Quebec election · October 5, 2026

French version

Ten issues. Five parties. Yes, no, or somewhere in between.

Advance voting is September 27 and 28. This page lines the ten topics up in alphabetical order and colors each party's answer green, red, or yellow — with one sentence under that word on what they would actually do.

Christine Fréchette leads the CAQ, Charles Milliard the Liberals, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon the Parti Québécois, Éric Duhaime the Conservatives, and Ruba Ghazal is Québec solidaire's candidate for premier. A red box does not mean the party ignores the subject. It means its plan goes the other way from the question in that row.

What Quebecers name as pressure

Share of adults who cited each challenge. More than one answer was allowed. French, the environment, infrastructure, and social policy were not broken out in this list.

La Presse poll, September 13, 2026, 1,000 Quebec adults. A separate Radio-Canada / Segma poll, which forced a single priority, put the cost of living at 38%, health at 25%, housing at 10%, and education at 7%.

For, against, or in between

Ten topics, A to Z. Green means yes, yellow means mixed, and red means no. The sentence underneath is the party's idea. Tap a party to read only that column.

  • YesThe platform clearly answers yes to the question in that row.
  • MixedA partial yes, a freeze at the current level, or a plan that pulls both ways.
  • NoThe platform goes the other way from the question in that row.

Cost of living

Put money back into households' day-to-day budgets?

The issue Quebecers name first. In a late-September Radio-Canada / Segma poll, 38% made it the next government's only priority. Léger (Sept. 21) found that 53% say the cost of living and housing will influence their vote.

  • PQ · 29%

    Yes

    Scrap the QST on used goods and offer a $95 transit pass to lower bills, without cutting personal income tax.

  • PLQ · 23%

    Mixed

    Little direct relief on groceries or income tax for now — the clearest offer is two extra weeks of parental leave, in time or in money.

  • CAQ · 20%

    Yes

    Exempt up to $35,000 of wages for seniors in essential services, raise the seniors' credit, and put $1,000 into every newborn's RESP.

  • PCQ · 17%

    Yes

    No provincial income tax on the first $35,242, a five-month pause on the gas tax, an exit from the carbon market, and no more QST on used goods.

  • QS · 10%

    Yes

    Raise the minimum wage to $20, cap grocers' margins at 2%, open public grocery stores, and scrap the QST on used goods.

Economy and taxes

Cut tax rates?

Behind the cost of living, but real. Léger found that 23% say a tax cut will influence their vote — 56% among Conservative voters. A September 13 La Presse poll counted 19% for the economy and jobs, and 15% for the level of taxes.

  • PQ · 29%

    Mixed

    Cut the small-business tax from 11.5% to 9.5% and shrink the public payroll, but not personal income tax.

  • PLQ · 23%

    Mixed

    A small cut for small businesses, while other measures raise revenue and undo some of the CAQ's cuts.

  • CAQ · 20%

    Mixed

    Stay on the path to balance in 2029–2030, with targeted credits rather than a cut to the posted rates.

  • PCQ · 17%

    Yes

    Lower the corporate rate toward 4.7% and stop taxing the first $35,242 of income, paid for by a smaller state.

  • QS · 10%

    No

    Tax fortunes from $25 million and large corporations, rather than cutting rates for most people.

Education

Actually invest more money in public schools?

Chosen as the government's only priority by 7% in the province-wide Radio-Canada / Segma poll, and named as a challenge by 18% in the September 13 La Presse poll. It sits inside Léger's broader public-services item, at 46%.

  • PQ · 29%

    Mixed

    An education summit, tougher French exams, and physical education every day — standards, more than a large hiring budget.

  • PLQ · 23%

    Yes

    Add 1,000 specialized staff in schools and invest $380 million so students learn better French.

  • CAQ · 20%

    Mixed

    More help with school supplies and Bill 101 in adult education, not a large investment in staff.

  • PCQ · 17%

    Mixed

    More physical education and $100 a week for care at home, not a plan to hire in public schools.

  • QS · 10%

    Yes

    One network for public and private schools, thousands more employees, better pay, and school meals for everyone.

Environment

Tighten climate policy, rather than loosen it?

A real campaign argument — electricity, forests, pipelines, the price of gas — but not one of the pressures Quebecers name most often when asked what will decide their vote this fall.

  • PQ · 29%

    Mixed

    Speed up electrification and promise $3,000 to $4,000 a year in energy savings, while easing the price at the pump.

  • PLQ · 23%

    Mixed

    No new emissions target — the concrete offer is a fund so regions have more say over mines.

  • CAQ · 20%

    Mixed

    Close the Churchill Falls deal for clean electricity and revise forestry rules, while sending more royalties back to the regions.

  • PCQ · 17%

    No

    Leave the carbon market, shut the climate fund, and open Utica shale gas.

  • QS · 10%

    Yes

    Block pipelines and shale gas, and cut emissions by at least 37.5% below the 1990 level by 2030.

Immigration

Admit fewer people than Quebec does now?

Named as a challenge by 14% in the September 13 La Presse poll — much more among PQ voters (29%) than among Québec solidaire voters (3%). It is not the ballot question for most people, but it clearly splits the platforms.

  • PQ · 29%

    Yes

    Cut permanent immigration from 45,000 to 35,000 a year and halve temporary immigration.

  • PLQ · 23%

    No

    Keep a range of 45,000 to 70,000 permanent immigrants, a higher ceiling than today.

  • CAQ · 20%

    Mixed

    Freeze permanent immigration at the current cap of 45,000 a year until 2029.

  • PCQ · 17%

    Yes

    Make Quebec less attractive to non-economic immigrants and bring asylum-seeker benefits back to 75% of social assistance.

  • QS · 10%

    No

    Raise permanent immigration from 45,000 to 70,000 a year.

Infrastructure

Increase public spending on infrastructure and transit?

Roads, transit, and the construction trades run through the campaign — especially the tariff fight with Washington — but September polls did not isolate infrastructure as its own priority.

  • PQ · 29%

    Mixed

    A $95 transit pass for all of Quebec and more charging stations, without a new multi-billion envelope.

  • PLQ · 23%

    Yes

    Raise infrastructure spending by about $945 million by 2030–2031, a real increase, but smaller than the CAQ's.

  • CAQ · 20%

    Yes

    Add $13 billion to the Quebec Infrastructure Plan, taking it to $180 billion, mostly for repairs.

  • PCQ · 17%

    No

    Balance the budget by shrinking the state, not by launching a bigger public building program.

  • QS · 10%

    Yes

    Spend $23 billion over ten years on transit, including the Montreal metro, the Quebec City tramway, and public coaches.

French language

Tighten the laws that protect French?

Not a top answer when Quebecers are asked what will swing their vote, but the debate that splits the parties: how far Bill 101 and Bill 96 should go in CEGEPs, shops, and services.

  • PQ · 29%

    Yes

    Extend Bill 101 to CEGEPs and to the children of temporary immigrants, and push streaming toward 30% French-language content.

  • PLQ · 23%

    Mixed

    Spend heavily to teach French, but loosen Bill 96 and protect services in English.

  • CAQ · 20%

    Yes

    Renew Bill 96's notwithstanding clause and extend Bill 101 to vocational training and adult education.

  • PCQ · 17%

    Mixed

    Renew Bill 96, then loosen what does not help French and leave English-language schools and hospitals alone.

  • QS · 10%

    Mixed

    French-language training paid during work hours and Bill 101 for smaller businesses, while removing parts of Bill 96 judged discriminatory.

Housing

Control rents, or build a large stock of non-market housing?

Third when people must pick a single priority (10% in the Radio-Canada / Segma figures for Quebec as a whole; 13% in Mauricie). Named as a challenge by 31% on September 13. Léger folds it into the leading “cost of living and housing” item, at 53%.

  • PQ · 29%

    Mixed

    A QST rebate of up to $45,000 for a first new home, and social housing mainly through the homelessness plan, not rent control.

  • PLQ · 23%

    Yes

    Fund 40,000 affordable rental homes in five years and aim for 20% non-market housing by 2050.

  • CAQ · 20%

    Mixed

    A larger tax credit for a first home and about 18,000 affordable homes, with no rent cap.

  • PCQ · 17%

    No

    Build more by rezoning land and weakening rent control, deposits included, with an exemption above $2,500 a month.

  • QS · 10%

    Yes

    Cap rent increases at 3%, build 25,000 social homes, and open a rent registry.

Health

Add care inside the public system, rather than a wider private door?

The second priority when only one can be chosen: 25% in the Radio-Canada / Segma poll, and 37% among people 65 and older. In the September 13 La Presse poll, 52% named the health system as a challenge — the highest figure on the list.

  • PQ · 29%

    Yes

    Abolish Santé Québec, make local CLSC clinics the front door, and add $550 million for prevention.

  • PLQ · 23%

    Yes

    A public telehealth platform, more money for CLSC clinics, and about $700 million more for home care.

  • CAQ · 20%

    Mixed

    Let doctors practice in both the public and private systems, buy more private imaging, and add about $1 billion for seniors' home support.

  • PCQ · 17%

    No

    Send patients who wait too long to private clinics and privately managed hospitals, paid by the public plan.

  • QS · 10%

    Yes

    Pull funding from private clinics, open 400 CLSC service points, and make children's dental and vision care free.

Social policy

Widen the social safety net — homelessness, daycare, income support?

Homelessness is the closest measure, and it rarely wins the single-priority question: 3% in the province-wide Radio-Canada / Segma poll. The parties still treat it as a moral test of the campaign, especially in Montreal and Quebec City.

  • PQ · 29%

    Yes

    Spend $1 billion over four years to cut homelessness in half by 2030, with the premier responsible for the file.

  • PLQ · 23%

    Mixed

    The distinct social offer is two extra weeks of parental leave, not a broad plan against homelessness.

  • CAQ · 20%

    Mixed

    Convert and add subsidized daycare spaces and lengthen parental leave, without really widening income support.

  • PCQ · 17%

    No

    Cut benefits for asylum seekers and pay parents $100 a week for care at home, instead of expanding public daycare.

  • QS · 10%

    Yes

    A $20 wage, school meals for everyone, a rent cap, and free dental and vision care for children.

Voting intention: Léger for Le Journal and TVA, September 21, 2026, decided voters.