Within Old Town, the main shopping areas are on rues Ste-Anne, De Buade and St-Jean, where there is a mix of tourist shops, clothing stores and boutiques selling everything from handicrafts to Inuit art. The best example of the latter is the Galeries d'Art Inuit Brousseau et Brousseau, at 35 rue St-Louis.

The most atmospheric place for visitors to shop has to be in the Quartier Petit Champlain, in Lower Town. Here, the cobblestone streets are lined with boutiques and shops selling artisanal wares, as they have done for centuries. The Verrerie La Mailloche is especially interesting as it combines a glass-blowing workshop, displays on the craft and a boutique where the finished product can be purchased.

Beyond Old Quebec, most local residents shop at the larger suburban shopping malls, along rue St-Joseph in the up-and-coming St Roch district or on avenue Cartier, a delightful street of boutiques, local fashion designers and restaurants, not far from the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec.

To the southwest of Quebec City, in the suburb of Ste-Foy where highway 175 meets the 740, is one of the largest shopping complexes in North America, made up of three adjoining shopping malls (Place Laurier, Place Ste-Foy and Place de la Cité) with over 600 shops between them. The other main centre is Galeries de la Capitale, with 280 shops, located at the junction of highways 40 and 740, west of Old Town.

In the Old Port, north of Old Town, at 160 Quai St-André, is the large public market, Le Marché du Vieux-Port. Fresh produce, flowers, cheese and meat are on sale here daily between 0800 and 1900. For truly farm-fresh goods, it is only a 20-minute drive to the Ile d'Orléans, where dozens of roadside stalls are heaped with fruits and vegetables throughout the summer and cabanes à sucre (sugar shacks) offer maple syrup products in the early spring.

Shops are generally open Monday to Wednesday 1000-1800, Thursday and Friday 1000-2100 and Saturday and Sunday 1000-1700. The 5% federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) and 7.5% provincial Quebec Sales Tax (QST) are levied on most products and services. Non-residents can no longer apply for a rebate on the GST portion on goods for use outside of Canada.