Quebec votes 2026: Voters say economy, language and health care top of mind on first day of advance polling

Along the Saint-Lawrence River, with a view of the Montreal skyline, voters gathered at advance polling stations like one at the Montreal science centre to cast early ballots ahead of the province’s Oct. 5 general election.

Marc Fortin and Denise Tremblay, accompanied by their two grandchildren, were among the early voters headed to the first day of advance polling on Sunday.

“We wanted to take part in ‘Électeurs en herbe’ (a youth voting simulation program), to start preparing the civic action of the future,” said Fortin, who voted in the downtown riding of Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques. 

Tremblay proudly noted that their grandson, Louis-Samuel, 9, knew all the party leaders. 

“I watched the debate,” the boy replied.

Five parties are expecting to win seats in the election — Fréchette’s Coalition Avenir Québec, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon’s Parti Québécois, Charles Milliard’s Quebec Liberals, Éric Duhaime’s Quebec Conservatives and Ruba Ghazal’s Québec solidaire.

Voters have the option of voting early Sunday and Monday, from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Élections Québec says that advance voting has been rising in popularity in recent years with over a third of voters choosing to vote early in the 2022 election. 

“It’s a great option that you don’t have massive lineups on polling day,” said one Quebecer, who voted at a polling station in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood.

The economy, the cost of living and relations with the United States were important issues for Fortin this election, he said. Tremblay said she wanted to encourage continued reform to government systems, like the CAQ’s health-care reform, and digital transition projects. 

“It’s off to a good start. We need to keep it going,” she said. 

Asked who had got their vote, the pair were quick to reply: “Madame (Christine) Fréchette.”

For other early voters who spoke to The Canadian Press on Sunday, the issue of language came up often.

Yasemin Kahyaoglu, a university lecturer who also voted at the science centre, called on politicians to recognize the value of English universities, where tuition went up in recent years for out-of-province and international students. 

“Pushing people out of the province, pushing universities out of province, that doesn’t make sense to me,” she said. 

In a polling station in Westmount, a bilingual city on the Island of Montreal, voters spoke out against the sending of election documents only in French this election, in accordance with the province’s new language law. 

However, they said they had no problem getting bilingual service from poll workers.

David Freedman, a voter at the Westmount polling station, said language was the single big issue he was following this election. 

“I’d like to combine the English and the French together. I think it’s important,” he said, adding that he had cast his vote for the Liberals.

For Réjean Matte, another voter in Westmount, casting his ballot early was the end of a too-long election season. 

“We get sick of it. (Politicians) start repeating the same thing. And the more they debate on TV, the more they resort to low blows,” he said. 

Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, reactions to Christine Fréchette’s claims of foreign interference continued to dominate the discussion.

On Friday, Fréchette said she was concerned Americans might try to support the sovereigntist Parti Québécois to destabilize Canada.

“I am going to shed light on (this whole) situation,” she said.

Fréchette later clarified that there is no evidence of actual American interference in this election.

Her rivals were skeptical about the warnings, and Fréchette later seemed to backtrack, saying there was no indication of interference in the current campaign.

On Sunday, party leaders continued to attack Fréchette on the claims. Liberal and Parti Québecois leaders Milliard and St-Pierre Plamondon said the affair disqualified Fréchette from leadership.

“Those my age have played Mario Kart, you throw banana peels in the hopes that another vehicle crashes,” said St-Pierre Plamondon. “Voters see that.”

The PQ – currently in the lead – may be sitting on a knife’s edge from forming a majority government. 

But a new Segma Research poll suggesting the Quebec City region could determine the election’s outcome as the PQ comes neck-and-neck with the Quebec Conservatives at 27 per cent.

The five major party leaders were set to meet Sunday night on the set of the popular weekly French-language talk show “Tout le monde en parle.”