Quebec Political Parties’ Promises

Coalition Avenir Québec

Upgrade school buildings – hold an architectural competition for all new schools to be built
Increase teachers’ salaries
Create a National Institute of Excellence in Education while increasing the funding marked for the continuing education of teachers
Replace the 72 school boards with school service centres; and give schools more autonomy
Fund 4 new schools of entrepreneurship in regional communities

Parti libéral du Québec

Increase the education budget by nearly $3 billion over 4 years
Invest $400 million more each year in school renovations over a 10-year period
Invest $500 million to enrich student services
Increase teachers’ entry level salaries some $8,000

Parti Québécois

Progressively reduce Cégep and university tuition fees, starting with low revenue students
Review the university funding system, and increase investments in it
Require that chartered universities play by the same rules as the rest of the public sector, particularly with regard to executive salaries, and place them under the jurisdiction of the Auditor General
Invest in digital literacy at levels that are appropriate for all generations and regions
Enrich the financial assistance program for students
Bring primary and secondary schools to deal with the purchase of school supplies on behalf of children

Québec solidaire

Increase Cégep and university financing
Make schools free from day-care to PhD within 5 years
Renovate and maintain schools thanks to a $2.9 billion investment over 4 years
Hire 4,400 new teachers and professionals
Increase teachers’ salaries
Make public funding unavailable to private schools within a 4-year period

Coalition Avenir Québec

Provide more specialized professional services for the diagnosis and coaching of children with learning, physical or developmental disabilities
Provide 5 hours of homework assistance and sports activities per week at the secondary school level
Provide each day a minimum of two recess periods of at least 20 minutes in all primary schools
Introduce an Initiation to Entrepreneurship component to the financial education class at the 5th year of the secondary school level

Parti libéral du Québec

Increase the secondary school graduation rate from 68% to 85% before 2030
Make school compulsory until the age of 18
Maintain the Digital Action Plan for Education
Add a “second adult” in each class from Kindergarten to Grade 1
Raise interest for reading and writing through playful activities

Parti Québécois

Assess and review the Québec Education Program by putting new emphasis on knowledge while maintaining the competency approach
Launch the Quebec Literacy Decade
Provide affordable breakfasts in primary schools
Perform more early interventions at the beginning of elementary studies to detect learning disabilities
Create a “boys’ emergency” committee to “reverse the school dropout trend” among boys

Québec solidaire

Increase services for students with difficulties
Reduce the number of students per class, particularly at the secondary level
Introduce special and non-selective educational projects
Organize free extracurricular activities

Coalition Avenir Québec

Increase the number of work-study programs in order to promote a variety of professional and technical training paths
Promote the linkage between university research and innovative businesses
Give more autonomy to Cégeps in the development of programs that are suited to actual regional needs
Set up a scholarship program for entrepreneurs at École d’Entrepreneurship de Beauce

Parti libéral du Québec

Invest $80 million in education and higher learning, particularly in the areas of professional insertion and education-job match
Make part-time technical and professional training free
Maintain the Placement Réussite program in order to help academic perseverance and educational success organizations diversify their sources of funding

Parti Québécois

Provide students with remuneration for compulsory internships
Make it compulsory for Anglophone Cégep students to enrol in a session in a Francophone Cégep for at least 4 months
Increase the number of compulsory French classes in Anglophone Cégeps and universities

Québec solidaire

Set up a national remunerated student internship policy
Reinvest in Quebec’s research funds
Create scholarships to encourage students to study in the regions
Put an end to management methods favouring personnel insecurity

Coalition Avenir Québec

Reduce the overall number of immigrants to 40,000 starting in 2019
Introduce a French proficiency and Quebec values test for immigrants as a prerequisite for qualifying for a Québec Selection Certificate

Parti libéral du Québec

Keep current immigration at the level of 50,500 to 54,500, and eventually increase thresholds in a planned way
Provide municipalities with tools helping them determine their labour needs and facilitate the integration of immigrants

Parti Québécois

Follow the recommendations of the Auditor General in fixing immigration thresholds
Select those immigration applicants who can fill existing labour requirements right away
Require that 100% of future immigrants demonstrate sufficient French proficiency to be admitted
Make sure, at the point of entry, that immigration candidates uphold Quebec values and laws

Québec solidaire

Maintain current immigration thresholds

Coalition Avenir Québec

Increase the francization budget
Reform the integration programs of the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion
Require that immigrants complete a French proficiency test after 3 years
Attract more immigrants to the regions by offering bonus points to those who are willing to work in businesses located outside of Greater Montréal

PLQ

Invest an additional $20 million to support the francization of immigrants and their integration into regional communities
Invest $10 million to support workplace francization
Invest $135 million over 4 years to help regional communities welcome new arrivals

Parti Québécois

Facilitate the settlement of 25% of new arrivals in rural communities
Expand the Un emploi en sol québécois program to encourage immigrants to settle in the regions
Reimburse additional tuition fees to international students who settle in the regions after completing their studies

Québec solidaire

Create immigration welcome hubs to direct new arrivals to services such as job assistance or francization classes
Establish a 25% public sector hiring rate within visible and ethnic minorities until they make up 18% of employees
Adopt an overall credential recognition framework in collaboration with the Office des Professions
Include companies with 20 employees or more in the enforcement of Bill 101
Limit the tuition fee exemptions to students being trained in French in a Francophone university institution
Facilitate the recognition of degrees for immigrant medical doctors

Coalition Avenir Québec

Save $1.2 billion in government expense over the next 4 years
Reimburse $10 billion of the province’s debt by drawing from the Generations Fund
Cut 5,000 administrative civil service positions by attrition
Reduce by 10% the cost of the province’s procurement of goods and services over the next 4 years, and group information technology services together
Require that Crown corporations increase their returns by 7%
Reject the increase of minimum wage to $15

Parti libéral du Québec

Maintain budgetary balance
Spend the full surplus of $950 million
Increase public service expenses by $2.4 billion per year
Increase all government ministry budgets
Increase the minimum wage so that it represents 50% of the average hourly wage by 2020

Parti Québécois

Limit the salaries of Crown corporation executives to the level of the Premier’s salary
Cancel the “regional budget cuts”
Require a 25% threshold for Quebec content for large Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec infrastructure projects
Increase minimum wage progressively to reach $15 by 2022

Québec solidaire

Increase the tax rates of large companies (500+ employees) from 11.7% to 14.5%
Abolish the opportunity for large companies to carry forward losses from one year to the next
Collect the QST on the transactions of a number of digital companies
Step up the fight against tax evasion
Reduce the cost of government contracts by eliminating the rule of the lowest bidder
Increase mining royalties for the exploitation of Quebec’s soil to 5%
Increase water royalties from $0.07 to $1.25 per cubic metre for mining companies, and from $0.0025 to $0.50 per cubic metre for manufacturing companies
Increase minimum wage to $15 per hour as of May 1, 2019

Coalition Avenir Québec

Adjust taxes in accordance with the inflation rate
Reduce school taxes by $700 million a year
Increase the tax credit for large families by $763 million with a “family allowance”

Parti libéral du Québec

Reduce taxes for businesses: $263 million reduction in the payroll contribution to the Health Services Fund and $340 million increase to the investment tax credit
Reduce the tax burden for taxpayers
Create a single school tax rate within 4 years
Add $1000 to the Tax Credit for Experienced Workers

PQ

Tax executive salaries that exceed the average salary of employees by more than 30 times
Grant a $88.1 million tax break to large innovative companies over the next 4 years
Apply a 25% tax to diverted business profits and withdraw Quebec from tax treaties signed with tax havens
Encourage urban agriculture and build greenhouses on urban buildings with 5-year property tax cuts for owners
Introduce a tax credit of $400 per telecommuter for SMEs
Modernize small business tax credits and make certain additional marketing expenses eligible for tax credits
Foster business spin-offs through tax measures

Québec solidaire

Raise the corporate tax rate from 11.7% to 14.5% and introduce 10 tax brackets for individuals to increase government revenues by $12 billion
Promote “responsible behaviour and penalize corporate polluters” or other polluters
Fully tax individual capital gains, with some exceptions
Maintain the SME tax rate at the current level
Restore the capital tax

Coalition Avenir Québec

Revise the role of Investissement Québec to stimulate investments and create an office in each region with its own fund
Reduce state bureaucracy
Launch an agricultural investment fund, which would encourage the creation of 500 new businesses within 4 years through a minimum investment of $50 million per year

Parti libéral du Québec

Support entrepreneurship by investing $440 million over the next 5 years
Improve the vocational training system

Parti Québécois

Deliver real reductions with respect to the regulatory burden for the first 5 years of a business’s existence
Create a consulting service to assist the active repatriation of manufacturing companies
Target the high-tech sector with research and development tax credits
Integrate a local procurement strategy to public tenders
Create a certified brand image for each region to encourage local production
Establish less restrictive criteria for the Fonds d’investissement pour la relève, especially for the Financière agricole
Impose a minimum threshold for Quebec products on public institutions to ensure that 50% of the products they offer are from Quebec
Create an Institut des alcools to make the industry more innovative

Québec solidaire

Invest $500 million over 5 years to help employers adjust to the $15 hourly minimum wage, which would come into effect on May 1, 2019
Support biorefineries and link them to biomass collection centres
Invest $30 million a year to encourage the conversion of manufacturing companies to biomass
Establish a Politique nationale des alcools du terroir (National policy on locally crafted alcohol)
Update the SAQ’s mandate so that its stores can sell more products from their regions at lower prices

Coalition Avenir Québec

Implement a $10 billion Decongestion Plan for the Montréal metropolitan area by 2030
Launch a study to replace the pink line with a ground transportation project
Extend the REM by nearly 40 km to the north and south shores
Launch a streetcar in the east of Montréal and a streetcar on the South Shore
Extend the blue line of the Montréal metro
Extend Highways 13 and 19 and widen Highway 30 by one lane for public transit
Introduce tax incentives for carpooling

Parti libéral du Québec

Extend the REM to Mirabel
Make the pink line a priority
Increase the number of electric vehicles to 100,000 by 2021
Launch a streetcar in the east with an investment of between $70 million and $100 million by 2026
Set up a mobility passport so that users can ride all sustainable transport services with the same pass

Parti Québécois

Invest $7.4 billion in the “Grand Déblocage” plan to reduce congestion by 10% in the Montréal area by 2025
Scrap the Réseau express métropolitain project
Build new networks with two trams and three new express bus lanes
Connect downtown to the airport by moving ahead with a stretch of the pink line
Install 2000 electric vehicle charging stations, financed by the Fonds vert
Promote carpool use during rush hour by creating a mobile app
Add an $8 million investment to maintain inter-municipal bus routes in the regions over 4 years
Establish commuter trains to Joliette, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and Le Suroît
Electrify 100% of school buses by 2030
Seek to ensure that 100% of light vehicles sold in 2035 are rechargeable
Set aside lanes for public transportation on Highways 13, 15, 19, 20, and 30

Québec solidaire

Invest $10 billion in mobility infrastructure in the Grand Montréal Express project over 4 years, and $25 billion by 2030
Construct 38 Montréal metro stations by 2027
Buy back the REM from the CDPQ
Nationalize intercity bus transportation
Launch two new tram lines and two bus rapid transit services (BRT)
Financially penalize buyers of gasoline vehicles with a bonus-penalty system
Prohibit the sale of gasoline vehicles by 2030 and prohibit the use of gasoline vehicles by 2050
Invest in the electrification of buses
Put the river shuttles under public management
Promote car sharing and carpooling

Coalition Avenir Québec

Maintain veto power over decisions taken by the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM)
Review the ARTM’s financing plan with respect to suburban municipalities

Parti libéral du Québec

Make public transportation free for seniors and students
Increase support for purchases of electric vehicles by $1000 per vehicle, and home terminal purchases by $200 per terminal

Parti Québécois

Limit gas price increases and create an office to “end price fixing”
Give $100 to carsharing users
Reduce the price of flights to Quebec’s regions by putting an end to Air Canada’s near-monopoly

Québec solidaire

Reduce urban transit fares by 50% in 2019
Encourage the purchase of electric vehicles by improving the $8,000 incentive

Coalition Avenir Québec

Add $2.6 billion to the QIP to revitalize the east of the Island of Montréal by 2030
Share a percentage point of the QST with the municipalities

Parti libéral du Québec

Invest $350 million into the expansion of the Palais des congrès de Montréal
Share a percentage point of the QST with the municipalities, replacing the $1.3 billion distributed annually to municipalities
Ensure the full payment of building property taxes

Parti Québécois

Ensure that the east of Montréal “gets its fair share” of investments
Create an initiative fund and an exclusive development company for the east of Montréal
Share a percentage point of the QST with the municipalities

Québec solidaire

Share a percentage point of the QST with the municipalities

Coalition Avenir Québec

Review the mandate of Investissement Québec to “increase exports”
Ask the networks of Quebec delegations abroad to further document the business opportunities for Quebec exporters
Establish a strategy for the international promotion of gourmet tourism through the Ministère des Relations internationales
Encourage businesses to obtain reserved appellations
Increase hydropower exports

Parti libéral du Québec

Build on the 2016-2020 Stratégie québécoise de l’exportation (SQE), which calls for investments of $536.8 million in export assistance
Maintain the 7 commercial attachés in the United States to support companies in the development of their business relationships
Support 4,000 businesses over 4 years to help them achieve 10% growth through $125.6 million in new credits
Maintain financial support of $25 million over four years to help businesses facilitate the marketing of products and services in foreign markets

Parti Québécois

Put in place measures to support marketing and exporting for SMEs
Establish an export infrastructure development program
Work on a plan to revive Quebec’s brand image abroad

Québec solidaire

Make Quebec a world leader in the renewable energy and clean technology sector, particularly with regard to the manufacture of batteries

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More information

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Skilled labour

Education

Funding and infrastructure

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

Academic perseverance and graduation rates

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

Higher education and education-job match

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

Immigration

Immigration thresholds

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

Immigrant integration and employment

Coalition Avenir Québec

PLQ

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

Economy and taxation

Economy and public finances

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

Tax burden

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

PQ

Québec solidaire

Business support

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

Transportation and infrastructure

Infrastructure

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

Pricing

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

Metropolitan area and municipalities

Metropolitan area and municipalities

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

Business internationalization

Business internationalization

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti libéral du Québec

Parti Québécois

Québec solidaire

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