Christine Fréchette is Quebec’s next premier after winning CAQ leadership

Christine Fréchette is quebec city’s incoming premiere.

She won the leaders rush to put back François Legault as head of the Coalition Avenir Québec, beating out Bernard Drainville.

Fréchette, 56, was first elected with the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in 2022.

She served as immigration minister before taking over as minister of economy, innovation and energy in 2024.

This is a breaking news story. A previous version is below.

Quebec is about to get a new premier. The leadership race to replace François Legault concludes this afternoon, with results expected to be announced around 4 p.m.

Members of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) are gathered in Drummondville, Que., for the announcement.

Either Christine Fréchette or Bernard Drainville will take charge of the CAQ — and the province — until the next general election set for Oct. 5. 

Fréchette, a former business executive, tried to focus on economic issues during the campaign.

She most recently served as Quebec's economy minister, and has the support of 41 MNAs in total, including 17 ministers.

Among those backing Fréchette are Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge, Environment Minister Benoit Charette and Finance Minister Eric Girard, as well as former social services minister Lionel Carmant.

Drainville positioned himself as the candidate best suited to defend Quebec identity and promised to adopt a stricter immigration policy.

He was most recently Quebec's environment minister, and was previously a member of the rival Parti Québécois, where he championed the party's so-called charter of values.

Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, Health Minister Sonia Bélanger and Transport Minister Jonatan Julien announced their support for Drainville earlier this week. He also has the support of 20 MNAs and another minister.

More than 20,500 CAQ members are eligible to vote for their next leader, according to figures provided by the party last month. 

Voting began April 7 and members were able to cast a ballot until 3 p.m. Today.

Legault, who founded the CAQ in 2011, led the party to two consecutive majority governments starting in 2018.

He announced his intention to step down in January with his party slumping in the polls. 

Prof. Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, said the leadership race comes at a pivotal time for the party. 

“The challenge the new CAQ leader is facing is really tremendous because of the position of the party in the polls and because this person will only be the second leader of that party in its history,” he said. 

The provincial election is scheduled for Oct. 5, 2026 — though the CAQ could decide to call an election sooner. 

That isn’t likely, given that opinion polls show the party far behind the Parti Québécois and Liberals. 

Legault said he will stay on as an MNA until the end of the term, but plans on spending more time in his home riding of L’Assomption rather than the National Assembly.

To anglophone Quebecers, was François Legault an enemy or a friend?

Journalist

Benjamin Shingler is a reporter based in Montreal covering social issues and Quebec politics. He previously worked at The Canadian Press and the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, and is an alumnus of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network. He can be reached at benjamin.shingler@cbc.ca.

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