7 Key Takeaways From Quebec’s Election

Quebec’s electoral landscape has undergone a dramatic transformation, as the Parti Québécois captured enough seats to establish a minority government in a vote that also eliminated the previously governing Coalition Avenir Québec from the legislature.

The separatist Parti Québécois (PQ) grew its seats under the leadership of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, from just three in 2022 to 59 during the Oct. 5 vote. The PQ are five seats short of a majority.

The vote also saw Quebec’s Liberal and Conservative parties increase their seat counts in the National Assembly. The result leaves the PQ dependent on opposition parties to pass legislation, including any measures related to its referendum plans.

The Liberals secured 40 seats, a substantial increase from the 21 seats they won in 2022, while the Conservative Party went from having no seats to winning 19. The other separatist party, the left-wing Québec solidaire, won nine seats.

Here are seven key takeaways from Quebec’s election and what they mean for the parties and the province.

The Quebec Fleur-de-lis provincial flag flies on top of the National Assembly’s main tower, in Quebec City in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot

The PQ’s strongest regional performance materialized in Montreal’s North Shore suburbs—Laurentides and Lanaudière—where the party toppled entrenched CAQ incumbents and dominated all 18 ridings in a sweeping victory. This momentum extended into the southern suburban communities surrounding Montreal island as well.

Quebec’s first-past-the-post electoral system contributed to the PQ’s seat gains in rural and off-island constituencies, where it won a number of ridings with large Francophone populations. The party’s gains were particularly notable in eastern and northern Quebec.

The PQ found itself largely excluded from Montreal’s urban core. City ridings—featuring notably higher densities of multicultural, Anglophone, and Allophone populations—overwhelmingly supported the Quebec Liberal Party or Québec solidaire.

The Liberals also expanded their footprint by securing seats in Laval, transforming the region into a Liberal stronghold by claiming all six available seats. The party simultaneously reclaimed its historic western Quebec stronghold, capturing four of the five seats in the Outaouais.

The Conservative Party’s victories were highly concentrated in the greater Quebec City area and the surrounding Chaudière-Appalaches region.

The Conservatives managed to win multiple suburban and exurban ridings around the provincial, but the south shore region of the St. Lawrence River was the party’s electoral powerhouse, where it picked up seven seats. The party also expanded its regional footprint into eastern Quebec, thanks to a victory in the Rimouski riding.

Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau, accompanied by Bloc Quebecois Leader Lucien Bouchard, waves to supporters as he kicks off his referendum campaign at city hall in Quebec City on Oct. 2, 1995. CP Photo/Jacques Boissinot

St-Pierre Plamondon has vowed to hold another Quebec independence referendum, but has said he would postpone the vote until U.S. President Donald Trump’s term ends. Trump’s presidency will conclude in January 2029.

Minority governments in Quebec are often short-lived, however, typically lasting less than two years, making his referendum goal less likely.

St-Pierre Plamondon described independence as vital for safeguarding Quebec’s French-speaking heritage, calling it a matter of “survival” for a francophone community that makes up such a small portion of the North American landscape.

Quebec “just wants to exist on its own like other countries of the world,” he said during his Oct. 5 victory speech, arguing that a referendum would allow those living in the province to decide their own future.

Former Premier Christine Fréchette, who took over after François Legault resigned, did not win in her riding, and the party also lost the other 89 seats it secured in the 2022 vote.

This marks the fourth time in Canadian history when a sitting government failed to secure any seats.

Prince Edward Island’s Liberal Party achieved an unprecedented victory in the July 1935 election, capturing every one of the 30 House of Assembly seats to completely eliminate the incumbent Conservatives—a historic milestone never before seen across the Commonwealth.

The electoral outcome meant the official Opposition party no longer existed in the legislature, prompting Premier Walter Lea to designate multiple members of his own party to act as members of the opposition.

Alberta had a similar outcome just one month later, when the newly established Social Credit Party secured an overwhelming victory in 1935 that toppled the 14-year-old United Farmers of Alberta administration, which failed to retain a single seat in the legislature.

Coalition Avenir Quebec Leader Christine Frechette waves and puts her hand to her heart during her speech at the Coalition Avenir Quebec gathering in Trois-Rivieres, Que., on Oct. 5, 2026. The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot

While the Social Credit Party won an overwhelming majority, it did not completely shut out the other parties. Both the Liberals and the Conservatives won a handful of seats.

More than 40 years later, New Brunswick found itself in the same situation as Prince Edward Island was  in 1935. The Liberal Party achieved a historic sweep in the 1987 election, capturing all 58 Legislative Assembly seats. The vote wiped out the ruling Conservative party, which lost all 39 of their parliamentary seats, while the NDP also saw its single seat disappear.

The party was officially re-registered in 2009 and had its first MNA since then in 2021, when MNA Claire Samson was expelled from the CAQ caucus after donating to the Conservatives, and joined the Tories. She didn’t seek reelection.

Earlier this year, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, first elected as a CAQ MNA and later sitting as an Independent, joined the Conservatives. She also did not seek reelection.

The party achieved 12.9 percent of the popular vote in the 2022 election but didn’t win any seats.

In the Oct. 5 election, it won 19 ridings and received 20.7 percent of the popular vote.

Quebec Conservative Party Leader Eric Duhaime speaks to his supporters on election night in Levis, Que., on Oct. 5, 2026. The Canadian Press/Karoline Boucher

Fréchette originally represented Sanguinet on Montreal’s South Shore but decided to run in her hometown of Trois-Rivières for the 2026 election. It is a riding the CAQ decisively captured with 51 percent of the vote in 2022, but the 2026 vote saw Fréchette fall to PQ contender Jean Pellerin by a narrow margin of 499 votes.

St-Pierre Plamondon secured a decisive victory in his Camille-Laurin riding, winning with a 5,423-vote margin, while Liberal Leader Charles Milliard competed in the Orford riding in the Eastern Townships region and won by a comfortable margin of 4,416 votes.

The Conservatives’ Duhaime won his Bellechas riding by more than 11,500 ballots, capturing 63 percent of the vote.

The Liberals, Conservatives, and the CAQ took 60 percent of the popular vote together, but that didn’t always translate into seats in the legislature.

Despite the results of the election, polls indicate Quebecers are largely against separation. A poll from aggregator 338Canada shows 69 percent of voters are against departing from confederation, while 31 percent support independence.

The national assembly during question period, at the legislature in Quebec City, on Sept. 19, 2024. The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot

He promised his minority government would work with other parties.

“Voters have asked us to work together,” he said. “I extend a hand to the other leaders so we work together.”

He expressed his readiness to collaborate with fellow leaders in tackling the inherited challenges, citing the housing crisis in particular. He also said he is open to their input ahead of his government’s upcoming economic update.

“I think each political party has good ideas to work with,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.

Milliard said the Liberals plan to carefully review the PQ’s proposals and will work with the party when those proposals benefit the province. However, he made clear that the Liberals will be “a clear opponent” for the PQ if it seeks a referendum.

Duhaime also said Conservative MNAs would work with the PQ on important policies, but would firmly block any push for a sovereignty referendum.