Compton—Stanstead

Tucked into Quebec's Eastern Townships along the U.S. border, Compton—Stanstead covers approximately 4,500 square kilometres of rolling hills, farmland, and lake country southeast of Sherbrooke. The riding encompasses the regional county municipalities of Coaticook and Le Haut-Saint-François, the eastern half of Memphémagog, and portions of Le Val-Saint-François, taking in towns such as Coaticook, Stanstead, North Hatley, Ayer's Cliff, and Waterville. At Stanstead, the international boundary runs directly through the community, and the Haskell Free Library and Opera House famously straddles the Canada–U.S. line.

Candidates

Marie-Claude Bibeau (Liberal) — Born and raised in Sherbrooke, Bibeau earned a bachelor's degree in economics and a graduate diploma in environmental management from the Université de Sherbrooke. She worked with the Canadian International Development Agency, with postings in Ottawa, Montreal, Morocco, and Benin, before returning to the Eastern Townships to operate a tourism business for fifteen years.

Jean Rousseau (NDP) — The incumbent, Rousseau studied administration at the Cégep de Sherbrooke and earned a bachelor's in industrial relations from Université Laval. Before entering politics he worked in show business. Elected in the 2011 NDP wave, he served on the Standing Committees on Public Safety and Agriculture during his term.

France Bonsant (Bloc Québécois) — Born in Waterville, Bonsant had represented Compton—Stanstead for the Bloc from 2004 to 2011, winning three consecutive elections before her defeat in the orange wave. She returned in 2015 seeking to reclaim the seat.

Gustavo Labrador (Conservative) — Labrador carried the Conservative colours in a riding where the party drew modest but steady support, particularly in the more rural eastern portions.

Korie Marshall ran for the Green Party and Kévin Côté ran for the Rhinoceros Party.

About the Riding

The Eastern Townships landscape is defined by dairy farms, maple sugar bushes, and small manufacturing—the region has a long history of granite quarrying that once made it one of North America's leading producers of building stone. The bilingual character of the area, with its Loyalist-era anglophone roots overlaid by waves of francophone settlement, gives the riding a distinctive cultural texture: roughly 87 percent of residents speak French as a mother tongue, but English-language institutions and communities persist in towns like North Hatley and Lennoxville. Tourism is increasingly important, driven by cycling routes, lakeside resorts, and the growing agritourism and vineyard sector. The border crossing at Stanstead and customs infrastructure on Autoroute 55 are critical to north–south trade with New England. During the campaign, local issues included federal support for dairy supply management—vital to the riding's many small producers—broadband access in rural areas, and the future of cross-border policing and customs cooperation.