Quebec Premier François Legault announced his resignation on Wednesday, ending a seven-year tenure marked by early pandemic leadership successes but concluding with record unpopularity and party defections.
Legault, 68, will remain premier until his Coalition Avenir Québec selects a new leader. The party faces an October provincial election trailing far behind rivals in polling.
“For the good of my party and especially for the good of Quebec, I am announcing today that I will leave my position as Quebec premier,” Legault said at the National Assembly.
Legault led the CAQ to consecutive majority governments in 2018 and 2022, breaking decades of dominance by the Parti Québécois and Quebec Liberal Party. His government earned high approval ratings through 2023 for its pandemic response.
That support collapsed over the past year. A Pallas Data poll conducted January 9-10 showed the CAQ at 10% voter support, placing the party in fourth behind the Parti Québécois, Liberals and Conservative Party of Quebec. Seventy-five percent of respondents held unfavorable views of Legault.
The government faced multiple crises in 2025. Quebec announced a record $13.6-billion deficit in March, prompting Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the province’s credit rating for the first time in 30 years.
The province’s auditor general revealed cost overruns exceeding $500 million on a digital platform for the auto insurance board. The Northvolt electric battery factory project collapsed after Quebec invested millions in the proposed $7-billion facility.
A contentious dispute over doctor compensation led to the resignation of Health Minister Christian Dubé and Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant. Six legislature members left the CAQ caucus in total, with the party losing three consecutive by-elections to the Parti Québécois.
Legault co-founded Air Transat before entering politics in 1998 as a Parti Québécois member. He served as education minister and health minister before founding the CAQ in 2011.
The Quebec Liberal Party also searches for a leader after Pablo Rodriguez stepped down last month. Prime Minister Mark Carney, currently in China, has not yet commented on Legault’s resignation.
The provincial election remains scheduled for October 2026.
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