2025 Gatineau municipal election

The 2025 Gatineau municipal election took place on November 2, 2025, to elect a mayor and city councillors in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. This election was the first in Gatineau's history where more than one political party participated. Incumbent mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette ran for re-election.

Candidate nominations opened on September 19 and closed on October 3. The election was held in conjunction with municipal elections held across Quebec on that date.

Background

France Bélisle was elected as Mayor of Gatineau in the 2021 mayoral election, becoming the city's first female mayor. However, on February 22, 2024, Bélisle announced that she would resign, citing a toxic work environment and having received death threats; Daniel Champagne was then named as acting mayor, pending the 2024 Gatineau mayoral by-election. The election was won by Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, retaking the city's top job for the party.

Since 2012, the political landscape in Gatineau had been made up of only one party, Action Gatineau, which had been founded in June of that year. The party, which was founded by Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, then-city councillor for Buckingham District and later Mayor from 2013 to 2021, alongside fellow councillors Stefan Psenak, Mireille Appolon, André Laframboise and Luc Angers. Since its founding, the party has only ever held a minority of seats on city council. Various political figures have explored forming a second political party to go against Action Gatineau, such as Clément Bélanger, who placed fourth out of five candidates in the 2017 mayoral election in 2018, Mike Duggan, a longtime city councillor at various instances, and Audrey Bureau, city councillor for Aylmer District from 2017 to 2021 and daughter of former Mayor Marc Bureau in 2024. These attempts would not bear fruit to any new political parties, and in the case of Duggan, although he had initially reserved the party name Évolution Gatineau alongside 2017 mayoral candidate and former councillor for Bellevue District Sylvie Goneau in 2024 and received media coverage, as of September 2025, the party has yet to be formally founded.

By winter of 2025, two new political parties had seemingly been in the works: Équipe Mario Aubé, which was founded by the city councillor for Masson-Angers District since 2021, Mario Aubé, and the Coalition gatinoise pour les conseils d'arrondissement, which was to be led by Speaker of Gatineau City Council Steven Boivin and Edmond Leclerc, both the current city councillors for Aylmer District and Buckingham District, respectively. However, the latter party was never founded, as Boivin announced that he would be stepping away from politics and not seeking re-election.

Timeline

2022 August 14 – Louise Boudrias, city councillor for Parc-de-la-Montagne–Saint-Raymond District, dies from complications with cancer. October 23 – Former mayor and city councillor for Wright–Parc-de-la-Montagne District, Marc Bureau, is elected in the by-election for Parc-de-la-Montagne–Saint-Raymond District, succeeding Louise Boudrias.

2024 February 22 – Incumbent mayor France Bélisle announces that she will be resigning as Mayor effective immediately. April 25 – Olive Kamanyana, city councillor for Carrefour-de-l'Hôpital District, announces her resignation to run in the upcoming mayoral by-election. June 9 – Former city councillor for Plateau District and 2021 mayoral candidate Maude Marquis-Bissonnette of Action Gatineau wins the by-election for the mayoralty, and urban planner Catherine Craig-St-Louis of the same party wins the by-election for Carrefour-de-l'Hôpital District, succeeding Olive Kamanyana. November 7 – Mario Aubé, city councillor for Masson-Angers District, announces his candidacy for mayor. November 25 – Aubé announces he is collecting signatures to found a new political party.

2025 January 13 – Équipe Mario Aubé is officially registered with Élections Québec. April 11 – Olive Kamanyana, former mayoral candidate and former city councillor for Carrefour-de-l'Hôpital District, announces her candidacy for mayor. May 10 – Action Gatineau holds their annual general meeting; leader Maude Marquis-Bissonnette passes a leadership review with 98.9% of the vote and is confirmed as the party's mayoral candidate. July 10 – Olive Kamanyana withdraws her candidacy for mayor. October 3 – The list of candidates for the election is finalized. Rémi Bergeron announces his candidacy. October 13 to 17 – Revision days for the list of electors. October 24 – Special ballot voting day. October 26 – Advance voting day. November 2 – Election day.

Incumbents not running for re-election PartyIncumbentPositionDistrictDate announcedIndependentJocelyn BlondinCouncillorManoir-des-Trembles–Val-TétreauNovember 25, 2024IndependentStephen BoivinCouncillorAylmerApril 14, 2025IndependentMarc BureauCouncillorParc-de-la-Montagne–Saint-RaymondMay 6, 2025IndependentGilles ChagnonCouncillorLucerneJune 11, 2025IndependentDaniel ChampagneCouncillorVersantJanuary 18, 2024Action GatineauAnik Des MaraisCouncillorMitigomijokanApril 2, 2025IndependentMike DugganCouncillorPointe-GatineauMay 13, 2025Action GatineauLouis SabourinCouncillorLimbourFebruary 12, 2025

Mayoral election

Candidates Declared Mario Aubé Mario Aubé is the city councillor for Masson-Angers District since 2021. Before being elected, he was a professor of journalism at Collège La Cité and hosted Que l’Outaouais se lève on 104.7 Outaouais. Party affiliation: Équipe Mario Aubé Candidacy announced: November 7, 2024 Campaign website:

Rémi Bergeron Rémi Bergeron is a high school teacher who was the general manager of Bowman, Quebec from 2016 to 2018 and a candidate for mayor in the 2017, 2021, and 2024 mayoral elections. Party affiliation: Independent Candidacy announced: October 3, 2025 Campaign website:

Maude Marquis-Bissonnette Maude Marquis-Bissonnette is the current Mayor of Gatineau, having been elected in the 2024 by-election. She was previously the city councillor for Plateau District from 2017 to 2021, and was the runner-up in the 2021 Gatineau municipal election. In between mandates, she became an associate professor at the École nationale d’administration publique. As the current leader of her political party, Action Gatineau, she had been expected to announce her candidacy for re-election. Party affiliation: Action Gatineau Candidacy announced: May 10, 2025 Campaign website:

Withdrawn Olive Kamanyana

Olive Kamanyana is the former city councillor for the Carrefour-de-l'Hôpital District, having been elected in the 2021 municipal election. She was also a candidate for the mayoralty in the 2024 by-election and the 2018 provincial Coalition Avenir Quebec candidate in Pontiac. Prior to entering politics, Kamanyana was a researcher, holding a PhD in Applied Social Sciences from Université du Québec en Outaouais and an MA and BA from Université Laval. Party affiliation: Independent Candidacy announced: April 11, 2025 Candidacy withdrawn: July 10, 2025 Campaign website:

Declined Stéphane Bisson, former president of the Gatineau Chamber of Commerce (2021–2024) and candidate for mayor in 2024 Steven Boivin, speaker of the Gatineau City Council and city councillor for Aylmer District (2021–present) Daniel Feeny, former spokesperson and Director of Communications and Intergovernmental Relations to Mayor France Bélisle (2021–2024) and candidate for mayor in 2024

Endorsements + City councillors Gilles ChagnonMike DugganJean Lessard Bettyna BelizaireAlicia Brunet-LacasseCatherine Craig-St-LouisAnik Des MaraisIsabelle N. MironSteve MoranCaroline MurrayTiffany-Lee Norris ParentLouis Sabourin Federal politiciansProvincial politiciansFormer politiciansMediaOther Mark Sutcliffe(Mayor of Ottawa)

Debates and forums + Debates and forums among candidates for the 2025 Gatineau mayoral election No. Date Location Host Language Key: Participant Absent Non-invitee Invitee To be determined Out of race (not declared/withdrawn/disqualified) References Mario Aubé Bergeron 1 October 6, 2025 Aylmer TROCAO French 2 October 7, 2025 Université du Québecen Outaouais UQOLe Droit French 3 October 20, 2025 Ottawa ICI Ottawa-Gatineau French

Opinion polling Polling firm Source Last dateof polling Sample Size Mario Aubé Rémi Bergeron Maude Marquis-Bissonnette //Segma RechercheHTMLOctober 23, 2025687± 3.7%33.0%2% 42.0%23.0% Segma Recherche VID 607 ± 3.97% 27.0% – 42.0% 31.0%

Results +2025 Gatineau municipal election: Mayor PartyCandidatePopular voteExpenditures Votes % ±% Action Gatineau Maude Marquis-Bissonnette 41,569 51.14 +13.49 Équipe Mario Aubé Mario Aubé 38,203 47.00 – Independent Rémi Bergeron 1,518 1.87 +0.82 Total valid votes 81,290 98.82Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes 967 1.18 +0.62Turnout 82,257 40.27 +7.21Eligible voters 204 264Note: Candidate campaign colours, unless a member of a party, are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.) or colours used in polling graphs and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates.Sources: Ville de Gatineau Elections Quebec

Detailed results Results by district District Aubé Bergeron Marquis-Bissonnette Votes % Votes % Votes %Aylmer Lucerne Deschênes Plateau Mitigomijokan Hull–Wright Orée-du-Parc Limbour Touraine Pointe-Gatineau Carrefour-de-l'Hôpital Versant Bellevue Lac-Beauchamp Rivière-Blanche Masson-Angers Buckingham Special Advanced Voting Total Source:

City council elections

Aylmer District Incumbent Independent city councillor Steven Boivin was elected in 2021 with 56.69% of the vote. He previously showed interest in running in the 2024 Gatineau mayoral by-election, but withdrew from consideration. He has announced that he will not seek re-election.

Nominated candidates Guillaume Gaboury (ÉMA), real estate developer Vincent Roy (AG), policy advisor to Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette

2025 Gatineau municipal election

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