Premier Philippe Couillard announced the Liberal candidate for an upcoming byelection in Laval’s Fabre riding Sunday.
She is Monique Sauvé, currently the director-general of youth employment centres in Laval.
Last fall Sauvé was critical of the Liberal government's decision to impose cuts on youth centres and later some of those cuts were reversed.
The seat was recently vacated by Liberal Gilles Ouimet, who said he was stepping down to spend more time with his family.
Couillard also revealed Sunday that Karine Otis will run for the liberals in a byelection in the North Shore riding of Rene-Levesque.
The announcements come the same day as a call to increase the number of female political candidates by implementing mandatory quotas.
The Quebec Council on the Status of Women says right now, just 26 per cent of Quebec MNAs are women.
The council wants Quebec’s election law changed to force political parties to nominate women in 40 per cent to 60 per cent of ridings.
“When there's no need to reach certain targets the political parties try but do not try enough so we are saying they need a little push … because we feel that women have to be a part of political decisions, a big part,” said council president Julie Miville-Dechêne.
Some parties already have voluntary targets for female candidates, but the council says unless there are financial penalties for parties that fail to reach the 40 per cent goal, women will remain under-represented.
The council says quota systems are already being used effectively in many countries.
