Quebecers will elect 127 members of the National Assembly in the upcoming October elections. The National Assembly adopted Bill 3 on the electoral map on Friday, adding two ridings.
The new law will also put in place “a process of modernizing the criteria according to which electoral districts are delimited”.
“We have found that these criteria are obsolete and no longer allow us to ensure a balance between the equality of the vote of the electors and the fair representation of all regions, with their particularities. It was therefore necessary to act together, putting partisan interests aside, to allow the addition of ridings where population growth required it, without allowing ridings to disappear based on a process and criteria that need to be reviewed,” the Coalition Avenir Québec, the Liberal Party, the Parti Québécois and Québec Solidaire stated in a press release.
This piece of legislation is the conclusion of a long saga. In 2023, the Quebec Electoral Representation Commission (CRE) presented a new electoral map which notably eliminated a riding in the Gaspé Peninsula and one in East Montreal.
This new electoral map has been denounced by all political parties represented in the National Assembly, who voted in May 2024 to suspend the electoral redistricting.
However, the Court of Appeal ruled that this law was “unconstitutional” and “inoperative” on December 1, 2025. A decision subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court.
The Minister responsible for Democratic Institutions, Jean-François Roberge, therefore tabled Bill 3, which aimed to add two ridings. However, independent MNA Youri Chassin opposed the legislation and tried unsuccessfully to block its adoption.
Last April, the Chief Electoral Officer (DGEQ), Jean-François Blanchet, stated that adding two constituencies just a few months before the elections could “compromise the quality, or even the integrity, of the next election.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
