The 2022 Quebec general election was held on October 3, 2022, to elect the members of the National Assembly 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 3, 2022.
Premier François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) won a second term with an increased majority, the first time in 66 years that a party other than the Liberals and Parti Québecois (PQ) had been reelected. The Liberals dropped to their lowest raw seat count since 1956, their lowest percentage of seats won since 1948 and their lowest share of the popular vote in their history. The PQ had its worst general election result in history, losing most of its seats, but nevertheless managed to elect its previously seatless leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
Previous promised plans for electoral reform were scrapped in 2021; as such, the election produced a highly distorted result which is common in Quebec's first past the post voting system. As Liberal votes were concentrated on the Island of Montreal, the party received more seats than the rest of the opposition parties combined, remaining the official opposition despite finishing fourth in the popular vote. In contrast, the Conservatives increased their share of the vote to 13%; however, as their support was more spread throughout Quebec, they did not win any seats. Quebecers elected the highest number of female candidates to the National Assembly in the province's history at 59, roughly 47% of the total number of seats.
Background The 2018 general election resulted in a landslide victory for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) led by François Legault, which won 74 of 125 seats, giving the party a majority and unseating Philippe Couillard's Liberal Party after a single term in office. Couillard subsequently resigned as Liberal leader and was replaced on an interim basis by Pierre Arcand until his successor was chosen.
Both the Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire won ten seats each, fewer than the twelve needed for official party status; Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée, defeated in his bid for re-election, resigned as party leader, replaced on an interim basis by Pascal Bérubé until his permanent successor was chosen. Adrien D. Pouliot, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, announced that he was stepping down as leader on October 16, 2020.
Following Couillard's resignation, the Quebec Liberal Party held a leadership race. Dominique Anglade, former Deputy Premier of Quebec, was acclaimed leader of the party after her only rival, former mayor of Drummondville, Alexandre Cusson, stepped down. Following a leadership race, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was elected leader of the sovereignist party by the members and supporters of the Parti Québécois. Following Pouliot's resignation, the Conservative Party of Quebec held a leadership race. Éric Duhaime, a radio host and former political advisor, was elected as leader with just under 96% of the vote.
Name change of electoral district In its 2022 amendments to the Charter of the French Language, the National Assembly of Quebec also provided for renaming the electoral district of Bourget as Camille-Laurin, in honour of the Cabinet minister who promoted the original law.
Political parties and standings The table below lists parties represented and seats held in the National Assembly after the 2018 provincial election and at dissolution. NameIdeologyPositionLeader2018 ResultSeats atDissolutionVotes (%)SeatsCoalition AvenirQuébecQuebec nationalismQuebec autonomismConservatismCentre-rightFrançois LegaultLiberalQuebec federalismEconomic liberalismLiberalismCentre Dominique AngladeQuébec solidaireQuebec sovereigntismDemocratic socialismEnvironmentalismLeft-wingGabriel Nadeau-DuboisParti QuébécoisQuebec sovereigntismQuebec nationalismSocial democracyEconomic nationalismCentre-left Paul St-Pierre PlamondonConservative ConservatismQuebec federalismFiscal conservatismÉric DuhaimeIndependentsN/AVacant seatsN/A–
Timeline
+ 42nd National Assembly of Quebec - Movement in seats held (2018-2022)Party2018Gain/(loss) due to2022 Resigned from party Withdrawn from caucus Resignation Expulsion Reinstatement Change ofallegiance By-election gain74 (1) (2) 2 3 7631 (2) (2) 2710 (1) (1) (1) 710 10– 1 1– 1 2 (1) 5 (2) (1) 4Total 125 – – (3) – – – 3 125
+ Changes in seats held (2018–2022) Seat Before ChangeDateMemberPartyReasonDateMemberPartyRobervalOctober 4, 2018Philippe CouillardResignationfrom positions of Liberal Party leader and MNADecember 10, 2018Nancy GuillemetteChomedeyOctober 5, 2018Guy OuelletteExpelled from caucusfor allegedly leaking confidential information to the CAQ in 2016Marie-VictorinMarch 11, 2019Catherine FournierResigned from caucusclaiming that the party had lost its way ideologicallyNovember 1, 2021Resignationafter winning the election for Mayor of LongueuilApril 12, 2022Shirley DorismondJean-TalonAugust 30, 2019Sébastien ProulxResignationto spend more time with familyDecember 2, 2019"Liberal stronghold in Quebec City falls to the CAQ in by-election". CTV News Montreal, December 2, 2019.Joëlle BoutinRimouskiDecember 15, 2020Harold LeBelExpelled from caucusamid further investigations relating to sexual assault allegations Rivière-du-Loup–TémiscouataDecember 17, 2020 Denis TardifExpelled from caucusfor breaking COVID-19 restrictionsApril 12, 2021ReinstatedRousseauMarch 30, 2021Louis-Charles ThouinWithdrew from caucusamid an ethics probeSeptember 14, 2021ReinstatedBonaventureJune 4, 2021Sylvain RoyWithdrew from caucusamid disagreements with party leadershipIbervilleJune 15, 2021Claire SamsonExpelled from caucusafter giving a donation to the Conservative Party of QuebecMaurice-RichardNovember 1, 2021Marie MontpetitExpelled from caucusafter allegations of workplace harassment
2018 October 1, 2018: The Coalition Avenir Québec led by François Legault wins a majority government in the 42nd Quebec general election. Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée, defeated in his bid for re-election, announces his resignation as party leader. October 5, 2018: Mont-Royal–Outremont MNA Pierre Arcand is named interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. October 9, 2018: Matane-Matapédia MNA Pascal Bérubé is named interim leader of the Parti Québécois.
2019
2020 March 20, 2020: The 2020 Quebec Liberal Party leadership election is suspended indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec. May 11, 2020: Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne MNA Dominique Anglade is selected as leader of the Quebec Liberal Party by acclamation following the withdrawal of rival candidate Alexandre Cusson. October 9, 2020: Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wins the 2020 Parti Québécois leadership election.
2021 April 17, 2021: Éric Duhaime wins the 2021 Conservative Party of Quebec leadership election.
2022 May 13, 2022: The English language leaders' debate is called off for the election after two party leaders, (CAQ) Coalition Avenir Québec Premier François Legault, and PQ Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon refused to participate.Archived copy
Campaign
Contests + Candidate contests in the ridingsCandidates nominated Ridings PartyCAQPQPLQPCQQSGreenIndOthTotals5 12 12 12 12 12 12 606 33 33 33 33 33 33 14 9 3 1 1 2 3 1987 38 38 38 38 38 38 19 19 12 8 5 1 3 2 1 4 2 2668 26 26 26 26 26 25 24 15 6 6 4 6 3 4 3 2 6 2089 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 8 6 4 4 5 5 3 2 1 1 11710 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2011 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11Total 125 125 125 125 125 124 73 54 28 20 14 13 12 10 9 9 14 880
Timeline August 28, 2022: Campaign period officially begins with the calling of an October 3 election. September 1, 2022: PQ Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon stages an event in Ottawa. September 4, 2022: Radio-Canada's Five leaders, one election. September 7, 2022: (CAQ) Coalition Avenir Québec Premier François Legault apologizes for comments linking immigration and 'extremism,' and 'violence'. September 11, 2022: In a speech in Drummondville (CAQ) Coalition Avenir Québec Premier François Legault, Says that non-French speaking immigration threatens Quebec cohesion. He was criticized by the leaders of Quebec solidaire, Quebec Liberal and Parti Québécois. September 12, 2022: (CAQ) Coalition Avenir Québec Premier François Legault defends the comments he said the day before about immigration.Legault defends saying non-French speaking immigration could threaten Quebec cohesion CBC September 12, 2022 September 15, 2022: First leaders debate TVA Leaders' Debate. September 22, 2022: Radio Canada's Leaders' Debate. September 28, 2022: (CAQ) Coalition Avenir Québec Premier François Legault says during a speech, that having higher immigration numbers would be suicidal for Quebec and the French language. Legault was criticized by the other party leaders. CAQ Immigration and labour minister Jean Boulet walks back from his past comments during a debate a few days before. He said that 80% of immigrants go to Montreal, don't work, don't speak French and don't adhere to the values of Quebec.
Party slogans PartyFrenchEnglish (translation)"Continuons.""Now. Our record." ("Maintenant. Notre bilan.")"Votez vrai. Vrais enjeux. Vraies solutions.""Vote for Real. Real issues. Real solutions." (identical to French slogan)"Changer d'ère.""Let's clear the air"(This is a rhyming pun, "Let's clear the era", in French – the play on words being between "ère", which means "era", and "air", which means the same as it does in English.)"Le Québec qui s’assume. Pour vrai." "Libres chez nous.""Freedom to choose." ("Libre de choisir.")
Issues + 2022 Quebec election – issues and respective party platformsIssueCAQQLPPQQSIdentity, diversity, language, and secularism PQ would remove the bilingual status of municipalities where Anglophones make up less than 33% of residents. PQ would apply Bill 101 to CEGEPs, which would mean restrictions to access to English-language colleges. PQ would create “an office for the promotion of Quebec cultural content.” QS would alter the province’s secularism law to let public sector workers affected by the legislation wear religious symbols at work, as long as their faces are uncovered.Immigration CAQ would maintain immigration at around 50,000 per year which they said would be best matches the province’s “integration capacity.” CAQ wants more control of immigration powers from Canada such as family reunification. Liberals would increase immigration target to 70,000 a year. PQ would reduce the annual number of immigrants to 35,000 from roughly 50,000. A PQ government would also ensure that all economic immigrants have knowledge of French before they arrive QS would increase annual immigration to between 60,000 and 80,000 people a year.Sovereignty Economy and public finance QS has proposed to introduce wealth and inheritance taxes on the wealthiest 5% of Quebecers, which it states would raise $2.65 billion a year. This includes a wealth tax rate of 0.1% for those with net assets of $1 million to $10 million and a tax rate of 1% for those with assets worth $10 million to $99 million. The PCQ has proposed to lower gasoline tax and end tax on second-hand goods.Health care Education Child care and families Environment Included within QS' climate plan is to create an intercity transport network that would make it possible to reach all cities by train and bus. QS wants to support farmers in transitioning towards organic farming.