Quebec election: what the PQ win changes — and doesn’t — for immigration

Immigration · News

The Parti Québécois won Quebec’s general election on 5 October 2026 and will form a minority government, with 59 of 127 seats. Immigration was one of the central issues of the campaign, and the PQ promised to cut volumes significantly. Here is what was promised, what a minority government can actually do, and what does not change overnight.

The results at a glance

• Parti Québécois (Paul St-Pierre Plamondon): 59 seats, 28.0% of the vote
• Quebec Liberal Party (Charles Milliard): 40 seats, 24.2%
• Conservative Party of Quebec (Éric Duhaime): 19 seats, 20.7%
• Québec solidaire (Ruba Ghazal and Sol Zanetti): 9 seats, 12.4%
• Coalition Avenir Québec (Christine Fréchette): no seats, 13.4%

A party needs 64 seats to govern alone. With 59, the PQ will need at least one other party to pass legislation. Turnout was about 67%. It is also the first election in Quebec’s history in which no party passed 30% of the vote, and the Coalition Avenir Québec, in power since 2018, lost every one of its seats.

What the PQ promised on immigration

According to the platform it presented during the campaign:

• Permanent immigration capped at 35,000 people a year, down from 45,000 today;
• Temporary immigration cut in half, to a target of 250,000 to 300,000 temporary residents;
• Temporary foreign workers capped at 40,000 a year;
• International students capped at 50,000;
• Stricter PEQ requirements;
• a moratorium on permanent immigration from outside Quebec: students and skilled workers already here would be prioritised for permanent selection;
• higher French-language requirements from the point of arrival.

During the campaign, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon stressed that his criticism was aimed at the policies of previous governments rather than at immigrants themselves, saying the PQ would never blame people who become Quebecers.

What the other parties proposed

• CAQ: keep the permanent threshold at 45,000 until 2029 and bring temporary immigration down to 375,000–450,000 residents.
• Liberals: a permanent threshold between 45,000 and 70,000 depending on labour needs, no cut to temporary immigration, and control over temporary immigration transferred to Quebec.
• Québec solidaire: raise the permanent threshold to 70,000, fully restore the PEQ and create a regional PEQ, and press Ottawa to abolish employer-specific work permits.
• Conservatives: regionalise immigration by letting municipalities and RCMs set their own reception capacity, favour “democratic” countries in selection, reduce so-called “non-economic” immigration and revise the services offered to asylum seekers.

Minority government: what does it actually change?

This is the most important question, and the answer is nuanced.

Immigration levels are not set by a law put to a vote. Under Quebec’s Act respecting immigration, the minister sets the annual immigration plan, based on multi-year orientations approved by cabinet after a parliamentary committee consultation. The annual plan is tabled in the National Assembly by 1 November each year, or within fifteen days of the Assembly resuming if it is not sitting.

In practice, then, a minority government has real room to move on the numbers, majority or not. The 2026–2029 multi-year orientations were, however, adopted by the previous government in November 2025; changing them substantially would normally require a new round of consultation.

What does require legislation requires allies. The PQ and Québec solidaire together hold 68 seats — enough for a majority. But on immigration the two parties hold opposite positions: the PQ wants to cut the permanent threshold to 35,000, QS wants to raise it to 70,000. Any legislative reform of immigration will have to work around that tension.

Finally, much of the decision-making remains federal: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada issues study and work permits and grants permanent residence. Quebec selects (the CSQ) and issues the CAQ.

What does not change straight away

• The rules currently in force keep applying until they are officially changed. An election promise is not a rule.
• The new government has not yet been sworn in, and no new orientations have been announced.
• Existing deadlines still stand. If you are eligible for the PEQ under the current conditions, the filing window closes on 31 October 2026: this is not the moment to wait and see.

What it could mean for you

You are already in Quebec (studies, PGWP, work permit)

The PQ’s promised moratorium would target permanent immigration from outside Quebec and explicitly prioritises people already here. If it were implemented, your profile would be at a relative advantage — but within a smaller overall number and with a more demanding PEQ. French and Quebec work experience would carry even more weight.

You are abroad and aiming for permanent residence

This is the most exposed profile. A moratorium on permanent selection from outside Quebec would mean, in practice, first obtaining temporary status in Quebec — to study or work — before being eligible for selection.

You are an international student or temporary worker

The promised caps (50,000 students, 40,000 workers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program) would make places scarcer, and French could become a criterion from the point of entry.

Our reading

There is no reason to panic, but every reason not to postpone what can be done now. The first concrete signals will come from the next annual immigration plan. Until then, files that are already eligible under the current rules are best submitted under the current rules.

On the same subject: PEQ: the window closes on 31 October 2026 · Getting a CSQ: the PSTQ and Arrima explained · Post-graduation work permit: requirements

This article is general information based on campaign commitments and the rules in force on 6 October 2026. It is not legal advice. Platform commitments only become rules once they are officially adopted.