Thousands of flag-draped Quebecers greeted Thierry Larose as he entered the stage at La Fontaine Park in Montreal on June 23.
The 28-year-old indie artist was performing at a festival on the eve of Saint-Jean Baptiste Day, a day that historically celebrated the summer solstice, but has since become known as Quebec’s national holiday.
Larose is part of an increasingly visible youth wing in Quebec’s sovereigntist movement that is looking to gain political traction.
At every show he performs, Larose shouts “Vive la musique quebecoise!” — long live Quebecois music. The cry echoes French president Charles de Gaulle’s famous rallying cry to Montrealers in 1967 — “Vive le Québec libre!” — and elicits impassioned cheers from Larose’s audiences.
“I feel like I’m part of a new generation of artists that have started again to attach themselves to sovereignty,” Larose said in an interview with Canadian Affairs before his performance. “For a certain time it was less in style.”
The festival, which was attended by thousands and organized by the sovereigntist group Organisations unies pour l’indépendance (OUI) Québec, is itself focused on promoting sovereignty.
“For four years, we have been at the heart of the new generation of independence activists,” said 32-year-old OUI Québec president Camille Goyette-Gingras. “We … have our relationships with the cultural industry and emerging music.”
Uncertain polling
It has been more than 30 years since Quebec last held a referendum in 1995. Overall, support for Quebec independence sits at about 30 per cent in the province.
But Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the outspoken Gen X leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), has pledged to hold another secession referendum if his party wins a majority in October’s general election.
Young voters may be more keen on separation than the general population. An August 2025 poll by Montreal-based firm CROP found that 56 per cent of Quebecers between 18 and 34 supported sovereignty.
Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, characterizes that poll as a “blip,” noting subsequent polls have indicated lower levels of support.
However, Béland believes separatists have been effective in using culture and social media to get their message out — and that this is being driven by the movement’s youth component in particular.
“The sovereignist movement — it’s not just the PQ — but they have really upped their game on social media, they have a lot of sovereignist influencers,” Béland said.
“There is a base there among young people, and it’s been nurtured … at the cultural level, in terms of music and social media, so it’s a quite dynamic field in that sense.”
A report from the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation found that young people were more undecided on the sovereignty question compared to the general population.
“There’s always been young people for sovereignty,” said Charles Breton, executive director at the centre, which is part of the Institute for Research on Public Policy.
Breton puts this down to the fact that young Quebecers have not previously had to face the question of separation the same way older generations did.
Goyette-Gingras, of OUI Québec, says polls do not necessarily accurately capture youth enthusiasm for sovereignty.
“Regardless of the polls … young people, despite everything, remain the most mobilized group in favour of independence,” she said.
“Do you really think that a young person answers the phone to answer a poll? We know that among young people, there is really something very strong.”
A new face
Maurice Bolduc, 65, was one of the older faces at the festival. Previously, he had thought young Quebecers had little interest in an independent Quebec; that they had become increasingly globally minded since the 1995 referendum.
But he thinks that may be shifting.
“Ten years ago we thought the youth were globalists, they didn’t care about separation. Today, that’s not true.”
In his view, that is a good thing.
“[The fact that] young people are talking about [sovereignty], I find that positive,” said Bolduc.
Charles Pinel, 26, another festival attendee, says that when he was younger, few of his peers had any interest in sovereignty. He also thinks that has changed markedly in recent years.
A sovereigntist himself, he still has questions over whether this movement’s members have deep convictions on the issue. But he is hopeful for another referendum.
“If you asked 90 per cent of people here [at the concert], they’ll say, ‘If there is another referendum, I want [Quebec] to leave,’” said Pinel.
Goyette-Gingras believes that young sovereigntists, most of whom were not even born when the 1995 referendum was held, have an opportunity to shape the movement in their own mould.
“The fact of not having lived in 1995 brings a different look. It creates a sense that for [young people], the independence project is a new idea,” she said.
“Independence allows them to open up the field of possibilities, to generate new opportunities, to project themselves into the future … independence is an answer to the question of what we want to do together as Quebecers.”
Tensions
Part of shaping the separatist movement in their own mould could mean pushing for a different stance on immigration.
After the 1995 referendum, PQ leader and then-premier Jacques Parizeau famously claimed that “money and ethnic votes” had tipped the scales for the “no” vote.
Mathias Laliberté, a fan at the festival, said he was previously an advocate for the PQ, but left after being turned off by St-Pierre Plamondon’s own restrictive stance on immigration.
Laliberté believes that if the PQ are to create a serious movement for sovereignty, St-Pierre Plamondon will have to appease young progressives like himself.
“We are nationalists for a culture and a country that welcomes everyone,” the 27-year-old said. “That is a new wave from the youth.”
St-Pierre Plamondon’s two main competitors — Christine Fréchette of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec and Charles Milliard of the Quebec Liberal Party — both oppose another referendum. Both the PQ and the CAQ favour reducing immigration, while the Quebec Liberal Party favours higher immigration.
Milliard is currently polling highest among young voters (26 per cent of decided voters), with St-Pierre Plamondon closely behind him (24 per cent) and Fréchette at 12 per cent.
Pinel says Quebec independence would solve some of the longstanding problems relating to immigration and the French language.
“The heart of the problem is that immigrants arrive in Canada and not in Quebec,” he said.
“The way that we live in Quebec … it’s not just a different culture between Quebec and Canada, it’s an identity, a way of being.”
Niki Lasserre, an immigrant from France at the festival, says he wants to build his future in an independent Quebec.
“The face of Quebec has changed … nationalism is more about spirit — do you feel Quebecois?” the 24-year-old said.
“I want to stay here and I want an independent Quebec.”
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