In this section
Our responsibilities
Provincial elections
We are responsible for the enforcement of the Election Act for provincial elections, and the Referendum Act for provincial referendums.
Municipal and school board elections
We are responsible for the financing and auditing of election expenses, as well as for the criminal offences under the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities and the Act respecting school elections to elect certain members of the boards of directors of English-language school service centres.
Given the ongoing legal challenges, any reference to the Act respecting school elections to elect certain members of the boards of directors of English-language school service centres refers to the provisions of the Act respecting school elections in effect prior to the passage of Bill 40, which have been adapted to reflect the repeal of the election process in French-language school service centres.
The administration of municipal referendums and elections as well as school elections is the responsibility of municipalities and school boards.
Provincial
Election Act (CQLR, c. E-3.3)
- Complete version of the Election Act
(Publications du Québec)
Referendum Act (CQLR, c. C-64.1)
- Referendum Act, special version of the Election Act for the holding of a referendum and special version of the election regulations for the holding of a referendum
(Administrative consolidation – 2002-06-24) - Complete version of the Referendum Act
(Publications du Québec)
Municipal
An Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities (CQLR, c. E-2.2)
- Integral version of the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities (Publications du Québec)
School board
An Act respecting school elections to elect certain members of the boards of directors of English-language school service centres (CQLR, c. E-2.3)
- An Act respecting school elections to elect certain members of the boards of directors of English-language school service centres
(Working document – 2024-01)
Note: The title of the Act respecting school elections was amended by section 190 of An Act to amend mainly the Education Act with regard to school organization and governance (2020, chapter 1, Bill 40), which came into force on February 8, 2020.
On August 10, 2020, the Superior Court of Québec, in its interlocutory judgment Quebec English School Boards Association v. Procureur général du Québec (2020 QCCS 2444), suspended the application of Bill 40 to English-language school boards. In so doing, it made the provisions of the Act respecting school elections, as they read on February 7, 2020, applicable for the purposes of general school board elections, but only in respect of these nine school boards. This judgment was appealed by the Attorney General of Québec.
On September 17, 2020, the Québec Court of Appeal, in its decision Procureur général du Québec v. Quebec English School Board Association (2020 QCCA 1171), upheld the Superior Court’s judgment for the application of the provisions for elections that were scheduled for 2020. However, the health situation did not allow these elections to be held. However, the health situation did not allow the holding of these elections before September 26, 2021. The decision on the merits of the application for judicial review regarding the invalidity of certain provisions of Bill 40 with respect to English-language school boards is still pending.
Thus, this working document incorporates the provisions of the Act respecting school elections in force prior to the adoption of the Act to amend mainly the Education Act with regard to school organization and governance (Bill 40). These provisions are also adapted to take into account the process for appointing members of the boards of directors of French-language school service centres, which remains governed by the Education Act as amended by Bill 40.
The content of this working document is not official. It is a working tool made available to you in order to support you in your efforts and in preparation of the next school elections.