Quebecers critical of Legault’s government on all fronts; Parti Québécois hold big lead in vote intention
Sept. 12, 2025 – As Premier François Legault’s personal popularity sinks to new lows, Quebecers are also condemning his government’s performance on the key issues of the day.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, released as part of the Cross-Canada Outlook series, finds at least two-thirds of Quebecers say the government is performing poorly on health care (77%), the cost of living (79%), housing affordability (80%), education (68%) and government spending (80%). Those are the top five issues the province is facing, in order, according to those in Quebec.
Taken together, Quebec is the lowest performing province on ARI’s Weighted Provincial Government Performance Index, seven points lower than the national average.
Legault appears to hear the critical assessments of the government from Quebecers, recently saying his government needs a “shock treatment”. He applied the first zap this week by shuffling his cabinet.
The CAQ may need more a few more volts to resurrect its electoral chances. One-in-eight (12%) say they would vote for the incumbent government if the election were today, far behind the leading Parti Québécois, who receive support from two-in-five (38%).
INDEX
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Views of premier and opposition leader
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Government Performance Index
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Government performance trend
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Right track or wrong track?
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Top issues
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Performance on top issues
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Vote intention update
Views of premier and opposition leader
The travails of Quebec Premier François Legault and the Coalition Avenir Québec government are well documented at this point. Legault, once the most popular premier in the country, now receives approval from one-in-five (22%) in the province, while 72 per cent are critical of his performance.
Related: Premiers’ Performance: The journey from first to worst for Legault; Eby’s decline continues
The government is stumbling as the clock continues to tick down to the next scheduled provincial election in October 2026. Legault will face not only a renewed Liberal party under leader Pablo Rodriguez, a former cabinet minister under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but a resurgent Parti Québécois under Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. The latter has won the last three byelections in the province, claiming three seats from the majority CAQ government.
Rodriguez, despite being appointed to two ministerial positions by Trudeau, is relatively unknown in his position of leader of the opposition. But most in the province who do have an assessment say it is negative (48%):
Government Performance Index
The Angus Reid Institute Weighted Government Performance Index, accounts for government performance on 16 issues, as well as how important those issues are to people in the province. For all issues, see detailed tables here. This metric places the CAQ government in last place in the country, scoring a 19, which is seven points below the national average:
Government performance trend
It was not always the case that people in the province were so critical of the Quebec government performance under Legault. At one point, the government was viewed more positively by Quebec residents than others in the country by their constituents. Positivity towards the government performance has steadily eroded between the beginning of the second CAQ majority term and now:
Right track or wrong track?
A majority (56%) in Quebec believe the province is on the wrong track, the most in the country, while one-in-five (20%) say the province is heading in the right direction, the fewest in the country. There appears to be some urgency from the CAQ and Legault to change course; the premier said his government needed a “shock treatment” as it shuffled its cabinet this week.
Top issues
The top two issues the province is facing according to Quebecers is the rising cost of living (53%) and health care (59%), the same two issues cited by those in other provinces. Quebec is the only province where education appears in the top five, with one-quarter (25%) selecting it as a top issue. In August, the education system was slammed by a report by Australian researchers as letting “a large number of young people down”. Meanwhile, parents, students and unions protested the government’s cuts to education funding for the upcoming school year, which were partially reversed.
Legault’s CAQ finds itself in a tight spot, as one-quarter (23%) also say they worry over government spending, making Quebec the only province where that issue is in the top five. The provincial budget projects a $13.6-billion deficit this fiscal year, a record amount.
Notably, concern over public safety is much lower in Quebec (9%) than elsewhere in the country. Nova Scotia (14%) is the only other province where fewer than one-in-five residents select public safety as a top issue.
Housing affordability, too, is a top three issue in Quebec, as the province deals with a “housing crisis”. Rent has been increasing significantly in the province in recent years, while the average selling prices for houses increased by 9.5 per cent year over year in July. Unlike many other provinces where housing affordability is an issue, concern over the price of housing is near evenly distributed among all ages. In B.C., for example, half of 18- to 34-year-olds (50%) select housing affordability as a top issue in the province, while 26 per cent of those older than 54 say the same. Similarly in Ontario, concern over housing affordability ranges from 46 per cent among young adults to 22 per cent among older ones.
Older Quebecers are more concerned with the government’s deficit spending than younger ones, who are more likely to be preoccupied with climate change:
Performance on top issues
Quebecers are some of the most critical of their provincial government on the top issues. Four-in-five (79%) say the Legault and the CAQ is poorly handling the high cost of living, tied for the most in the country. Only Ontario (82%) receives poorer marks from its constituents than Quebec (80%) on housing affordability. Quebec clears every other province by 20 percentage points or more when it comes to residents’ assessments of how its handling government spending (80% poor job). The CAQ government is also in the top three when it comes to the proportion of residents who believe it is mishandling health care (77%):
Vote intention update
The electoral reckoning for the Legault and the CAQ is currently scheduled for next fall. In quite the reversal of fortunes, one-in-eight (12%) say they would vote for the incumbent government if the election were today, a steep drop off from the 41 per cent it received in the 2022 election.
The Parti Québécois (38% vote intention up from 15% vote share in the 2022 election) are the major beneficiaries of the CAQ downfall. The Liberals have also improved their standing from the 2022 election (14% vote share, 21% vote intention), but are far behind the current leaders:
Survey Methodology:
The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from Aug. 28 to Sept. 5, 2025, among a randomized sample of 4,330 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to region, gender, age, household income, and education, based on the Canadian census. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI.
For more information on our polling methods, click here.
For detailed results by age, gender, region, education, and other demographics, click here.
For PDF of full release, click here.
For the questionnaire, click here.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Shachi Kurl, President: 604.908.1693 shachi.kurl@angusreid.org @shachikurl
Dave Korzinski, Research Director: 250.899.0821 dave.korzinski@angusreid.org
Jon Roe, Research Associate: 825.437.1147 jon.roe@angusreid.org