2026 Provincial Election: Four Actions to Take Now

The provincial election, scheduled for October 5, 2026, should be called on August 29. Élections Québec is inviting electors to take certain actions now, notably to make it easier to exercise their right to vote when the time comes.

Confirm their entry

Québec’s list of electors is continuously updated, and is reliable: it is estimated that nearly 94% of electors are on the list and nearly 98% are entered at their current address. However, this means that:

• more than 400,000 people eligible to vote in Quebec are not registered on the list of electors (6% of some 6.8 million electors);
• more than 100,000 people are not registered at their current address (2% of the 6.4 million people registered on the list of electors).

Electors are encouraged to confirm their entry on the list of electors on the Élections Québec website starting today, as it is easier to be entered or to change one’s address before the election is called.

Register to vote outside Québec

This fall, electors will be able to vote on October 5, but they will also have access to several voting options from September 25 to October 1. Electors who will be outside the province during this period can already apply to register to vote outside Québec, which will allow them to vote by mail. Élections Québec will send them their voting kit as soon as the election is called. The deadline to apply to register to vote outside Quebec is September 16.

Certain requirements must be met to vote outside Québec. The Election Act has been amended since the last general election: electors who temporarily leave the province can now vote outside Québec for five years following their departure, rather than two years. In addition, a new exception allows electors attending an educational institution outside Québec to vote, regardless of the length of their stay outside the province. A similar exception was already in place for certain workers assigned outside Québec.

During the 2022 provincial election, nearly 2,000 electors who were outside the province voted by mail. Most of the electors who registered to vote outside Québec were located elsewhere in Canada, in France, or in the United States.

Apply to work at the election

The general public can already apply for one of the available positions at the election (in French). Election officers are paid for all their hours of training and work. In addition, employers must grant unpaid leave to members of their staff who wish to serve as election officers.

Young people 16 and older can work at elections. It is a great opportunity to become familiar with the electoral process before obtaining the right to vote. Furthermore, many students have no school on election day.

Plan an electoral simulation or training session

Élections Québec invites schools and youth organizations to hold an electoral simulation during which young people can vote for a candidate in the institution’s electoral division. All electoral materials are provided free of charge. Learning activities are also offered to support this democratic experience. The registration period for the Voters in Training program is currently underway. It closes on September 17.

Élections Québec also offers a program that introduces adults to the election system and to exercising the right to vote: Voting in Québec. An instructor can travel to give an interactive workshop. A kit is also available to run the workshop independently.

Élections Québec’s preparations in numbers

• More than 30,000 ballot boxes and 25,000 polling booths are already ready for use.
• More than 4.5 million election guides have been printed. They will be sent to every household in Québec during the election period.
• More than 650 pallets of materials will be sent to the returning officers of the 127 electoral divisions when the election is called.

About Élections Québec

Élections Québec is a non-partisan and independent institution striving to ensure the integrity, transparency, and reliability of elections and to contribute to the vitality of the Québec democracy.