Carney Liberals win byelection in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord

Liberal MP-elect Daniel Gobeil, right, reacts to winning in the byelection in the riding of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in Saguenay, Monday, August 31, 2026. Joel Liightbound, left, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement, looks on. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

CTV News is projecting Liberal Daniel Gobeil will win the federal byelection in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord.

Gobeil, a dairy farmer and former president of the Quebec Dairy Farmers Association, held a sizable lead as the votes were counted late Monday night over the Bloc Québécois as well as the Conservatives, which held the riding north of Quebec City since 2018.

The win also expands the Mark Carney Liberals’ slim majority in the House of Commons.

As of 11:15 p.m. with 180 polls reporting, Gobeil had nearly 50 per cent of the vote with 11,130 votes -- far ahead the Bloc Québécois candidate, Caroline Dubé, who had just under 34 per cent of the vote with just under 8,000 votes.

The Conservatives, meanwhile, were in third place as the votes were still being counted. Régis Gaudreault had just under 13 per cent with just 3,000 votes so far -- a far cry from the victory the Tories had in 2018 when star candidate Richard Martel won more than half of the votes in the riding with a 5,000 point lead over the Liberals.

The latest escalation in the U.S.-Canada trade war happened in the middle of the by-election campaign, an issue on the minds of voters who spoke to CTV News on their way out of the polling station.

Chicoutimi-Le Fjord is one of the most vulnerable regions of Quebec to the effects of U.S. tariffs due to the aluminum, forestry, and dairy industries.

Voters told CTV News they wanted someone who could represent Quebec’s interests first and foremost and pointed to the Bloc, but some also said they were leaning more toward a Liberal vote this time around.

During the campaign, Gobeil drove home the message that the region would be better served if it were represented in the House of Commons by a member of Carney’s government.

• READ MORE: Byelections: PM Carney snatches Quebec riding from Conservatives, poised for clean sweep

The seat in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord was left vacant after Martel was appointed by Carney to the Senate early last month.

The Liberal flip in the riding comes as Quebecers are heading into a provincial election on Oct. 5

On Monday night, the federal Liberals also held onto their seat in a byelection in Beaches–East York, Ont. and had a healthy lead in a third one in North Vancouver–Capilano, B.C.

More byelections are set to be held in the months to come, including in Montreal following the resignation of Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault.

With files from CTV News’ Genevieve Beauchemin and The Canadian Press