Running for office

Eligibility

With a few exceptions, if you have the right to vote, you can run as a candidate. On election day, you must meet the following criteria:

• Be 18 years of age or older;
• Be a Canadian citizen;
• Have been domiciled in Québec for six months;
• Not have lost your election rights.

To become a candidate, you must also be entered on the list of electors. Check if you are.

You may only run in one electoral division in any single election. It is not necessary to be domiciled in the electoral division where you are running.

Running for office

You must provide the following information on this form:

• The name of your official agent
• The name of your political party as it appears in the Register of authorized political entities of Québec, if you are a candidate of an authorized party
• Whether or not you want to appear as independent under your name on the ballot paper, if you are running as an independent candidate

You must also attach various documents to your nomination paper:

• A photograph that meets the requirements set out in the nomination paper
• One of the following pieces of identification: your birth certificate, citizenship certificate, passport, driver’s licence, or health insurance card, and, where applicable, a copy of your change of name certificate
• The signature and domiciliary address of at least 100 electors whose names appear on the list of electors for the electoral division where you are running, based on the electoral map that will be in force for the general election (in French). You or your mandataries must collect these signatures before filing your nomination paper
• If you are a candidate for a political party, you must provide a letter from the leader of your party recognizing you as the official candidate of their party in the electoral division in which you are running

If you file your nomination paper using the online form, you will need to upload these documents in the appropriate sections.

Filing nomination papers

Once your nomination paper is completed and you have all the required documents, you can file it with Élections Québec.

Regardless of how you file your nomination paper, Élections Québec must review it and issue you a notice of conformity for it to be official.

If you need to make corrections to your nomination paper to make it compliant, you must do so before September 17 at 2:00 p.m.

When your candidacy is accepted, it will be posted on the Candidates page of our website.

To ensure you don’t forget anything, you can:

• Read the guide Filing a nomination online (PDF - in French);
• Check off the steps listed in our pamphlet Quick reference for preparing a valid nomination paper (PDF).

Independent candidate

If you are running as an independent candidate, you must follow the same process to file your nomination paper.

However, you must obtain an authorization from the Chief Electoral Officer if you want to solicit and collect contributions, contract loans, or incur expenses, even if these expenses are minimal and are paid for with your own money.

Election contributions

If you are a political party candidate or if you hold an authorization as an authorized independent candidate, electors can give you money to support your candidacy. You must ensure that you collect these funds in accordance with the Election Act.

All contributions must be accompanied by a slip on which the contributor declares that they are making their contribution:

• On their own behalf and out of their own property
• Voluntarily
• Without compensation or consideration

They must also declare that their contribution has not been, and will not be, reimbursed.

You can contribute to your own campaign, just like any elector. The maximum amount of these contributions is $100 per year. You can make an additional contribution of $100 during an election. Your official representative must provide you with a contribution slip for each contribution you make.

Official representative: a key role

The official representative is responsible for collecting funds. This person:

• Solicits and collects contributions
• Appoints canvassers
• Provides completed contribution slips, including the signed declaration of each contributor
• Checks the compliance of contributions
• Collects revenues from political or fundraising activities
• Contracts loans
• Pays annual interest on the loans
• Files a financial report, and where applicable, any additional financial reports

As a candidate, if you want to collect money, you must hold a canvasser’s certificate signed by your official representative.

You can watch a short video describing the roles and responsibilities of the official representative (in French).

Independent candidate

If you are an independent candidate, some special considerations apply to your situation (in French).

Election expenses

If you are a political party candidate, your official agent must open an election fund to pay your election expenses. This fund must be made up of sums collected in accordance with the Act. All election expenses must be paid out of the election fund. You cannot pay election expenses yourself, except for certain personal expenses provided for in the Act.

Official agent: a key role

The official agent is responsible for authorizing and paying election expenses. This person:

• Incurs or authorizes all election expenses
• Ensures that the payment of all election expenses is supported by an invoice and that it is paid at the going rate
• Ensures that all advertising includes their name, title as official agent, and the name of the printer, where applicable
• Respects the limit on election expenses
• Files the return of election expenses

You can watch a short video describing the roles and responsibilities of the official agent.

Any expenses incurred to promote your candidacy must comply with the rules of the Election Act.

Offences committed with regard to the financing and control of election expenses are liable to criminal prosecution. They may result in fines and other penalties, including disqualification from voting, and being barred from running as a candidate or sitting in the Assemblée nationale.

Election expense limit

The expenses incurred by your official agent during the election period are limited to certain criteria provided for in the Election Act. For more information on this subject, visit the Limits on election expense webpage.

Return of election expenses

Within 120 days after the election, your official agent must file a return of election expenses in accordance with the requirements of the Act. If you are an authorized independent candidate, your official representative and official agent must file a financial report showing all your cash receipts within the same period.

Reimbursement of election expenses

Elected candidates who obtain at least 15% of the valid votes in their electoral division are entitled to a partial reimbursement of their election expenses.

Independent candidate

If you are an independent candidate, some special considerations apply to your situation.

Withdrawal of candidacy

You can withdraw your candidacy at any time until the end of the election period. To do so, you must submit a declaration to that effect to the returning officer for the electoral division where you are running. You must sign this declaration and have it signed by two electors from that electoral division. You must complete this process yourself.

• If you are a candidate of a party, you may withdraw your candidacy 48 hours after notifying the leader.
• If you are an authorized independent candidate and you withdraw before election day, your official representative may continue to collect contributions in order to pay the debts arising from election expenses already incurred.

If you withdraw after the ballot papers have already been printed, your name will be crossed off by hand and election officers will inform all electors who come to vote. If any electors have already voted, the votes you received will be cancelled.

Elected candidates

If you are elected in your electoral division, you will sit in the Assemblée nationale as a Member. The preliminary results are announced on election night, but your declaration of election will take place in the following days, after the period for requesting a judicial recount has passed

To learn about the ethical principles and conduct obligations that elected Members must respect, consult the summary of the Principles and Obligations of the Code of Ethics and Conduct of the Members of the National Assembly (PDF - in French) prepared by the Commissaire à l’éthique et à la déontologie (in French).