Québec Election 2026: Week One Recap

The first week of Québec’s election campaign has quickly come and gone. While the parties have already made a long list of commitments, the more salient story is the political dynamic beginning to take shape.

The race is tightening, economic issues are occupying more space than expected, and renewed trade tensions with the United States have given the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) an opportunity to regain momentum at a pivotal moment.

The CAQ is back in contention

The most significant development of the first week is the narrowing gap between the Parti Québécois (PQ) and the CAQ.

Polls vary, but the emerging trend has become clear. The PQ remains in first place, while the CAQ has gained ground and the Québec Liberal Party (PLQ) has slipped. The latest poll cited this week placed the PQ at 29%, followed by the CAQ at 24%, the PLQ at 22%, the PCQ at 15% and Québec solidaire at 10%.

Part of the CAQ’s momentum predates the official campaign due to the latest escalation in U.S. tariffs. This gave Christine Fréchette an opportunity to return to one of her strongest themes: economic uncertainty and the protection of Québec businesses and jobs.

The issue has been particularly useful to Fréchette because it allows her to campaign as a sitting premier responding to an external economic threat rather than simply having to defend the CAQ’s record in office. It has also helped shift the conversation toward the economy, where her previous experience as Economy Minister gives her a natural advantage and significantly changes the political equation. Rather than beginning the campaign with a dominant PQ facing a fragmented opposition, it is now looking like a contest in which the CAQ can credibly present itself as the main alternative to a PQ government.

For the Liberals, the CAQ gains are a wake-up call. Charles Milliard now needs to establish his party as the alternative to both the CAQ government and the PQ. So far, though, the campaign has largely been framed as a contest between Christine Fréchette and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

Parties fighting to define the ballot question

The CAQ has spent most of the first week emphasizing economic management, government efficiency and the role of the private sector.

Among its most notable proposals, Christine Fréchette has promised to allow physicians to practise simultaneously in the public and private systems and to require Santé Québec to reduce administrative spending by billions of dollars.

The PQ, meanwhile, has moved aggressively onto themes of immigration, language and identity. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon unveiled a broad plan aimed at reversing what the party describes as the decline of French, including a proposal to significantly reduce the number of newcomers admitted to Québec.

Both parties are trying to determine what voters will be thinking about when they go to cast their ballots: economic management and government performance, or immigration, language and Québec identity.

A surprisingly economy-focused campaign.

One of the more interesting features of the campaign to date has been the prominence of economic and government-efficiency issues.

Reducing bureaucracy, cutting the size and/or cost of government, expanding the role of the private sector in healthcare, lowering taxes and accelerating development have all been part of the conversation.

The Liberals have proposed the creation of an “Efficacité Québec” team to reduce government red tape, alongside a commitment to build 100,000 new housing units.

Energy has also reemerged as an election issue. Éric Duhaime of the PCQ has made development of Québec’s natural gas resources a condition for supporting a minority government, while also proposing significant tax reductions.

Québec solidaire is standing at the opposite end of that debate, proposing a $23-billion expansion of public transit and an annual immigration target of 70,000 newcomers.

For now, the campaign is characterized by unusually clear differences between the parties on the role of government, public spending, taxation and economic development.

Week One Verdict

Best week: the CAQ. Christine Fréchette begins the campaign in a considerably stronger position than where the party stood only a few months ago. The CAQ has gained ground in the polls, benefited from renewed attention to U.S. tariffs and economic uncertainty, helped shape the opening debate and, most importantly, re-established itself as a credible contender for government.

Struggling: the Québec Liberal Party. The problem is not simply that the Liberals had a relatively quiet first week, but rather that the emerging PQ–CAQ contest leaves Charles Milliard with less space in the political arena to establish himself as the principal alternative to a PQ government.

What to watch for: whether the CAQ can sustain its momentum — and whether the PQ can successfully shift the campaign back toward the issues on which it would rather fight.