Stephen Harper's Conservatives won elections in January
Mr Harper was responding to a motion by Quebec separatists that MPs should "recognise Quebecois form a nation".
Francophone Quebec has previously held two referendums on separation, in 1980 and 1995, but rejected the idea.
Mr Harper's Conservatives won Canada's general election in January to end 12 years of Liberal rule.
Analysts say the motion is proving problematic for federalists.
An acceptance would encourage talks towards separatism but a rejection could bolster the separatists' belief that their aspirations are being ignored.
Kickbacks
On Wednesday, Mr Harper backed the notion that the House of Commons should "recognise that Quebecois constitute a nation within a united Canada".
He said: "The real question is simple: do Quebecois make up a nation of their own in a united Canada? The answer is yes.
"Do Quebecois make up a nation independent from Canada? The answer is no and will always be no."
The leader of the Bloc Quebecois party opposed the prime minister's position.
"It isn't up to the prime minister to decide what Quebecers will choose as an option. It's up to Quebecers," Gilles Duceppe said.
January's elections was called following revelations that Liberal politicians in Quebec had taken kickbacks in return for awarding government contracts.
Afterwards Mr Harper pledged a renewed drive for federalism for Quebec.
"We will do this because shuffling the deck in Ottawa is not good enough," he said at the time.
The Conservatives made significant gains in Quebec.
The Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, announced at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday that he will recognize Quebecois as a nation within Canada, despite a similar Bloc Quebecois' motion.

The separatist Bloc Quebecois (BQ) opposition party originally introduced the motion to recognize Quebec as a nation, without specifying in or out of Canada. But Harper said that he will only recognize the Quebecois as a nation within Canada.




The Bloc, led by Gilles Duceppe is, by tradition, dedicated to separating Quebec completely from Canada. This has never passed.

"I would say we're devoted to this country with its boundless potential and dedicated to building Canada which includes Quebec while the Bloc is dedicated to destroying Canada," interim Liberal leader Bill Graham in response to Harper's speech. "We are fundamentally opposed to breaking up of Canada ... On this point we must clearly and fundamentally disagree and fundamentally fight for the rights of Canada and the whole of Canada."

Mr. Duceppe opposed the prime minister's position on Quebec.

"It isn't up to the prime minister to decide what Quebeckers will choose as an option," Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe said. "It's up to Quebeckers ... to decide what their future will be ...  not as long as they remain within Canada that is supposedly united. They are not a nation as long as they are a country ...Never will I accept the only condition to be a nation is to recognize the right to remain in Canada. We are what we are, full stop."

The Conservatives have ten elected MPs in the province.