Housing tops agenda as four candidates vie for Sherbrooke mayoralty

With outgoing Mayor Évelyne Beaudin stepping away from municipal politics, four contenders are seeking to lead Sherbrooke, Quebec’s largest Eastern Townships city. Each candidate brings a distinct vision — but all agree on one thing: tackling the housing crisis is the city’s top priority.

A sitting city councillor since 2021, Raïs Kibonge now leads Sherbrooke Citoyen, the only party currently represented at city hall. Having served as acting mayor during Beaudin’s medical leave, he says the experience revealed both the city’s challenges and its potential

Kibonge aims to expand affordable and social housing, pledging to gradually increase the housing budget from $8 million to $12 million by 2029. He also promises to preserve green spaces and enhance public transit. The vacancy rate in Sherbrooke has remained below two per cent for over seven years — an issue he describes as central to his campaign.

A longtime federal politician and former minister of agriculture, Marie-Claude Bibeau is entering municipal politics for the first time. Born and raised in Sherbrooke, she emphasizes fiscal discipline, infrastructure maintenance, and more efficient development.

Bibeau wants to lift the city’s construction moratorium by investing in water and sewer infrastructure and streamlining the approval process for builders. She advocates for “balanced development” that respects the environment while allowing growth. She also plans to revisit the controversial Queen Street bike path project in Lennoxville, suggesting it should be redesigned with better community input.

Former city councillor Vincent Boutin, who took a hiatus from politics to lead an anti-hunger organization, is running on a platform centered on rapid housing expansion. He argues that the city has been too slow in recent years to approve and build new housing.

Boutin’s 11-step plan includes infrastructure investment to end the building moratorium, partnerships with private developers and community organizations, and additional support for cultural and sports programs to make recreation more accessible for low-income families.

Leading the newly formed Vision Action Sherbrooke, Guillaume Brien is the only candidate without prior political experience. A housing expert with more than 25 years managing housing co-operatives, he says his hands-on background makes him best equipped to resolve Sherbrooke’s housing crisis.

Brien wants to boost the number of social and affordable housing units built annually from 1,500 to 2,000 during his first mandate. He also pledges to improve public consultation and business engagement, citing dissatisfaction with how recent city projects, like the Lennoxville bike path, were handled.