Joël Lightbound (born February 8, 1988) is a Canadian politician who has served as the minister of government transformation, public services and procurement since May 2025 and the government's Quebec lieutenant since December 2025. A member of the Liberal Party, he was first elected following the 2015 federal election and is the member of Parliament (MP) for Louis-Hébert.

Background

In 2008, Lightbound was awarded the Cardinal Roy Trophy from Champlain Regional College. He later attended the McGill University Faculty of Law, where he won the National Laskin Moot. He initially articled with the Montreal offices of Fasken, and prior to his election practiced law in the Quebec City area, specializing in immigration.

Political career

Lightbound was elected in 2015. He was re-elected in 2019, becoming the first MP in three decades to hold Louis-Hébert for more than one term, and again in 2021.

In February 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic and Freedom Convoy protests, Lightbound held a press conference where he spoke out against politicians' handling of the pandemic, and denounced dismissing those with "legitimate concerns" while also calling for the convoy protesters to return home. Soon afterwards, Lightbound resigned his position in the party as Quebec caucus chair.

In 2022, Lightbound was the sole Liberal MP to vote for a Bloc Québécois-sponsored resolution calling for the Monarchy of Canada to be abolished.

On April 28, 2025, Lightbound was re-elected again from Louis-Hébert, with 55.4% of the vote. On May 13, 2025, he was appointed to Prime Minister Mark Carney's Cabinet as Minister of Government Transformation, Public Services and Procurement. In this capacity, Lightbound announced in September 2025 that the federal government would allow Canada Post to phase out door-to-door service in favour of community mailboxes, impacting roughly 4,000,000 addresses. It will also close many rural post offices. He was appointed Quebec lieutenant in December 2025.

Electoral record

vte2025 Canadian federal election: Louis-Hébert
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalJoël Lightbound33,51255.44+17.23
Bloc QuébécoisValérie Savard12,89721.34-5.66
ConservativeClaude Dussault12,16420.12-4.19
New DemocraticJean-Paul Lussiaà-Berdou1,5402.55-4.68
People'sVatthana Maholy3320.55N/A
Total valid votes/expense limit60,44598.81
Total rejected ballots7291.19
Turnout61,17476.95
Eligible voters79,502
Liberal notional holdSwing+11.45
Source: Elections Canada
Note: number of eligible voters does not include voting day registrations.
vte2021 Canadian federal election: Louis-Hébert
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalJoël Lightbound22,93338.35-2.16$51,233.94
Bloc QuébécoisMarc Dean16,24727.17-0.83$22,437.53
ConservativeGilles Lépine14,33223.97+6.39$21,615.85
New DemocraticHamid Nadji4,3377.25-0.62$5,611.33
GreenDenis Blanchette1,5732.63-1.34$2,847.44
IndependentAli Dahan3780.63+0.20$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit59,800$111,646.95
Total rejected ballots861
Turnout60,66174.31-2.07
Registered voters81,632
Liberal holdSwing-0.67
Source: Elections Canada
vte2019 Canadian federal election: Louis-Hébert
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalJoël Lightbound25,14040.51+5.66$82,402.61
Bloc QuébécoisChristian Hébert17,37528.00+13.59$49,988.85
ConservativeMarie-Josée Guérette10,91217.58-9.61$54,059.24
New DemocraticJérémie Juneau4,8847.87-12.94none listed
GreenMacarena Diab2,4663.97+1.44none listed
People'sDaniel Brisson1,0161.64none listed
IndependentAli Dahan2670.43$0.00
Total valid votes62,06098.61
Total rejected ballots8731.39
Turnout62,93376.38
Eligible voters82,395
Liberal holdSwing-3.97
Source: Elections Canada
2015 Canadian federal election: Louis-Hébert
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalJoël Lightbound21,51634.85+21.43
ConservativeJean-Pierre Asselin16,78927.19+5.36
New DemocraticDenis Blanchette12,85020.81-17.84
Bloc QuébécoisCaroline Pageau8,90014.41-9.80
GreenAndrée-Anne Beaudoin-Julien1,5612.53+0.88
Christian HeritageStefan Jetchick1280.21-0.03
Total valid votes/Expense limit61,744100.00$217,520.39
Total rejected ballots6271.01
Turnout62,37176.90
Eligible voters81,109
Liberal gain from New DemocraticSwing+19.63
Source: Elections Canada

External links

  • Media related to Joël Lightbound at Wikimedia Commons