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The morning after, the tone from Quebec City was careful. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters that an independence vote will not be an early priority for his incoming minority government, according to the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. The PQ won 59 of the 127 seats in the National Assembly on Monday, five short of a majority, and he has said any referendum would wait until Donald Trump leaves the White House in January 2029. His government will need opposition votes to pass a budget, let alone to hold a vote on leaving Canada. The Liberals under Charles Milliard are now the official opposition.

Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with the premier-designate on Tuesday morning. Afterwards he told reporters that Canada is at a crucial time and that Quebec and the rest of the country should focus on housing, growth, infrastructure and workers hit by American tariffs. "This is not a time to wait for something a few years down the road," he said, according to The Canadian Press and the Associated Press. His Quebec lieutenant, Joël Lightbound, put the constitutional point more bluntly: a mandate for separation has to go through a referendum, and Monday was an election, not a referendum. The Toronto Star reported that Mr. Carney also argued that his own national mandate is larger than the PQ's, and that his government remains optimistic about the high-speed rail link between Toronto and Quebec City despite the result.

The new government's early agenda will still test Ottawa. Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon promised during the campaign to break with the monarchy, and CTV News reported he has already taken a first step toward abolishing it in Quebec. Alberta separatists, meanwhile, told Global News and the Star that they see an ally in him. Mrs. Fréchette announced Tuesday that she is leaving the CAQ leadership. The Bloc Québécois leader said he is very proud of the PQ win, according to CBC. No party has said how it would vote on a confidence motion.