The 2026 Quebec general election was held on October 5, 2026, to elect members to the National Assembly of the 44th Quebec Legislature. Lieutenant Governor Manon Jeannotte dropped the writs of election on August 27, 2026, after Premier Christine Fréchette advised her to dissolve the legislature. Key issues of the election campaign included the cost of living, housing, Quebec sovereignty, infrastructure, protection of Quebec culture and the French language, U.S. tariffs, healthcare, the economy, and energy.
Fréchette and the governing Coalition Avenir Québec lost all 79 of their seats, easily the worst defeat for a sitting government in Quebec history. It was only the fourth time in Canadian history that a ruling party suffered a complete electoral wipeout, joining the Prince Edward Island Conservatives in 1935, the United Farmers of Alberta in 1935, and the New Brunswick Progressive Conservatives in 1987. In terms of the number and percentage of seats lost, this far surpassed the 1987 loss by Richard Hatfield and the New Brunswick Tories as the worst defeat for a provincial government in Canadian history. Saying that she alone was responsible for the debacle, Fréchette announced the following day she would step down as CAQ leader.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon led the Parti Québécois to a massive rebound in popularity. After leading opinion polls for almost three years, the PQ jumped from 7 seats to 60, after having won just 3 in 2022. Plamondon became Premier-designate of Quebec, but fell short of a majority government that had been predicted by many pundits. The Quebec Liberal Party placed second with their highest seat count since 2014 to form the province's official opposition, while the Conservative Party of Quebec gained official party status for the first time since being founded in 2009, and the first time since 1935 that seats would be won under a Conservative party banner. Québec solidaire dropped 2 seats from 11 to 9.
This was the first election in Quebec history where no party reached 30% of the popular vote. However, the PQ's heavy concentration of support in francophone ridings brought it within five seats of a majority. Historically, Quebec provincial elections have seen large discrepancies between raw vote and actual seat count. As well, it was the first since 1998 in which sovereigntist parties won a combined majority of seats in the National Assembly. Between them, the PQ and Québec solidaire held 69 seats.
Background
In the 2022 general election, the Coalition Avenir Québec under François Legault increased its parliamentary majority, winning 90 seats. The Liberals, despite finishing fourth in the popular vote behind Québec solidaire and the Parti Québécois, remained the official opposition, winning 21 seats. The Parti Québécois lost most of its remaining seats but managed to elect its previously seatless leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon to a seat. The Conservatives increased their share of the vote to 13%; however, as their support was more spread out throughout Quebec, they did not gain any seats.
On January 14, 2026, Legault announced his pending resignation as leader of the CAQ and premier of Quebec.
Under the province's fixed election date law, passed in 2013, "the general election following the end of a Legislature shall be held on the first Monday of October of the fourth calendar year following the year that includes the last day of the previous Legislature", setting the date for October 5, 2026. On August 27, premier Fréchette visited the lieutenant governor of Quebec to advise her to dissolve the legislature and call a general election.
Ahead of the election, the CAQ officially changed its registration to Équipe Christine Fréchette – Coalition Avenir Québec.
Political parties and standings
The table below lists parties represented and seats held in the National Assembly after the 2022 provincial election.
Changes to the National Assembly
Constituency name changes
The following electoral districts had their names changed in June 2025:
Redistribution of seats
For the 2026 election, the Assembly was increased to 127 seats. Two new seats were created, 39 had their boundaries changed, and five regions saw no changes at all.
Nominal redistributed results
The new election boundaries saw different results in 41 constituencies, including the new constituencies of Bellefeuille and Marie-Lacoste-Gérin-Lajoie, the table below gives the nominal results for the 2022 election using the new boundaries.
Timeline
Changes in the 43rd National Assembly of Quebec
seat changed hands after by-election involuntary departure
2022
2023
2024
- April 29 – Lessard-Therrien resigns as Québec Solidaire's female spokesperson.
- May 2 – Sherbrooke MNA Christine Labrie becomes Québec Solidaire's interim female spokesperson.
- November 16 – Mercier MNA Ruba Ghazal is elected female spokesperson of Québec Solidaire.
2025
2026
Campaign
Housing
Housing affordability is an important issue in the 2026 campaign. The shortage of affordable housing, rising rents and the construction of new housing have become significant concerns for municipalities and other organizations. Municipalities have called for greater support for the construction of affordable housing in order to address the housing shortage and improve access to affordable homes. All parties have proposed various housing plans.
Economy and cost of living
The economy and cost of living are prominent issues in the 2026 campaign. The Coalition Avenir Québec has made the cost of living and economic security among the main themes of its early campaign efforts.
Health care and public services
Health care is another major issue in the campaign. Issues raised by organizations in the health sector include access to primary care, the role of the private sector, working conditions and the governance of Santé Québec. Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has pledged to abolish Santé Québec. He later suggested that he would keep part of it as a division within the Ministry of Health.
Immigration and the French language
Immigration and the protection of the French language remain important issues in Quebec political debate. The planning of temporary and permanent immigration levels, as well as their effects on public services and linguistic integration, are among the issues being debated ahead of the 2026 election. Following a breakdown in negotiations during the 2025–2026 United States trade war with Canada, prime minister Mark Carney stated that the Americans made "threats to the French language" and "Quebec culture", and made efforts "to restrict our protections of our language, our culture, and in effect, our sovereignty", which helped spell "the end of this phase of the negotiations"; this was denied by Trump and his officials.
In addition, voting information mail from Élections Québec will be French-only, sparking criticism from some groups.
Quebec independence
The question of Quebec independence has returned to a prominent place in the campaign. Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon remains committed to holding a referendum during a first term in government, although he has stated that he would not hold one before January 20, 2029, when President of the United States Donald Trump is scheduled to leave office at the expiry of his second term. Plamondon claimed that too much political uncertainty would be created by holding a referendum while Trump remains in office. On September 9th, 2026, Plamondon pledged to hold a referendum on Quebec sovereignty even if the PQ did not get a majority government.
On National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke took issue with Parti Québécois lack of recognition of Indigenous rights in the blue book, their policy book. They pointed out that Quebec needs to consult indigenous communities if they wanted to pursue independence. On the same day, Plamondon revealed that, if Quebec voted yes on a referendum, a PQ government would adopt a temporary constitution where Indigenous support is not essential.
Debates
On June 23, 2026, it was announced that there would be no English debate during the election. This was the second consecutive election that the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) and Parti Québécois (PQ) declined to participate in a debate in English. Québec solidaire and the Conservative Party of Quebec had agreed to a debate.
Results
Ici Radio-Canada Télé called the election for the PQ 40 minutes after counting began, with some news outlets declaring a PQ victory as early as 20 minutes after the polls closed.
Several results were in dispute:
- In Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne, Liberal candidate Benoit Clermont had unseated Guillaume Cliche-Rivard of Québec Solidaire by just 39 votes. Cliche-Rivard had indicated the possibility of a legal challenge, but once vote verification lengthened Clermont's lead to 275, Cliche-Rivard stated that the "result is clear" and accepted the outcome.
- In Vachon, Liberal candidate Affine Lwalalika's 10,063 votes were just 10 more than those of Parti Québécois candidate Stephan Fogaing. As a result, the PQ requested a judicial recount, which was subsequently granted. On October 21, the recount determined that Fogaing won by three votes. On October 26, the Liberals announced that they would appeal the result.
- In Champlain, discrepancies were alleged to have occurred in the count, with roughly 80 votes missing from one ballot box and 30 from another. The PQ requested a recount in the district, and the Court of Quebec approved the application. After the presiding judge completed his recount of the sixty-seven disputed ballot boxes, the PQ conceded defeat and both parties mutually agreed to terminate the recount. As a result, the existing results from the other 124 boxes were certified without any further counting.
Outside of the five main parties, only one candidate received 1,000 or more votes in this election, being Kevin Grenier of Démocratie directe in René-Lévesque, placing fifth.
Vote shares of principal parties (Quebec 2026)
Reactions
National reactions
In a phone call, Prime Minister Mark Carney congratulated St-Pierre Plamondon for his victory and pledged to work with him in a mutual benefit partnership between Quebec and the federal government. Figures of the Alberta separatist movement congratulated the Parti Québécois for its victory as well.
International reactions
Two days after the election, businessman Elon Musk reacted to the election of a minority Parti Québécois government by declaring his support for the Quebec sovereignty movement.
On October 27, 22 days after the election, US President Donald Trump congratulated on Truth Social St-Pierre Plamondon for his victory.
After the election, all 59 elected Parti Québécois MNAs did not take the Oath to the King (just like they didn't in 2022). It was reported to be the first time a governing party did not swear an oath to the monarchy. The Quebec Liberals would follow suit and not swear an oath to the king. The PQ minority government was sworn-in on October 21.