Election and Referendum Monitoring
We have monitored the information ecosystem around Canadian elections since 2019, tracking how Canadians encounter and are affected by misinformation during campaigns through real-time social media monitoring, national surveys, and rapid analysis.
The program began with the Digital Democracy Project — a joint initiative of the Public Policy Forum and the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University that monitored the 2019 federal election, producing a series of research memos during the campaign, a final report on the resilience of Canada’s digital media ecosystem, and the Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge. It was the direct precursor to the Media Ecosystem Observatory.
Since then we have monitored the information ecosystem across federal and provincial campaigns — the 2021 and 2025 federal elections, the 2022 Quebec election, the 2023 Alberta election, and the 2024–2025 British Columbia election — including the Canadian Election Misinformation Project and the Quebec Election Misinformation Project.
This year, we are continuing our work as Canada’s leading source for information ecosystem monitoring with the 2026 Quebec General Election. You can stay informed during these campaigns and learn more about our work with the resources below.
Partners
Public Policy Forum, Max Bell School of Public Policy
Happening Now
2026 Quebec Election
On October 5, the 2026 Quebec election will decide who is elected to form the 44th National Assembly. At the heart of this campaign are questions about health, cost of living, housing, education, immigration, infrastructure, the environment, and Quebec’s political future.
As the spread of disinformation increases, protecting the integrity of our information ecosystem is more important than ever. This is why the Canadian Digital Media Research Network (CDMRN), led by the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy’s Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO), will be actively monitoring and responding to information manipulation throughout the election period.
Each week during the election period, we will share a clear summary and analysis of the information environment of the Quebec election including our evaluation of manipulations and influence campaigns.
2026 Alberta Referendum
On October 19th, Albertans will vote on a referendum asking whether Alberta should remain a province in Canada or commence the process for a binding referendum on separation.
The online conversation about the referendum is a contentious space, and one where pro-independence political influencers are dominating. In the absence of elected officials campaigning on the independence side, our research aims to characterize the major voices driving the online conversation, on both sides.
Over the next month, we will continue to monitor the use of AI technologies in the information ecosystem, attention from foreign actors and publish findings on information manipulation in the lead up to this important vote.
