No relief for motorists in Quebec budget, says Finance Minister Girard
QUEBEC — Finance Minister Eric Girard has alerted Quebec motorists that the budget he is to present Wednesday will not include any form of government financial relief for soaring gas prices.
But Girard dropped a hint that his eighth and final Coalition Avenir Québec budget will include some good news on Quebec’s battered financial position after a string of operating deficits.
Meeting reporters Tuesday, the day before tabling of the 2026-2027 annual budget in the National Assembly, Girard stuck to his line that the
budget will be “sober, targeted and responsible,”
and will not include a host of pre-electoral goodies to woo voters.
Under questioning, he revealed that applies to the
price of gas, which continues to soar
in Quebec as a result of the war in the Middle East.
“There will be no specific relief for gas prices tomorrow,” Girard said. “Until we know whether this situation (in the world) is temporary or permanent we cannot make the decision as to how to react.”
In the last few days both the
CAQ’s leadership candidates
, Christine Fréchette and Bernard Drainville, have floated plans to return to motorists some of the tax dollars Quebec collects at the pump to ease the burden of high prices.
Girard argued the amount of money Quebec gets in taxes is actually limited and tends to drop as prices rise because the demand for fuel goes down as people travel less.
There are other sources of uncertainty, including the future of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), threats to the Strait of Hormuz and other issues that call for prudent decision-making, he said.
Quebecers go to the polls Oct. 5 to elect a new government.
“There is a high level of uncertainty,” Girard said. “There is an election campaign coming. It’s not time to launch new spending, new promises.
“It will be a budget that will provide an adequate funding for government missions and an increase in spending for infrastructure and for other emergencies.”
He revealed one example of new spending. With Family Minister Kateri Champagne Jourdain standing beside him, Girard said the budget will include funding to convert 5,000 non-subsidized daycare places into subsidized spots.
That means more families will benefit from Quebec’s $10-a-day child care system. The measure will cost Quebec $400 million over five years, Girard said.
But there are questions about the future of the budget, which is landing before the CAQ chooses its new leader April 12.
Girard said he consulted both
Fréchette
and
Drainville
in the budget preparation process and is including an undisclosed amount for future spending by the winner of the race, who also becomes Quebec’s premier.
He would not reveal the amount or speculate on what the new leader will do with the budget as Quebec heads into an election.
He insisted the budget is legitimate and will be reviewed, as per the law, by Quebec’s independent auditor-general before the campaign is launched.
He hinted Quebec’s budgetary situation has also improved, but would not confirm the deficit for 2026-2027 will be under $10 billion.
“It’s an interesting psychological line, but I will confirm more tomorrow,” Girard quipped.
Quebec’s 2025-2026 deficit was forecast last year to be $13.6 billion
, a number that Girard revised downward to $12.4 billion in November.
On her way into question period, Health and Social Services Minister Sonia Bélanger said the budget will include more infrastructure spending for Quebec’s aging hospital network.
“This week we will announce certain priorities,” Bélanger said. “It’s not all the establishments in Quebec that will be on the 2026-2027 list, but remember we are adding billions to renovate or rebuild hospitals.”
Premier François Legault also briefly commented on the budget as he arrived for question period. He argued Quebec’s deficits can be partially explained by the CAQ government’s decision to lower taxes.
“Since we were the government, we gave on average $950 tax reduction per person,” Legault said. “We chose to have a deficit for Quebec instead of emptying the pocketbooks of Quebecers.”