The 2014 Quebec general election was held on April 7, 2014 to elect members to the National Assembly of Quebec. The incumbent Parti Québécois which had won a minority government in 2012 was defeated by the Quebec Liberal Party under Philippe Couillard who won a majority government of 70 seats, while the incumbent Parti Québécois finished second with 30 seats, becoming the first single-term government since Jean-Jacques Bertrand's Union Nationale government was defeated in 1970. Pauline Marois electoral defeat marked the shortest stay of any Quebec provincial government since the Canadian Confederation.
It marked the lowest seat total for the Parti Québécois since 1989 and its smallest share of the popular vote since its inaugural run in 1970, as Premier Pauline Marois lost her own riding. The Coalition Avenir Québec under François Legault made minor gains in terms of seats despite receiving a smaller share of the popular vote than in the previous election. Québec solidaire won an additional seat, though co-spokesperson Andrés Fontecilla failed to win his riding. This election saw the return of the Liberals to power 2 years after their defeat in 2012.
As of 2026, this is the last election where the Liberal Party won a majority of seats in the Quebec Assembly.
Summary
At the outset of the campaign, the Parti Québécois had a modest lead in the polls and appeared to have a realistic prospect of winning a majority government. However, the party's support rapidly collapsed after the party announced Pierre Karl Péladeau, the president and CEO of media conglomerate Quebecor, as a star candidate.Tu Thanh Ha, "Three reasons the PQ lost, and Couillard’s biggest challenge" . The Globe and Mail, April 8, 2014. Péladeau's conservative and anti-union business background was widely criticized as being at odds with the party's social democratic history;"Pierre Karl Péladeau to serve with ‘passion’" . The Gazette, April 8, 2014. and his outspoken support for a third referendum on Quebec sovereignty quickly sidelined the issues—including the Charter of Quebec Values and the corruption allegations against the Liberals, the latter of which had contributed to the defeat of Jean Charest's government in the 2012 election—which the party had identified as its primary campaign themes, alienating many voters who had little desire to revive the sovereignty issue.
In March 2014, Premier Pauline Marois was accused of antisemitism by The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) surrounding the statements made by party member Louise Mailloux. Mailloux had written statements equating the Jewish practice of circumcision to rape and claimed that halal and kosher food prices were kept high to fund religious activities abroad. She wrote that the money went to: "For the Jews, to finance Israel's colonization in Palestinian territories? And for Muslims, to fund the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamists who want to impose Islam worldwide?" Marois defended Mailloux, denying antisemitism within the party and stated that she had "very good relations with the leaders of this community and the leaders of all the different communities in Quebec." CIJA claimed Marois's apology and statements were inadequate and "meaningless excuses" with CIJA Quebec vice-president, Luciano Del Negro, stating: "She alleges a misunderstanding and refuses to basically recognize her views are not only offensive, but anti-Semitic in nature."
Timeline (2012–2014) Seat changes + Changes in seats held (2012–2014) Seat Before ChangeDateMemberPartyReasonDateMemberPartyBlainvilleMay 21, 2013Daniel RatthéSuspensionViauAugust 9, 2013Emmanuel DubourgResignationDecember 9, 2013David HeurtelOutremontAugust 26, 2013Raymond BachandResignationDecember 9, 2013Philippe CouillardLa PinièreJanuary 20, 2014Fatima Houda-PepinResignation
Changes of party leaders + Changes in party leadership (2012–2014) Party Leaving Succeeded byDateNameReasonDateNameEventSeptember 5, 2012Jean CharestResigned after losing election in SherbrookeSeptember 12, 2012Jean-Marc FournierNamed as interim leaderMarch 17, 2013Philippe CouillardElected leaderNovember 4, 2012Amir KhadirStepped down as co-spokesperson due to party rulesDecember 2, 2012André FrappierNamed as interim co-spokespersonMay 5, 2013Andrés FontecillaChosen as co-spokespersonFebruary 24, 2013Claude SabourinResignationFebruary 24, 2013Jean CloutierNamed as interim leaderSeptember 21, 2013Alex TyrrellElected leaderJune 19, 2013Jean-Martin AussantResignationJune 19, 2013Nathaly DufourBecame interim leaderOctober 26, 2013Sol ZanettiElected as leader
Other developments DateSeptember 4, 2012The Parti Québécois wins a minority government in the 40th Quebec general election, and Pauline Marois becomes Quebec's first female premier.September 19, 2012Swearing in of the Cabinet membersOctober 30, 2012The National Assembly of Quebec sits.February 21, 2013The Parti Québécois narrowly win a confidence motion on the budget by 52 members to 51 members.June 13, 2013An Act to amend the Election Act for the purpose of establishing fixed-date elections is given royal assent.February 20, 2014The Parti Québécois government table a budget before a two-week recess, sparking election speculation.March 5, 2014Lieutenant Governor Pierre Duchesne dissolves the National Assembly, on Premier Pauline Marois's request, and calls an election for April 7, 2014.March 22, 2014Deadline for nominations.March 28, 2014Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 9:00 pm ET (UTC−4).March 29, 2014Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ET.March 30–31, 2014Advance polls open 9:30 am to 8:00 pm ET.April 1, 2014Elections Quebec was criticized as anglophone students have been rejected the right to vote although they have in some cases been Quebec residents for more than four years.April 1–2, 2014Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 9:00 pm ET.April 3, 2014Returning office open for advanced vote 9:00 am to 2:00 pm ET.April 7, 2014Election Day. Polls open 9:30 am to 8:00 pm ET.
Incumbent MNAs who did not run for re-election Electoral DistrictIncumbent at dissolution and subsequent nomineeNew MNATaillon Marie MalavoyDiane Lamarre Diane LamarreRimouski Irvin PelletierHarold LeBel Harold LeBelD'Arcy-McGee Lawrence BergmanDavid Birnbaum David BirnbaumMaskinongé Jean-Paul DiamondMarc Plante Marc PlanteVerdun Henri-François GautrinJacques Daoust Jacques DaoustNelligan Yolande JamesMartin Coiteux Martin CoiteuxPontiac Charlotte L'ÉcuyerAndré Fortin André FortinVaudreuil Yvon MarcouxMarie-Claude Nichols Marie-Claude NicholsRobert-Baldwin Pierre MarsanCarlos Leitão Carlos LeitãoTrois-Rivières Danielle St-AmandJean-Denis Girard Jean-Denis GirardGroulx Hélène DaneaultClaude Surprenant Claude SurprenantSaint-Jérôme Jacques DuchesneauPatrice Charbonneau Pierre Karl PéladeauBlainville Daniel Ratthé"Daniel Ratthé quitte la vie politique" sur le Huffington Post , le March 6, 2014 in – Mario Laframboise
Opinion polls
Polling firm Last date of pollingLink PQ QLP CAQ QS ON GPQ OtherElection resultsHTML25.3841.5223.057.630.730.551.14Angus ReidPDF2739257111Segma RecherchePDF25.741.522.08.91.9Forum ResearchPDF2444236021Léger MarketingPDF293823911EKOSPDF27.039.821.19.42.8Ipsos ReidHTML2840181202Forum ResearchPDF2941197121Léger MarketingPDF3340159111Forum ResearchPDF3245137021Ipsos ReidHTML334014922CROPPDF3639131011Léger MarketingPDF3737149111CROPHTML363617812Forum ResearchPDF3840127021Léger MarketingPDF37351581212012 ElectionHTML31.9531.2027.056.031.890.990.89 Results among "likely voters" By Language French
Timeline of opinion pollsPolling organisationLast date of pollingSourceSample size PQ PLQ CAQ QSOtherLeadAngus ReidApril 4, 2014PDF31 30281031SegmaApril 4, 2014PDF3133 24102ForumApril 3, 2014PDF2735 28647leger April 3, 2014PDF35 2927916leger 23 March 2014PDF40 301710310CROP March 16, 2014PDF43 301411213leger March 13, 2014PDF44 271510417CROPMarch 8, 2014PDF42 252017legerMarch 3, 2014PDF45 23188522CROPFebruary 16, 2014PDF50 241736CROPJanuary 19, 2014PDF42 241918Leger18 January 2014PDF43 25198518CROPDecember 9, 2013PDF40 272010313LegerDecember 5, 2013PDF39 28219311Forum22 October 2013PDF38 3514853CROPOctober 21, 2013PDF41 2916912CROPJune 17, 2013PDF30 27261253CROP20 May 2013PDF29 27261252LégerMarch 28, 2013PDF36 242310812LégerDecember 13, 2012PDF40 172710513LégerNovember 22, 2012PDF40 20248716Léger16 October 2012PDF38 23287410
Non French Timeline of opinion pollsPolling organisationLast date of pollingSourceSample size PQ PLQ CAQ QSOtherLeadAngus ReidApril 4, 2014PDF190 323SegmaApril 4, 2014PDF574 1461ForumApril 3, 2014PDF686 223LegerApril 3, 2014PDF771 1183CROPMarch 16, 2014PDF971 1082Leger March 13, 2014PDF974 1042Leger December 5, 2013PDF571 1239CROPJune 17, 2013PDF186 554CROP20 May 2013PDF086 807Leger November 22, 2012PDF668 1268Leger 16 October 2012PDF1159 14106
Pre-campaign period
Pre-campaign period polling (Sep 2012 – Feb 2014) Polling firm Last date of pollingLink PQ QLP CAQ QS ON GPQ OtherCROPHTML403416722CROPHTML3535161032Léger MarketingPDF363317833CROPPDF3535181021Léger MarketingPDF3237198121CROPPDF3237171022Forum ResearchPDF3638138221CROPHTML34381584Léger MarketingPDF343617841CROPHTML3035211122Léger MarketingPDF333618922Forum ResearchPDF3542127121Léger MarketingPDF3236186233CROPHTML294020722Léger MarketingPDF2738198332CROPPDF2538221141CROPPDF2438221051Léger MarketingPDF27351911422CROPHTML2538221131Léger MarketingPDF2933209342CROPPDF293125105Léger MarketingPDF3130209451CROPHTML30302793Léger MarketingPDF3331208332CROPPDF34292494CROPHTML31302784Léger MarketingPDF3327279221CROPPDF362525104CROPHTML31292595Léger MarketingPDF3331228421CROPHTML35272963CROPHTML3429241111Léger MarketingPDF32302582212012 ElectionHTML31.9531.2027.056.031.890.990.89
Media endorsements Parti Québécois Le Devoir
Quebec Liberal Party La Presse Montreal Gazette
List of candidates
Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Bonaventure || |Sylvain Roy 11380 45.70% | |Damien Arsenault 10580 42.20% | |Jean-Marc Landry 1061
4.26% | |Patricia Chartier 1540
6.18% | |Louis-Patrick St-Pierre 130
0.52% | |Patrick Dubois (Nul) 283
1.14% || |Sylvain Roy |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Côte-du-Sud | |André Simard 6649
19.12% || |Norbert Morin 17348 49.88% | |Mireille Caron 8093
23.27% | |Simon Côté 1910
5.49% | |Joël Leblanc-Lavoie 158
0.45% | |Renaud Blais (Nul) 347
1.00%
Gaétan Mercier (Cons.)
272
0.78% || |Norbert Morin |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Gaspé || |Gaétan Lelièvre 10026 52.03% | |Annie St-Onge 6513
33.80% | |Yvan Blanchard 1192
6.19% | |Daniel Leboeuf 989
5.13% | |Frédérick Deroy 194
1.01% | |Catherine Beau-Ferron (Nul) 255
1.32%
Christian Rioux (Cons.) 99
0.51% || |Gaétan Lelièvre |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Îles-de-la-Madeleine | |Jeannine Richard 3319
40.17% || |Germain Chevarie 4137
50.07% | |Mario-Michel Jomphe 262
3.17% | |Natalia Porowska 499
6.04% | |David Boudreau 46
0.56%
|Jeannine Richard |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Matane-Matapédia || |Pascal Bérubé 18025 61.16% | |Dave Gravel 6712
22.77% | |Yann Gobeil-Nadon 3019
10.24% | |Gérald Tremblay 1511
5.13% | |Joëlle Vadeboncoeur Harrison 207
0.70%
|Pascal Bérubé |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Rimouski || |Harold LeBel 12028 40.58% | |Pierre Huot 8888
29.99% | |Steven Fleurent 3186
10.75% | |Marie-Neige Besner 4851
16.37% | |Pierre Beaudoin 327
1.10% | |Tom-Henri Cyr (Pot) 138
0.47%
Pier-Luc Gagnon (Nul) 219
0.74% || |Irvin Pelletier |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Rivière-du-Loup–Témiscouata | |Michel Lagacé 8378
23.95% || |Jean D'Amour 18086 51.69% | |Charles Roy 5794
16.56% | |Louis Gagnon 2129
6.09% | |Étienne Massé 245
0.70% | |Frank Malenfant (PDSP) 354
1.01% || |Jean D'Amour
Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and Côte-Nord
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Chicoutimi || |Stéphane Bédard 11245 34.48% | |Michel Mallette 9640
29.56% | |Jean-François Doyon 5691
17.45% | |Réjean Godin 2105
6.46% | |Philippe Gosselin 327
1.00% |