Quebec voters will have 940 candidates to choose from on Oct. 1
Proportion of women candidates this year, 40%, up from 30% at the time of the last election 2014
Quebecers will have 940 candidates to choose from in the Oct. 1 election, says Elections Quebec.
In 2014 there were 814 candidates vying for the 125 seats in the Quebec National Assembly.
Of the total number of candidates, 375, or 40 per cent, are women, up from 29.6 per cent at the time of the April 7, 2014 election.
In gender balance, Québec solidaire has the most women candidates, 66, or 52.8 per cent of its slate, with 59 male candidates.
The CAQ has 65 women and 60 men, making its female representation on the ballot 52 per cent.
The Quebec Liberals have 55 women and 70 men, for a female representation of 44 per cent.
The Parti Québécois has 51 women and 74 men, giving the PQ a 40.8 per cent female slate.
The four parties holding seats in the Quebec National Assembly when the election was called — the Quebec Liberals, Coalition Avenir Québec, Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire — all have full 125-candidate slates.
The Quebec Conservatives, contesting their second provincial election, fell short of their goal of running a full slate, with 101 authorized candidates.
The Green Party of Quebec has 97 candidates, followed by the Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec, formed in 2014 and contesting a provincial election for the first time, has 59 candidates and Citoyens au pouvoir du Québec is running 57 candidates.
The Bloc pot has 29 hopefuls, followed by the Parti marxiste-léniniste du Québec with 25.
The Parti nul has 16 candidates, the Parti libre, eight, Changement intégrité pour notre Québec, seven, Parti 51, five, Alliance provinciale du Québec, two, Parti culinaire du Québec, one, and Voie du peuple, one.
A total of 18 parties are contesting this election. Elections Quebec lists 22 authorized parties.
As well, there are 21 independent candidates, up from 11 in the 2014 election.
Voters in Montreal's Laurier-Dorion riding will has the most candidates to choose from, at 12.
The deadline for candidates to submit their candidacy was Saturday at 2 p.m. Nomination forms must include at least 100 signatures of registered voters in the riding where the candidate has chosen to run.
In addition, independent candidates must also have an official representative and must take mandatory training provided by Elections Quebec.