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TL;DR

Immigration and voting rights for English speakers were the main topics in the second week of Quebec’s election campaign, after Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon linked immigration to crowded schools and fewer people speaking French.

This debate comes after the PQ suggested big cuts to both temporary and permanent immigration. Another issue is whether sending election mail only in French gives English-speaking voters equal access to voting instructions.

St-Pierre-Plamondon spoke at a news conference outside a Quebec City high school that uses modular classrooms. He said schools are overcrowded and used numbers that included both immigrants and Quebec-born children of immigrants, which led to criticism from Québec solidaire.

“Who does the PQ consider a Quebecer? Isn’t being born here enough?” Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal said. “How can we blame them for overcrowded schools? It’s hurtful.”

St-Pierre-Plamondon said his opponents had distorted his position. “To us, all Quebecers are 100% Quebecers, but we just have a bad public policy that needs to be fixed,” he said.

Quebec’s school capacity issues started before the campaign. Radio-Canada reported that the province expects to be short 1,500 classrooms in the 2025-26 school year. Around 34,500 students may have to use modular units, switch schools, or study in spaces not meant for classrooms.

Research adds more detail to claims about immigrant students. A Université de Montréal study looked at 242,800 students who started secondary school between 2012 and 2014. It found that graduation rates improved more for first- and second-generation immigrant students than for other students since 2011, though researchers warned that changes in how data was measured could affect the results.

The PQ wants to lower the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec from over 500,000 to between 200,000 and 250,000. They also suggest allowing 35,000 permanent residents each year, which is less than the current government target of 45,000.

Quebec’s population dropped by 9,600 in 2025, mainly because there were 51,400 fewer non-permanent residents. For the second year in a row, there were more deaths than births.

On September 1, Élections Québec said that general election information would be mailed only in French. In past elections, mailouts included both French and English.

The mailed documents will have a QR code that links to English information online. Élections Québec said this change is due to a 2022 law that requires public institutions to use only French. The agency tried to keep bilingual election materials but was not allowed.

Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard called the decision “an unjustifiable attack on the electoral rights of English-speaking Quebecers” in an open letter to Premier Christine Fréchette. He said QR codes make it harder for people who do not have smartphones or strong digital skills.

Fréchette said English information is still available and that everyone can vote. Élections Québec also plans to advertise in English online and in media for English speakers.

If you are registered to vote, you should get your election documents by September 18. They will be in French, even if you prefer English.

The campaign proposals do not affect anyone’s current immigration status or permit. Any changes to admissions would only happen if the PQ wins the election and takes further action.