2026 Quebec Election
On October 5, the 2026 Quebec election will decide who is elected to form the 44th National Assembly. At the heart of this campaign are questions about health, cost of living, housing, education, immigration, infrastructure, the environment, and Quebec’s political future.
As the spread of disinformation increases, protecting the integrity of our information ecosystem is more important than ever. This is why the Canadian Digital Media Research Network (CDMRN), led by the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy’s Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO), will be actively monitoring and responding to information manipulation throughout the election period.
Each week during the election period, we will share a clear summary and analysis of the information environment of the Canadian election including our evaluation of manipulations and influence campaigns.
Featured Report
The Information Environment on the Eve of the 2026 Quebec Election
August 2026
As Quebec's general election of October 5, 2026 approaches, this report provides a baseline portrait of Quebec's information ecosystem. Several factors make this context particular: the Alberta secession referendum, the trade war and U.S. midterm elections, the blocking of news content on Facebook and Instagram, and the mainstreaming of generative AI, which makes it easier to fabricate deceptive content.
The report finds that the campaign will unfold within two parallel information ecosystems: candidates are primarily active on Meta's platforms, which are the most widely used in Quebec but where traditional media can no longer publish, while media concentrate their activity on other platforms where candidates are relatively inactive. It also examines Quebecers' trust in institutions and the electoral process, their concerns about disinformation and AI, and the growing use of conversational AI agents to get political information.
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