The Parti Québécois won the October 5, 2026 Québec election with 59 of 127 seats and is set to form a minority government under Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
As of October 13, the PQ is still the incoming government: its elected members are scheduled to be sworn in on October 15 and the cabinet is expected on October 21. That means the housing and mortgage-related items discussed below are still proposals or existing regulatory rules unless legislation or a program is actually adopted. The Canadian Press reported the post-election timetable.
For anyone buying a home or renewing a mortgage in Québec, that raises an interesting question:
Could mortgage rules now change in Québec?
The answer is yes — but probably not in the way many borrowers would first assume.
Table of Contents
- Most Major Mortgage Rules Are Still Federal
- Québec Still Has Influence
- First-Time Buyer Policies
- Could Québec Subsidize Mortgage Costs?
- What Should Buyers Watch Next?
Most Major Mortgage Rules Are Still Federal
Some of the mortgage rules Canadians are most familiar with are not controlled by the Québec government.
For example, OSFI, the federal prudential regulator, sets the minimum qualifying rate used by federally regulated lenders for uninsured mortgages. The current rate is the greater of the mortgage contract rate plus 2% or 5.25%.
Federal rules also determine important aspects of insured mortgages. Alberta separation raises a related question about how mortgage rules could change if a province became independent.
Ottawa, for example, increased the maximum purchase price eligible for mortgage insurance to $1.5 million and expanded access to 30-year insured amortizations for first-time buyers and buyers of new homes beginning December 15, 2024.
So, Ottawa controls the federal mortgage rules that apply to federally regulated lenders. Québec can change things such as provincial homebuyer tax credits, QST rebates, housing programs, construction policies and rules for provincially regulated financial institutions.
Québec Still Has Influence
Québec also has its own financial regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers, or AMF.
The AMF establishes residential mortgage-lending guidelines for financial institutions under Québec jurisdiction, including financial-services cooperatives and certain Québec-regulated deposit-taking institutions.
Its residential mortgage guideline was most recently revised in September 2026. The guideline applies to Québec-regulated financial institutions within the AMF’s jurisdiction; it does not replace OSFI rules for federally regulated banks.
First-Time Buyers Could See More Immediate Changes
The clearest connection between the incoming government and mortgages may come from the PQ’s 2026 homeownership campaign promises. These measures were campaign commitments as of October 13; they are not yet enacted programs.
During the 2026 election campaign, the Parti Québécois proposed refunding up to $45,000 of Québec sales tax on newly built homes and self-built homes for qualifying first-time buyers. It also proposed increasing Québec’s first-home purchase tax credit from $1,400 to $3,000. Reducing the cash required at purchase can materially affect affordability, but the details will matter if and when legislation or a program is introduced.
The PQ has also proposed reducing construction costs and regulatory barriers in an attempt to increase housing supply.
Could Québec Subsidize Mortgage Costs?
This is where things become particularly interesting.
In an earlier party policy resolution, PQ members supported a program that would subsidize mortgage interest costs for eligible first-time buyers for three years. That is an older party resolution, not an enacted 2026 mortgage program. The same document also discussed 30-year amortizations for first-time buyers, but federal rules have since expanded access to 30-year insured amortizations for eligible first-time buyers and buyers of new homes.
So the interest-subsidy idea is best treated as evidence of the party’s policy direction rather than a current borrower benefit. A provincial government could potentially create a subsidy or tax-credit program, but it cannot simply rewrite the contractual mortgage rate charged by a federally regulated bank.
What Should Buyers Watch Next?
- The first PQ budget and legislation for any QST refund or first-home credit changes.
- Any new provincial homeownership program that affects upfront cash or carrying costs.
- AMF mortgage-guideline changes affecting Québec-regulated financial institutions.
- Federal OSFI and insured-mortgage rules, which still govern many of the rules borrowers encounter at national banks.
Because the PQ has a minority government, many measures will also require enough support in the National Assembly to pass. Québec can influence homeownership through taxes, credits, housing programs, construction policy and its own regulatory framework—but borrowers should distinguish those provincial levers from federal mortgage rules.
About the author: Jason Wodlinger is an Ontario Mortgage Agent Level 2. This article distinguishes current mortgage rules from campaign promises and older party policy resolutions; proposed Québec programs should not be treated as available until they are formally enacted.
