In a rare consensus, all the parties sitting in the National Assembly agreed on Thursday to put the proposed redrawing of the electoral map on ice. The Minister of Democratic Institutions, Jean-François Roberge, made the announcement on Thursday. 

Under the Election Act, the Commission de la représentation électorale (CRE) is required to review the electoral map every two general elections. Consequently, the electoral map had to be revised for the 2026 general election.

To ensure fair electoral representation, the Official Opposition critic for democratic institutions, Monsef Derraji, tabled a motion on Thursday, proposing a broad, non-partisan reflection on changes to the Election Act. The Liberal proposal was adopted unanimously by all parliamentarians.

A bill to suspend the current electoral map revision process is expected to be tabled in the coming weeks.

"The government's intention is in line with the joint request made by all opposition groups. It's an exceptional measure, but a necessary one," Minister Roberge told reporters.

If adopted, the current electoral map bill would still be in force in 2026. 

The preliminary report tabled by the CRE proposed, among other things, to transfer the municipalities of Coteau-du-Lac, Les Cèdres and Pointe-des-Cascades to the riding of Beauharnois-Salaberry, to split off part of the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion and transfer part of it to Soulanges, as well as Vaudreuil-sur-le-Lac and L'Île-Cadieux.

The proposed changes soon provoked strong reactions from municipal and provincial elected officials, who strongly criticized the situation.

Reviewing representation criteria

In addition to the bill, Minister de Roberge announced that a review of representation criteria would be carried out with all parties. 

This measure will enable parliamentarians to work on an overhaul of the parameters and provisions set out in the Election Act, with the aim of respecting the representativeness of the regions and the relative weight of each elector.

"It is therefore in this second phase that we will begin work, with our colleagues, to review these criteria. It is our responsibility as parliamentarians and legislators to review, when necessary, the criteria contained in the Election Act, so that the CRE can do its job properly," concluded Minister Roberge.

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