François Legault, leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), has been a central figure in Quebec politics since becoming Prime Minister in 2018. Known for his background as a businessman and co-founder of Air Transat, Legault has guided the province through major events, including the COVID-19 pandemic. His leadership is closely watched today as the CAQ faces declining support, internal resignations, and questions about the party’s future ahead of the next election.
His career began when he worked as an administrator for Provigo until 1984. In 1985, Legault became the director of finance and administration at Nationair Canada and then marketing director at Quebecair. Then, he co-founded Air Transat a year later. The airline quickly became one of the largest airline companies in Canada, offering charter flights. The founders later decided to sell the company. This decision opened many doors for Legault’s future.
In 2010-2011, he resurfaced by gauging public opinion on a Coalition for the Future of Quebec. He and the businessman Charles Sirois published the manifesto, a public declaration of the Coalition for the Future of Quebec’s policy and aims. This movement aimed to advance proposals within the existing political party or, if necessary, to found a new one.
The Coalition for the Future of Quebec (CAQ) changed its name and officially became a political party in November 2011.
The Quebec 2018 provincial election was held on October 1. The race was between the CAQ, the Quebec Liberal Party, the Quebec Party, Quebec Solidaire, the Green Party of Quebec, and other parties that didn’t gain many votes.
The CAQ, led by François Legault, won easily with 37% of the vote. He became the 32nd premier of Quebec, reflecting Quebec’s confidence in his goals and promises to improve the province.
Before his mandate, he promised to strengthen Quebec nationalism, improve the economy, reform education and healthcare plus reduce Quebec’s dependence on the federal government.
During his first four years as premier, he achieved what supporters consider success. Before COVID, he improved the economy, built infrastructure for education, invested in it, and also defended French language laws.
In 2020, when COVID hit our province, Legault made decisions that others wouldn’t. He made choices that made people both mad and happy. He imposed curfews from 9:30 PM to 5 AM to reduce infections. In addition, he required people to have vaccination passports and to draft strict health laws. He decided to close schools for 45 days and required everyone in the province to wear masks in public spaces. Also, the entire province was in a lockdown and social distancing for nearly 1 year.
“I never thought I would have to stand in front of the cameras every day to announce restrictions and tell people what to do. I would even say that it was unnatural for someone like me, who is in favour of greater autonomy for citizens. But we did what we had to do to save as many lives as possible.”
Some people may say that these laws helped a lot in managing the pandemic, while others may say they didn’t help and that’s why they didn’t vote for him at the next election, even though François Legault won again with 40% of the vote in the provincial election of 2022.
During his second mandate, in 2023, the government of François Legault took several measures that sparked negative reactions. Among them were the revival of the controversial third-link project and the perceived passive handling of strikes by the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE). These decisions led to a significant drop in the government’s popularity, with support falling from over 45% to 25%. In response to this decline of support, François Legault stated that the people were “angry at him” and said he was “sad” to see support decrease.
In January 2026, during the TV show Infoman, François Legault said immigrants were responsible for “5 out of 10” of Quebec’s problems. Many people strongly criticized the statement, saying it did not reflect reality. The remark came at a time when his government had just ended the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ), which directly affected immigrants the government had previously encouraged to come to Quebec. Many elected officials, experts, institutions, and former public servants said this was an attempt to blame immigrants for Quebec’s problems rather than take responsibility for the government’s own political decisions.
As a result, François Legault is experiencing a significant drop in popularity. Quebec is angry about its recent decisions. Many ministers from his party have resigned, and they don’t think the CAQ will win another election.
“I can clearly see that right now, many Quebecers are first and foremost calling for change, including a change of premier … I can guarantee you that every day I got up telling myself, ‘I want what’s best for Quebecers.’ I didn’t always succeed, but I can guarantee that I tried, I tried very hard, with all the energy I had.”
On January 14, 2026, he announced his resignation at a press conference. On this occasion, he stated that he would remain in office as premier while a replacement is found.
“Being the Premier of Quebec has been the greatest honour of my life,” he said, thanking Quebecers for trusting him with two majority mandates.
Now, many outcomes are possible: maybe a new political party will be elected, or the CAQ will win for another four years.
Things remain uncertain, but Quebec will probably try a new party to make things right.
