The trade war, public spending and immigration took centre stage Friday as candidates from Quebec’s major political parties laid out their economic plans on the 16th day of the provincial election campaign.
All five parties agreed the next government will need to prop up businesses facing the effects of the trade war, but they offered different approaches to strengthening Quebec’s economy and addressing labour shortages.
The Coalition Avenir Québec, Quebec Liberal Party and Québec solidaire argued that larger businesses can help Quebec improve productivity and compete in an economy affected by U.S. tariffs.
“We compensate with a promise to increase the Quebec infrastructure plan from 167 billion to 180 billion,” said Eric Girard, CAQ candidate for Groulx.
“If they’re more productive, they can export more, and they can support an environment where tariffs are present,” said Michel LeBlanc, Quebec Liberal Party candidate for Marguerite-Bourgeoys.
“The place of the Quebec state as a work-giver, a contract-giver is important,” said Alexandre Leduc, Québec solidaire candidate for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
The CAQ is also pushing to attract more foreign capital, while the Liberals say they want to grow small and medium-sized businesses in Quebec.
“Because there’s no private investment, we want to do more public investment, and in due time private investment will come back and we’ll be able to cool off,” said Girard.
LeBlanc criticized the CAQ’s record on growing medium-sized businesses.
“If you look at the number or the proportion of medium-sized businesses in the economy, it did not grow. So they’ve failed,” said LeBlanc.
Québec solidaire says public investment should come with conditions aimed at improving working conditions.
“You cannot just say, yes, give contracts with no conditions and move on,” said Leduc.
The Conservative Party of Quebec, meanwhile, argued that direct government financing is not the best way to support businesses. The party is proposing to make Quebec’s corporate tax rate the lowest in North America.
“Our corporations are paying the highest tax rates in North America,” said Adrien Pouliot, Conservative Party of Quebec candidate for D’Arcy-McGee.
The Parti Québécois is also proposing changes to corporate taxation, including reducing direct subsidies while lowering taxes for businesses.
The province currently provides $8.5 billion in incentives, according to the PQ.
“Out of the 8.5 billion, we’ll take 2.5 billion and lower the taxes for 100 per cent of all the businesses in Quebec,” said Stéphane Paquet, Parti Québécois candidate for Pointe-aux-Trembles.
Immigration divides parties
Immigration was another major point of disagreement during the debate.
The CAQ and Parti Québécois are both promising to reduce immigration numbers, with the CAQ arguing that recent growth has been too rapid.
“We need to temper the growth of immigration because we had excess growth in 2023-2024,” said Girard.
The PQ also says it would reduce immigration levels while making the process clearer for employers and newcomers.
“Yes, our numbers will be lower, but yes, it will be clear how to get in and it will be clear for employers how to renew the permits for their employees,” said Paquet.
The Conservatives called the debate over immigration a “false debate,” arguing that raising the minimum annual income at which a worker pays taxes from $19,000 to $35,000 could help address Quebec’s labour shortage.
“Labor shortages can also be reduced if we reward working people a little more,” said Pouliot.
Québec solidaire and the Liberals are instead calling for changes to immigration programs, including the reinstatement of the Quebec Experience Program, or PEQ.
“The people in the regions who know what their needs are can directly propose some jobs to those people coming from elsewhere,” Leduc said.
“This is a major failure for the CAQ,” LeBlanc said. “And the PQ would do the same.”
Quebecers are set to head to the polls on Oct. 5.
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