The white sucker breeds in spring, when the water temperature reaches about 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. Adults migrate to shallow streams with gravel bottoms to spawn.
The female lays between 20,000 and 50,000 eggs in the gravel, where they are immediately fertilized by one or more males.
This species provides no parental care. The numerous, non-adhesive eggs develop and hatch within a few days, then drift with the current. After hatching, the young move into calmer waters.