Secessionist Parti Quebecois wins Quebec election in Canada

What the report says

The secessionist Parti Québécois has won Quebec’s provincial election in Canada and is set to form the next government, according to reporting cited by Al Jazeera on Oct. 6, 2026. Party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is expected to become premier of the mostly French-speaking province, though it was initially unclear whether the PQ had secured the 64 seats needed for a majority in the 127-seat National Assembly.

The result returns the PQ to power after a long absence and ends eight years of rule by the Coalition Avenir Quebec, a centre-right nationalist party that does not back independence. The PQ last governed Quebec from 2012 to 2014, and its gains mark a major rebound from the 2022 election, when it won only three seats.

A central campaign promise was to hold a third referendum on Quebec independence during the party’s first term, although the leader said he would wait until after U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office in 2029. The outcome revives a long-running debate over Quebec’s place in Canada and creates a new unity challenge for Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Background noted by Al Jazeera and cited experts: Quebec has already held two independence referendums, in 1980 and 1995, and both failed. Support for secession remains well below historic peaks, but the PQ victory underscores how regional identity politics continue to shape Canadian politics.