The CAQ Is Promising $400-$600 Payments For Most Quebecers This Fall — If It's Re-Elected

After sending $600 to every adult resident who makes $100,000 or less earlier this year, the CAQ is promising another round of payments — but only if it stays in power after the Quebec election in October.

As with the first payments, the party says the measure would counter the effects of inflation on household finances.

Under the new proposal, $600 payments would go to people earning less than $50,000 and $400 payments would go to people making between $50,000 and $100,000. The CAQ estimates that 6.4 million residents would qualify for a payment under the plan, which would cost the province $3.5 billion.

The party aims to deliver the handouts as early as this fall (after the election). It says Revenu Québec would use the information in Quebecers' 2021 tax returns (i.e. the returns filed in spring 2022) to send the sums to eligible individuals.

"We listened to those who felt that we should help more Quebecers who have fewer means," François Legault said in a press release.

"The inflation of the last few months has affected Quebecers a lot. Grocery bills, gasoline costs and all expenses are more expensive. The opposition prefers to give rebates on gasoline or on other goods. We at the CAQ think that Quebecers should have the right to choose what to do with these amounts."

The first payments in early 2022 got mixed reviews. Opposition parties lambasted the CAQ for giving out cash in an election year. Both the Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois called the measure short-sighted, arguing it would do little to help Quebecers deal with inflation in the long term.

The Liberal Party, for its part, has proposed a suspension of the sales tax on essential goods, such as toothbrushes.