Compton—Stanstead

Compton—Stanstead is a federal riding in the Estrie region of southeastern Quebec, with the Canada–United States border as its southern and eastern boundary. It encompasses the regional county municipalities of Coaticook and Le Haut-Saint-François, the eastern half of Memphramégog, and parts of Le Val-Saint-François and the city of Sherbrooke—including the historically anglophone neighbourhood of Lennoxville, home to Bishop's University. Principal towns include Coaticook, North Hatley, Ayer's Cliff, and Stanstead. The riding is predominantly francophone—about eighty-seven percent of residents speak French as a mother tongue—though the English-speaking community has deep historical roots in the Eastern Townships.

Candidates

Marie-Claude Bibeau (Liberal) — Born in 1970 and raised in Sherbrooke, Bibeau earned a bachelor's degree in economics and a graduate diploma in environmental management from the Université de Sherbrooke. Before entering politics, she worked for the Canadian International Development Agency with postings in Ottawa, Montreal, Morocco, and Benin, then returned to the riding to operate a tourism business for fifteen years. First elected in 2015, she served as Minister of International Development and La Francophonie before becoming the first woman in Canadian history appointed federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in March 2019, a portfolio she held through mid-2023.

Nathalie Bresse (Bloc Québécois) — A native of Ascot Corner, Bresse opened her own hairdressing salon in 1988 and operated it for over three decades. She entered municipal politics as a councillor in 2005 and was elected mayor of Ascot Corner in 2010. She stepped down from the mayoralty to pursue the federal Bloc Québécois nomination. Her campaign priorities included support for small businesses during the pandemic, protection of Quebec's supply-management agricultural model, rural broadband deployment, and protection of the French language.

Pierre Tremblay (Conservative) — A fifty-three-year-old resident of the riding for twenty-seven years, Tremblay served as a Sherbrooke city councillor representing the Lac Magog district in the Brompton–Rock Forest–Saint-Élie–Deauville borough since 2017. He campaigned on labour shortages, equitable infrastructure funding for small municipalities, and economic-environmental alignment.

Geneva Allen (NDP) — Allen represented the New Democratic Party in the riding.

Sylvain Dodier (Green) — Dodier was the Green Party candidate.

Yves Bourassa (PPC) — Bourassa ran for the People's Party of Canada.

About the Riding

Compton—Stanstead lies at the heart of Quebec's Eastern Townships, a region originally settled by Loyalists and American immigrants in the late eighteenth century. That anglophone heritage persists in village names—North Hatley, Ayer's Cliff, Stanstead—and in institutions such as Bishop's University in Lennoxville. The town of Stanstead straddles the international border; its Haskell Free Library and Opera House famously sits in both Canada and the United States.

Agriculture is a defining feature of the riding's economy and landscape. Dairy farming, maple-syrup production, orchards, and market gardening are widespread. The region has developed a growing agritourism and culinary-tourism sector, with vineyards, microbreweries, and farm-to-table dining attracting visitors from Montreal and beyond. Coaticook is known for its dramatic gorge and the Foresta Lumina night walk, which draws tens of thousands of visitors annually.

The riding's proximity to Vermont and New Hampshire makes cross-border trade and tourism significant economic factors. Multiple border crossings dot the riding's southern edge. The area also benefits from Sherbrooke's economic and academic presence, with the Université de Sherbrooke and Bishop's University fuelling research and cultural life. In 2021, the contest between Bibeau and Bresse reflected a broader Liberal–Bloc tug-of-war in the Quebec regions, with agricultural policy, pandemic recovery, and rural connectivity among the leading issues.