Quebec’s construction holiday got off to a brutal start, with five people dead on the province’s roads — three from the same family — and a sixth in critical condition.
A Lantier couple in their 30s and their young child died in a head-on collision with another vehicle Friday afternoon in the Laurentian community, about 15 kilometres north of Ste-Agathe.
The crash took place at about 4 p.m. at the intersection of Route 329, a two-way, undivided provincial road with one lane in each direction, and Lac Dufresne Rd. There is no continuous passing lane on Route 329, known locally as Rolland-Cloutier Blvd.
According to initial information from the Sûreté du Québec, the driver of a vehicle travelling north along Route 329 attempted to overtake a vehicle ahead of her, which was preparing to turn right at the intersection.
As she was passing the turning vehicle on the left, there was a car heading south along Route 329 and the two vehicles collided. The driver, who was alone in her vehicle, sustained only minor injuries. All three occupants of the other vehicle were killed.
The driver was not arrested; her vehicle has been seized for analysis as part of an investigation by the SQ, police spokesperson Élizabeth Marquis-Guy said on Sunday. It is too early in the investigation to know whether charges will be laid, Marquis-Guy said.
Just over 24 hours later, on Saturday at about 6 p.m., a vehicle carrying three people travelling west on Route 138 in Sacré-Coeur, a municipality near Tadoussac in the Côte-Nord region, left its lane and struck three vehicles heading in the opposite direction.
The driver and one passenger, both men in their 20s, died of their injuries, the SQ confirmed on Sunday; the third person in the vehicle remained in critical condition. Six people in the other three vehicles sustained non-life-threatening injuries. An investigation is underway to determine the causes and circumstances of the incident.
On Sunday afternoon, two people were taken to a hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries after a four-car pileup on Highway 40 East in the Pointe-du-Lac sector of Trois-Rivières. According to initial information, the driver of one vehicle was unable to brake when traffic stopped suddenly, before hitting the vehicle in front of him and provoking a chain reaction. A third person was also taken to a hospital to be treated for nervous shock.
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During the 2025 Quebec construction holiday, there were 31 road traffic deaths and seven deaths in recreational and off-road vehicle networks. According to provincial police, this was more than double the 17 deaths recorded in 2024 and the highest fatality toll in 10 years.
This year’s construction holiday began Friday and continues through Aug. 2.