Sovereigntist Parti Québécois is projected to form minority government - Toronto Star

The Parti Québécois will form the next Quebec provincial government, paving the way for an eventual third sovereignty referendum.

From left, Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Frechette, Quebec Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime and Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard pose before the start of a leaders debate in Montreal on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. Quebec votes in a provincial election on Oct. 5, 2026. 

MONTREAL - The Parti Québécois has won a minority government, completing a dramatic political comeback and paving the way for an eventual third sovereignty referendum. 

The party captured 59 seats after the votes were counted late Monday, falling short of the 64 needed to form a majority in Quebec’s legislature.

The Coalition Avenir Québec, which has governed the province for the past eight years, was wiped off the map. Even leader Christine Fréchette, who took over after former premier François Legault’s resignation earlier this year, failed to win a seat in her hometown of Trois-Rivières.

Charles Milliard’s Liberals were elected in 40 ridings and form the official Opposition for the third straight election, while the Quebec Conservatives led by Éric Duhaime make a historic entry into the legislature and gain official party status with 19 elected members.

A crowd of PQ supporters exploded with cheers at a watch party in Montreal as they learned their party was declared elected, with supporters dressed in blue and white chanting “Quebec, a country,” in French.

“There is a new chapter in our nation that is starting over the next few years,” PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told a boisterous crowd Monday.

St-Pierre Plamondon has promised to launch a referendum to separate Quebec from Canada, but not before U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the White House in 2029.

The premier-designate said a future independent Quebec would be rich, modern and democratic.

“A referendum is an opportunity to decide for ourselves,” he told the crowd, some of whom sported merchandise from the “Yes” campaign in the 1995 referendum. “It’s an act of democracy. It’s not up to anyone but us, as a people, to decide our national future.” 

However, his path is complicated by the fact that both the Liberal and Conservative leaders have said their parties would fight to stop a sovereignty vote. Québec solidaire, another sovereigntist party, could hold the balance of power and support the PQ’s plans for a referendum. Québec solidaire elected nine members to the legislature.

The PQ has also promised to more than halve temporary immigration in Quebec and table legislation to abolish the monarchy, diverting funds used to pay the lieutenant-governor to tackle homelessness.

In his speech Monday, St-Pierre Plamondon pledged to include elements from the other parties’ platforms in his future budget. He also promised to work with the province’s English speakers and Prime Minister Mark Carney — when it serves Quebecers.

“I want to tell him that every time he’ll defend the interests of Quebec, he’ll find in me a partner in dialogue and collaboration,” he said.

Carney congratulated the PQ leader for his victory, pledging to work with the new government in Quebec City.

“Building a stronger Québec is core to our mission of building a stronger Canada,” Carney said in a statement on social media. “I look forward to working with you to support Québec’s businesses and workers impacted by tariffs, create more good jobs, work to end homelessness, and get more homes built across Québec.”

Carney also thanked Fréchette for her service, noting they had accomplished a lot together.

The Parti Québécois won only three seats in 2022, the lowest total ever since the party was founded in 1968. That number increased to seven by the start of the campaign, after four straight byelection wins.

The sovereigntist party capitalized on Quebecers’ desire for change after eight years of Coalition Avenir Québec rule. The outgoing governing party struggled to connect with voters due to a series of scandals, unpopular decisions and high-profile departures from its caucus in recent years, culminating in Legault’s resignation in January.

The Liberals also more than doubled their seat count, finishing with about 24 per cent of the popular vote, close behind the PQ, which finished the evening with about 28 per cent of the votes that were counted. 

Milliard, the 47-year-old former pharmacist-turned-politician, warned St-Pierre Plamondon that the PQ would need to secure support beyond its own ranks to govern, and said he was open to collaborating on matters that improve Quebecers’ lives. 

“But to prepare your referendum, you’ll find a determined opposition,” he said.

Duhaime and the rest of his Conservative team are the first candidates to be elected under the Conservative banner in modern history, although the party has had a recent presence in the legislature in former CAQ member Maïté Blanchette Vézina, who joined the party.

Under Duhaime’s leadership, the party surged from a marginal formation that captured less than two per cent of the vote in 2018 to a main player. The party ran a campaign that was largely targeted on key ridings, after failing to capture a seat in 2022 despite getting close to 13 per cent of the vote.

Duhaime has promised to use his leverage to act as a “guard dog” that would protect taxpayer interests and attempt to block a referendum vote.

“The voice of Quebecers who no longer recognize themselves in the old parties and who want to modernize the old bureaucratic model will finally be heard,” Duhaime said. 

It was a quiet night at a Coalition Avenir Québec watch party in Trois-Rivières, where more than half the tables remained empty. The party entered the campaign with 79 seats, and ended the night with none. 

Fréchette, who replaced Legault as leader and premier in April, took the blame for her party’s crushing defeat.

“Quebecers wanted change, and I respect their choice,” Fréchette said. 

She spent much of her campaign warning of the dangers of a referendum at a time when the U.S. trade war is destabilizing the economy, and argued that her party was best placed to guide the province through the storm.

Despite an early boost in the polls, she largely failed to make the case that she could offer Quebecers a change in leadership without a change in government.

Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal was declared elected in her Montreal riding, as the left-wing sovereigntist party appeared poised to hold onto most of its seats.

She told supporters that her party’s results prove that “the left is still alive and well in the province,” and promised to fight the “four shades of right” that the other parties offer.

The same cheers of “Quebec, a country” — heard at the PQ watch party — also echoed through Québec solidaire’s gathering in Montreal, as Ghazal said the sovereigntist party was looking forward to building a country inclusive of everyone, including immigrants, Indigenous people and English speakers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2026.