Located in the heart of the inhabited portion of Québec, Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec are the only regions bordering 10 other territories. As well, they are traversed by the St. Lawrence River and two major road networks.
The regional economy is dominated by natural resource processing, namely, lumber. Farming and breeding also drive this economy. Growth sectors include fabricated metal products and machinery manufacturing, metal processing and agri-food.
Service businesses have also flourished in the last few years, leading to strong job creation in such areas as health care, public administration, transportation, warehousing and construction.