Electoral Documents Sent Only in French During Québec’s 2026 General Election
Latest News
On October 1, 2026, the applicant Faith Fraser filed an application for authorization to institute a class action against the Attorney General of Québec concerning the exclusive distribution in French of certain essential electoral documents during the 2026 Québec general election.
The Class Action
This proposed class action seeks redress for serious and unprecedented violations of the democratic rights of anglophone and allophone electors in Québec who read English but do not have sufficient proficiency in French to read essential electoral documents distributed exclusively in French by Élections Québec during election periods.
For the first time in the history of Élections Québec, electors received the Provincial Election Guide and the Notice of Entry exclusively in French. These materials contain essential and time-sensitive information about where, when, and how to vote, as well as deadlines for registering to vote, information on how to correct the electoral list and instructions for requesting accommodations necessary to exercise the right to vote.
For electors with no or limited capacity in reading French, this meant that they received essential electoral materials in a language they did not understand or could not understand with sufficient confidence to rely upon in exercising their fundamental right to vote.
This constitutes a serious infringement of fundamental democratic rights that cannot be justified in a free and democratic society. The remedies sought are directed both at preventing future violations and at addressing the violations that have already occurred. In the circumstances, it includes both reading a permanent exception permitting Élections Québec to provide essential electoral communications in both English and French into the Regulation respecting the derogations to the duty of exemplarity of the civil administration and the documents drawn up or used in research, CQLR c C-11, and damages sufficient to compensate the harm experienced by Class Members, vindicate their constitutional rights, recognize the seriousness of the breach, and deter similar violations in the future
Are you a member?
The proposed class is defined as follows:
All Québec electors in the 2026 general election who resided in Québec when Élections Québec sent the Provincial Election Guide (Guide pour l’élection provincial) and the Notice of Entry (Avis d’inscription), who can read English but do not master French sufficiently to read those documents.
Thus, you are a member if:
- You were eligible to vote in Québec’s 2026 general election;
- You were residing in Québec when Élections Québec sent the Provincial Election Guide (Guide pour l’élection provinciale) and the Notice of Entry (Avis d’inscription);
- You can read English; and
- You do not master French sufficiently to read those two documents.