Third Link: Quebec again beguiles possibility of new project

Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault talks about the Third Link on June 12, 2025. (LA PRESSE CANADIENNE/Jacques Boissinot)

With less than a year and a half to go before the provincial election, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government is once again dangling the prospect of a Third Link project – without committing to any potential costs.

The corridor, chosen by Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault, is farther west and closer to the two existing bridges than previous proposed routes.

A third link farther east would have been more expensive, according to the minister.

The proposed project is a bridge-tunnel that accommodates both freight trucks and public transportation.

The precise route and “target budget” are not expected to be unveiled until the fall.

From east to west

The CAQ government has been very indecisive about the Third Link project in the past.

In 2019, it proposed a tunnel to the east that would pass under Île d’Orléans.

Then, the government changed its mind and floated the idea of a route farther west that would connect the two city centres of Quebec City and Lévis.

In April 2023, Guilbault announced that her government was abandoning the project for a highway link between the cities.

Instead, she proposed a tunnel dedicated to public transit.

Then, in October 2023, less than 24 hours after his crushing defeat in Jean-Talon by the Parti Québécois (PQ), Premier François Legault took everyone by surprise by announcing that he, again, wanted to consult the people of Quebec City about the Third Link, and all options were on the table.

The project was revived in June 2024 despite an unfavourable report from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which had analyzed several potential corridors.

– This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 12, 2025.