a cycling destination and facilitating access to the information. We need a single online platform to plan a cycling trip in Québec, with information on different types of cycle routes, but also services and all kinds of tips relevant to cycling tourists.

In short, our three priorities are collaboration, quality of the offers and information.

AD: What is the role of Vélo Québec and the other stakeholders involved?

JFR: Vélo Québec has been coordinating the whole process, and the project has been sponsored by the provincial government of Québec. Their decision to support the initiative has been essential to launch the consultation - without provincial funding, it would simply not have been possible.

We involved mainly two categories of partners. First, we consulted 14 regions of Québec, including the regional tourist associations but also other types of regional stakeholders, such as business owners. It was important for us to have different types of stakeholders together to share ideas and agree on what was needed. The second category of partners was six different sectors, to understand cycling tourism in its broader sense (cycle network managers, transport operators and authorities, touristic service providers, mountain bike and gravel bike sectors, and regional tourism associations).

The transport sector was particularly interesting: in Canada, we don’t have good bike-on-train or bus services, and it is a challenge. Bringing stakeholders together to discuss cycling tourism was very powerful and useful to make progress on bicycle transportation. One small example is a train operator meeting with a shuttle operator: they realised that they could align their schedules to create a better offer for cyclists. Small actions can bring high impact.

Our full report is quite long, 140 pages, but it describes all the processes we have been implementing, so that it can be reused in other contexts.

AD: From Québec, how do you see the evolution of cycling tourism in Europe?

JFR: The work that has been done in Europe is amazing. I had the chance to do a couple of cycling trips in Europe and experience the cycling infrastructure, the quality of the offers and the links between the different countries. EuroVelo has helped this process a lot.

Our main inspiration for this strategy was France and the comprehensive National Cycling Plan implemented with specific focuses on the cycling industry and on cycling tourism in particular (read our article here). The governance France established was really inspiring, with strong support from the national government and the set-up of a large consultation. We had the chance to receive Camille Thomé, director of Réseau vélo et marche (French National EuroVelo Coordination Centre), in Québec in 2023. She shared the French experience with our partners and even met our Deputy Minister in charge of tourism. Seeing the progress in France over the past 20 years gave us a lot of energy.

One main learning is that investing in cycling tourism brings economic impact for local communities, but also benefits residents who use the cycle routes and improves quality of life overall. That is why I’m so passionate about cycling tourism.

AD: What is your connection and interest in the broader Canadian and North-American context?

JFR: Québec started developing cycling in the 1990s: Velo-city in Montréal, in 1992, was an eye-opener of cycling’s potential. This led to the launch of the provincial strategy on cycling but also La Route Verte, created in 1995. Québec started to invest in cycling earlier than most of the other regions in North America. Now, we see other provinces investing in cycling, British Columbia for example. It is fair to say that Québec is ahead in cycling developments in North America, but there are more and more initiatives in place. In our day-to-day work, we have increased collaborations with our neighbours, such as Ontario, Vermont and New York. For example, we are working on a project connecting Ottawa and Montréal together with Destination Canada, our National Tourism Board. This is encouraging us to continue investing in cycling tourism.

AD: What is your dream for cycling tourism in Québec in 2030?

JFR: I have two dreams for Québec. First, having a shared vision enabling everyone in Québec to be proud of the cycling tourism destination we are. And second, seeing a lot of Europeans visiting and experiencing Québec by bicycle, and contributing to our flourishing cycling tourism economy!

More information about 'La Grande Traversée' can be found on the Vélo Québec website.