Authorities urge caution as deadly construction holiday on Quebec roads comes to end

QUÉBEC — Quebec provincial police have recorded more than double the number of road deaths during the annual construction holiday which comes to an end Sunday.

In the deadliest fatalities over the weekend, provincial police investigated after four people, including three children under the age of 10, were killed in a single vehicle crash southeast of the provincial capital on Saturday.

Quebec provincial police said the victims include a 29-year-old man and three children all from the Chaudière-Appalaches region.

The crash took place on an unpaved, narrow road in St-Luc-de-Bellechasse, about 65 kilometres southeast of Quebec City.

Provincial police said for a reason that remains under investigation, the vehicle slammed into a tree on a rural road in the area about 5:30 p.m.

First responders found the vehicle’s occupants were trapped inside and unresponsive and they were taken from wreckage to hospital where they were later pronounced dead.

Two other deaths were recorded on Saturday involving motorcycle accidents, and two more in another traffic accident in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean. Those eight deaths added to what had already been a deadly two weeks.

On Sunday afternoon, another three vehicle crash left at least two people in critical condition in Cowansville, Que., southeast of Montreal.

The construction holiday in Quebec is the busiest travel periods of the year with an estimated one-third of Quebecers are on vacation during this period, across all types of jobs.

Provincial police are expected to provide a tally on Monday for the number of road fatalities, which have already far surpassed the 14 deaths recorded during the corresponding period in 2024.

According to Quebec’s automobile insurance board, there are an average of 17 deaths, 78 people seriously injured and 1,358 people slightly injured.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2025.

The Canadian Press