Élections Québec says it’s too late to print voter documents in English

MONTREAL — Élections Québec says it is too late to make changes to the unilingual French documents it is mailing to voters ahead of the Oct. 5 election despite facing backlash from the anglophone community.

The provincial elections authority was reacting to comments made by Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette, who said she is in discussions with Élections Québec to determine the next steps.

“We will see what our obligations are,” Fréchette said.

The unilingual documents have prompted an outcry from advocacy groups representing anglophones in Quebec, who say they are creating an unnecessary barrier for voters.

Kelly Burke, Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada, also told The Canadian Press in a statement that her office has already started reviewing two complaints regarding Élections Québec’s decision.

Élections Québec said on Tuesday it could not print the documents in both French and English, as it has done in the past, to comply with language legislation that makes French the sole language of communication for public institutions.

The printed documents include a QR code to the Élections Québec website, where information is available in English.

The legislation, adopted in 2022, allows some people to continue receiving services in English. Anglophones who qualify and Indigenous people can contact the agency to request English information, though it says the campaign period is too short to send physical documents.

The agency added that it asked the commissioner of the French language to make an exception for the election, but to no avail.

A lobby group representing anglophones in the province has asked the government and Élections Québec to reverse the decision.

In an email, the commissioner said the law applies to Élections Québec as it is treated as a government organization. It said some exceptions can be made, though “these exceptions do not permit the systematic dissemination of communications in a language other than French.”

The government’s language policy specifies that “institutional bilingualism is incompatible with the Charter (of the French language),” and the commissioner “does not have the authority to create exceptions to the Charter,” it added.

The provincial ministry responsible for the French language did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One constitutional lawyer says there could be grounds to contest the law, commonly known as Bill 96, as a result of this year’s electoral policy. An English school board has already challenged the constitutionality of the law, and the case could make its way to the Supreme Court.

Karine Millaire, a law professor at Université de Montréal, said the law appears to discriminate against anglophones and allophones and impacts their right to vote.

She said those who cannot read French are facing additional barriers to access voter information, including how to register, rather than receiving communications in the language they understand.

“It’s a law that was so, so broad and far-reaching — it was a massive piece of legislation — that we’ll continue to see constitutional challenges as cases like these arise,” she said.

Citizens or interest groups could even challenge the outcome of an election if they believe there were irregularities that impacted results, she said, especially since Élections Québec requested to be exempt from the law.

“They themselves believed — and this is no small matter from a legal standpoint — that they should not act in this way and that they should educate all voters in the same way,” she said. “So that’s certainly no trivial matter.”

Party leaders were also asked to comment on the issue on the campaign trail.

“It is what it is,” said Liberal Party Leader Charles Milliard, acknowledging Élection Québec is an independent agency. Though he shares voter concerns about access to voting, he said there is “not much (he) can do right now.”

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon maintained that he opposes institutional bilingualism, but compared voting information to the legal system where Quebecers can access justice in either official language.

“When it comes down to fundamental rights, like voting, there needs to be a mechanism through which anglophones can get information in English,” he said, adding that the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s legislation was “sometimes not planned adequately.”

Québec solidaire’s parliamentary leader, Ruba Ghazal, said she is especially worried for seniors who may not have internet access or understand digital platforms.

“We won’t protect the French language by penalizing citizens,” she said. “They have a right to clear information to participate in democracy.”

Voters should receive information cards by the end of the week of Sept. 14, ahead of the election on Oct. 5, according to Élections Québec.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2026.

Erika Morris, The Canadian Press