The Information Environment on the Eve of the 2026 Quebec Election

Executive Summary

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. This report aims to better understand the types of information voters will be exposed to during the campaign and the perceptions they already hold toward institutions and their information environment. It addresses, among other things, media consumption trends, trust in institutions and the information environment, and the activity of candidates, media, and commentators across the various social media platforms. It also includes a synthesis of threats and vulnerabilities.

Key Takeaways

• 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. Conversely, the media concentrate their activity on other platforms, where candidates are relatively inactive. Depending on the platform they use, the Quebec public will therefore have a significantly different experience of the campaign.
• Quebecers' trust in institutions remains higher than the Canadian average. They largely trust scientists (89%), moderately trust the media (53%) and their political representatives (43%), and generally do not trust influencers (9%), although they may trust certain specific influencers.
• Quebecers express a high level of confidence in the electoral administration. More than 80% of Quebecers believe that Élections Québec will administer the election fairly. There has been little discussion of online election administration over the past few months, and the discussions that did take place focused on more procedural matters and Elections Quebec's role as an arbitrator, including the complaint filed by the Parti Québécois regarding potential violations of electoral rules during the Arthabaska by-election, the inquiry about the Liberal Party's leadership race, the withdrawal of authorization from Union nationale, and the redrawing of the electoral map.
• Quebecers are more concerned about disinformation and AI than about foreign interference. A majority say they are "very" or "extremely" concerned about the potential for AI-generated content to manipulate the public (63%) and about disinformation (53%). Voters are more concerned about the influence that foreign governments may have on Canadian media and politics (44%) than about their interference in Quebec's electoral process (15%).
• Nearly one-third of Quebecers report having already used conversational AI agents to inform themselves politically. Trust in these tools depends heavily on usage: 57% of those who use them have "fairly" or "a lot" of confidence in these tools to give them accurate information, compared to 15% of those who do not use them.