Parti Québécois in Power: What Its 20,000-Unit Housing Plan Means for Municipalities

In brief: The Parti Québécois won the October 5 election with 59 of 127 seats, five short of a majority, so it will govern as a minority. It promised 20,000 social and affordable housing units, $1 billion over four years and the return of an AccèsLogis-style program. For a municipality or a nonprofit, nothing changes until a rule is actually amended: PHAQ remains the program in force, its Stream 1 call for projects has just closed, and the selected projects are expected in the coming months.

A town council preparing an affordable housing project for 2027 has had one question since October 5: which rules will my contribution be judged under? Quebec has a new government, the Coalition avenir Québec no longer has a single seat, and the Parti Québécois campaigned on a return to social housing. This article separates what is settled, what is promised and what remains open, using the figures as they were published.

What happened on October 5

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon's Parti Québécois took 59 of the 127 seats in the National Assembly, according to Radio-Canada. A majority takes 64. The Liberals hold 40, the Conservatives 19, Québec solidaire 9 and the CAQ none. The PQ won 28.0% of the vote on a 66.90% turnout, and Radio-Canada notes that is the smallest share of the vote ever won by a party forming a Quebec government.

The government will be a minority. The PQ does not plan a coalition and intends to negotiate each bill with the opposition, per the same source. The 59 members were sworn in on October 15, and Noovo Info reports the cabinet was due to be presented on October 21. The 44th legislature opens on November 17. On housing, Radio-Canada reports only one specific commitment: an economic update this fall that is meant to address homelessness.

A word on duration. The PQ also governed in a minority in 2012, and that government lasted 18 months, Noovo Info recalls. For a project that spans several years between the council resolution and the keys, this matters: the rules can change while you are still building.

What the Parti Québécois promised, side by side with the other parties

The Confédération québécoise des coopératives d'habitation (CQCH) published a summary of the parties' commitments on September 30. It is a useful benchmark, because the promises are not measured the same way.

So the PQ promised fewer units than the Liberals and less money than Québec solidaire, but it is the only one able to act on its promise. In its platform, again per the CQCH, three items recur: a modified AccèsLogis, renovation of the existing social and affordable stock, and looser construction standards. That last point is shared by four of the five parties, which gives it a good chance of surviving a divided legislature. For what those standards mean for a modular building, our page on the building code and the RBQ covers the ground.

What the FRAPRU is asking for right now

On October 15, the Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) asked the new government for immediate action. Its numbers inform the debate, but they are its positions, not the state's.

• Of the 20,000 units the PQ promised, 2,000 would be reserved for people experiencing homelessness, says the FRAPRU, which finds the target too low and wants it doubled.
• About 30,000 households are on social housing waiting lists, according to the organization.
• The FRAPRU wants public funding for "intermediate affordable" housing to end. That category allows rents up to 150% of the median market rent, and a 4½ in Greater Montreal could exceed $1,700 a month. The FRAPRU says the PQ pledged to end it and that no such project has been built yet.
• It wants PHAQ amended now rather than suspended, so projects already funded are not delayed, and separate programs recreated for public housing, co-ops and nonprofits.
• It recalls that the PQ aims for 20% social and community housing in the rental stock by 2050.

Read these demands as a battle plan. They say where the debate will go over the coming weeks, not where it will land.

Why it matters to a municipality

PHAQ stays the rule until told otherwise

The PHAQ Stream 1 call for projects closed on October 14 at 2 p.m. The Quebec.ca page says selected projects will be announced "in the coming months." A nonprofit that filed with a letter of interest from its municipality is therefore waiting for an answer from the incoming government. Stream 3, the highly prefabricated multi-unit stream, has no call open: the second one ended on November 14, 2025, and its projects were announced on June 18, 2026.

Our article on the municipal contribution to PHAQ describes the current rule: at least 40% of the SHQ base grant, which is roughly 20% of total project cost. The SHQ pages cited here flag no change to that rule. If the PQ brings back an AccèsLogis-type program, how it splits the effort between Quebec and towns will be the first number to watch.

Letters of interest do not have to wait

A letter of interest and a council resolution are built from the same pieces whatever the program: a site, compliant zoning, a sponsoring nonprofit, a cost estimate. That is the work we describe in our guide to transferring municipal land to a nonprofit. A municipality with those pieces in hand in three months can answer any new call quickly, whether it is called PHAQ or something else.

Intermediate affordable changes the bill

If the government pulls funding for rents at 150% of the median, financing plans that relied on that tier will have to be redone. For a nonprofit in a region, the debate is less sharp: market rents are lower there, and the PHAQ threshold already applies town by town. For a developer in a metropolitan belt, it is a different calculation. Our guide to funding affordable modular housing shows how a financing plan is built layer by layer, and why a layer that disappears is rarely replaced by a single other one.

What it changes for a modular project

The published facts are thin. Neither the CQCH summary nor the FRAPRU release mentions prefabrication, Stream 3 or modules. The new government's position on the highly prefabricated multi-unit formula funded since 2025 is therefore unknown. Those projects are covered in our articles on the first 336 units and the bet on 500.

Here is what can be said without speculating.

1. Timing. A government building a new program takes time. Projects that already have a funding promise and a site move fastest. In modular, factory production starts once the contract is signed and the plans are frozen: whatever is settled before an announcement saves weeks.
2. Cost. Looser construction standards, if they happen, will touch every building method. Prefab neither gains nor loses first, but a shorter build benefits more from clearer rules.
3. Financing. Federal programs have not moved. Our pages on Build Canada Homes and prefab housing and on the SDE's 478 units show how federal money and low-rate loans top up the Quebec grant. Radio-Canada also reports that the federal prime minister said he wants to work with Quebec on building housing.

For a small municipality, the sturdiest route is still to pool several projects into one portfolio, as the SDE did. A portfolio is less exposed to program changes than a single project. Our small-municipality housing guide lays out the steps, and the one on municipal rules that block housing is a reminder that zoning stays entirely in your hands.

The next dates to watch

• October 21: cabinet presentation. The holder of the Housing portfolio will be known.
• November 17: opening of the legislature and the premier's opening speech.
• This fall: economic update, announced to address homelessness.
• In the coming months: announcement of the PHAQ Stream 1 projects.

No budget from the new government has been published yet. Every figure in this article comes from a party, an organization or a news outlet, and the source is named each time.

If your municipality, MRC or nonprofit wants to price a modular housing project while the rules take shape, we can prepare a quote together.