The Michelin Guide Announces Its Expansion Into Canada's Largest Province

Marking the third Canadian destination to be added to the Michelin Guide, the restaurants of Quebec are perfecting their poutine and fine-tuning their tourtière in anticipation. The Guide's anonymous inspectors have their work cut out for them as the addition of Quebec includes the largest province in all of Canada by size and the second largest by population. The capital of Quebec, Quebec City, will undoubtedly receive a generous amount of attention, but anyone can nominate a restaurant for consideration, so if you know of a restaurant in the region that ought not to be overlooked, now is the time to let the group know.

The Michelin Guide inspectors are already out in the field, dining on all of the best food that the province has to offer. However, the process of earning a Michelin star takes a long time as inspectors are required to visit the nominated restaurants several times to check for consistency. So while we won't know immediately which restaurants will receive the honor of a Michelin star, Michelin Guide has announced that the inaugural selection from Quebec will be released in 2025.

We're excited to see how Quebec food compares to some of our favorite Michelin starred restaurants in the U.S., but it's a global culinary stage that Quebec has just been invited onto. For those Quebecois restaurants that receive the designation, the pressure for world class performance will only increase as the reward for success becomes ever more enticing.

The addition of Quebec follows hot on the heels of Canada's other two Michelin Guide destinations; both Toronto and Vancouver were brought into the program in 2022. Whether that means we can expect more Canadian destinations to be added to the list in the next few years is pure speculation, but the northern country has certainly garnered some interest from the Guide.

Even if the relatively rapid expansion into Canada comes to a screeching halt, Canada still has a lot to look forward to with the interest it has gained already. The Michelin Guide is essentially still a travel guide for foodies. It was started by the tire company Michelin over a century ago in the year 1900 to promote travel as a clever way to market its new rubber tires. The Michelin Guide's history is full of fun facts like this, but what's relevant here is that Canada will almost certainly enjoy a rise in tourism as global travelers looking for interesting food to try will now have a better sense of what the country has to offer.

But it isn't just foodies that have something to look forward to. For Quebecois chefs, finally having access to the Michelin Guide is undoubtedly a dream come true. A three Michelin star rating is one of the highest accomplishments a professional chef can achieve, and it'll be interesting to see how Quebec restaurants evolve as they fight for the honor.