Back-to-school looks different for university students campaigning in Quebec election

MONTREAL — Orphée Dubé-Gervais expects to spend a lot of time studying on the train in the coming weeks.

Dubé-Gervais is one of several candidates balancing university studies with door knocking, attending partisan events and seeking to win over voters ahead of the Oct. 5 Quebec election. Candidates from three parties tell The Canadian Press that running requires careful planning but comes with the rewards of participating in the democratic process.

Dubé-Gervais says she’s used to a busy schedule with a job, classes and community engagement, including a position as a coordinator with a school-based legal clinic that supports people experiencing homelessness. She believes she can manage this newest commitment by taking a break from her job and spending less time on social activities.

“I go to class, but I’ll spend less time on the university campus. I do my readings on public transit or late at night at home, but I have less time to participate in student life,” the Québec solidaire candidate said.

Clément Mireault, a 19-year-old Coalition Avenir Québec candidate and accounting sciences student, also has his schedule figured out.

He spends his morning in class at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières campus south of Montreal. Early afternoons are for lunch and studying, then at around 3 p.m., he heads out to door-knock around the La Pinière riding south of Montreal. Some days, mostly when it rains, he tries to fit in a few hours of working for the party.

Mireault, who said he has already knocked on over 1,000 doors, says people who answer are often surprised at his age.

“Often people find that I’m young, but I explain and they often agree that it’s important to have young people in politics because we bring a different vision, and we represent an age group that is under-represented at the National Assembly,” he said in an interview at a party office.

Despite his age, he’s already a seasoned Coalition Avenir Québec member. Like Dubé-Gervais, he took his membership card at 16, which is the minimum age.

Recently, he’s served as secretary-treasurer of the party’s youth wing, where he says he has seen first-hand how young people can make a difference.

“We make propositions to the government, and they listen to us,” he said, noting that the government’s ban on cellphones in class and the development of a museum dedicated to Quebec history both originated with the youth wing.

Naima Indira Som, who is 26, got involved in formal politics about a year ago. After jobs such as working as an insurance adviser and teaching children with autism, she decided she wanted to be “at the forefront” of developing solutions to help people.

Indira Som, who is studying international relations and international law at UQAM, said she burst into tears the first time she saw her election posters advertising her as the Quebec Liberal candidate for the Pointe-aux-Trembles riding in east-end Montreal.

“I cried because it’s really a memorable experience and I think every young person should live it at least once in their life,” she said in a phone interview. Her campaign has been filled with special moments, including being invited for coffee by a woman in her 90s.

All three student candidates are facing tough challenges in their ridings. Mireault’s riding is a Liberal stronghold, while Dubé-Gervais is in a riding that has flipped between the Coalition Avenir Québec and the Parti Québécois. Indira Som’s opponents include Chantal Rouleau, a longtime Coalition Avenir Québec minister who has represented the riding since 2018.

However, Indira Som rejects the notion that student candidates are being forced to pay their dues by running in tough-to-win ridings.

“I think it’s the same challenge (for everyone),” she said. “You have to be out on the ground all the time. You have to do your door-to-door.”

There’s a precedent in Canadian politics for electing university students. In the 2011 federal election, Laurin Liu was one of several McGill students who were elected as part of the so-called “orange wave” in Quebec that propelled the NDP to Official Opposition status.

In a phone interview from New York, Liu said her unexpected win forced a “major lifestyle change,” including postponing her studies as she moved to Ottawa. However, she believes that students are an asset to a legislature.

“I think students coming from a campus environment are primed to be curious and to ask questions,” she said. She also believes young people add diversity and can be seen as more approachable by their constituents. Liu returned to her studies after her term and completed a master’s degree in human rights.

The Quebec provincial parties did not provide an official tally of how many students are running in the election. The Liberals said they had 12 candidates under the age of 30, and the Coalition Avenir Québec said it had 26, including about 10 students.

Mireault, Dubé-Gervais and Indira Som are all aware that they’re part of a demographic with a lower rate of voting. All of them believe that one of the keys to engaging people of all ages is talking directly to them about issues that matter, such as the cost of living.

Indira Som’s message to other young people is to not wait until they feel perfectly ready before getting into politics.

“We learn by getting involved, and there are different ways to participate, whether in a political party, a community organization, a student association, or a board of directors,” she said. “Politics also belongs to young people, and we have to take our place.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2026.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press