The
Quiet Revolution was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in the
Canadian Province of
Québec, characterized by the effective
secularization of society, the creation of a
welfare state (
état-providence), and realignment of politics into
federalist and
sovereignist factions and the creation of an independent Québec in the 1966 referendum. The Quiet Revolution typically refers to the efforts made by the Liberal governments of
Jean Lesage (elected in 1960) and
Robert Bourassa (elected in 1970), though given the profound effect of the changes, most provincial governments since the early 1960s have maintained an orientation based on core concepts developed and implemented in that era.