Montreal and Gaspésie lose ridings in new Quebec electoral map

The 2026 election will have two new ridings in the Laurentians and Centre-du-Quebec, and one fewer in the Gaspe and Montreal.

The electoral map used in the Oct. 5 elections will indeed have one fewer riding in Gaspésie and Montreal, with two new ones added in Laurentides-Lanaudière and Centre-du-Québec.

On Wednesday, the Electoral Representation Commission (CRE) presented the new electoral map, which aims to “reflect changes in the number of voters in the territory.”

The most significant change is the elimination of one riding in the Gaspé Peninsula and another in eastern Montreal. The CRE maintains that voters in these two regions are currently over-represented in the National Assembly.

In Gaspésie, the ridings of Gaspé and Bonaventure have been merged to become Gaspé-Bonaventure. The riding of Matane-Matapédia has been enlarged to include the MRC de La Haute-Gaspésie.

The CRE also ruled that the Matane-Matapédia electoral district will retain its current name, even though a law was passed to rename it Matane-Matapédia-Mitis. It points out that the changes made to the map mean that the MRC de La Mitis is no longer entirely within the electoral district.

In eastern Montreal, the LaFontaine electoral district is divided between the Pointe-aux-Trembles and Anjou-Louis-Riel electoral districts. The new electoral districts will be named Pointe-aux-Prairies and Anjou-LaFontaine, respectively.

Controversy

The idea of removing a riding in the Gaspé Peninsula sparked an outcry in the National Assembly: several members of the National Assembly, from all parties, said they felt that the region was gradually losing its political weight.

The current PQ MNA for Matane-Matapédia, Pascal Bérubé, also argued that the enlarged riding would become “almost impossible for a single elected representative to cover” due to its vast territory.

A law was unanimously passed in 2024 to halt the revision of the electoral map.

However, the Court of Appeal ruled that this law was unconstitutional and ineffective, so the process is continuing.

Premier François Legault’s government is challenging this decision.

In December, it requested permission to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. The country’s highest court has not yet indicated whether it will hear the case.

On Wednesday, Electoral Representation Commission president and chief electoral officer Jean-François Blanchet defended the changes to the electoral map.

“The removal of a riding always provokes a strong reaction, but it is democratic that a voter’s vote, from one riding to another, has roughly the same influence on the results of an election,” he said in a statement.

Numerous changes

The new map provides for the addition of a constituency in the greater Laurentides and Lanaudière region, which has seen its number of voters increase by 11.6 per cent since the current map was established. The CRE notes that this is the highest growth rate in Quebec.

The Bellefeuille constituency is therefore being created. It includes part of the cities of Saint-Jérôme and Mirabel, as well as the municipality of Saint-Colomban.

For the greater Estrie and Centre-du-Québec region, the riding of Marie-Lacoste-Gérin-Lajoie is being added north of the current riding of Johnson, which is being renamed Daniel-Johnson.

In total, 51 of the province’s 125 electoral districts were modified. In some cases, the boundaries of the electoral districts were moved, while in others, the names were changed.

The Election Act provides for a revision of the electoral map after two general elections, since population movements create inequalities in representation.

This revision is carried out so that Quebec is divided into 125 constituencies of approximately 51,000 electors who, as far as possible, share common characteristics.

– With information from Caroline Plante

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 14, 2026.