He was named to the opposition shadow cabinet following the election as critic for both the Office of Human Resources and the Department of Intergovernmental and International Relations.

He also chairs a cabinet committee on forestry issues consisting of fellow ministers Victor Boudreau, Greg Byrne and Jack Keir.

[2] After being shuffled out of Cabinet on September 5, 2017, Arseneault came under fire a month later when he accepted the government relations manager for Canada's Building Trades Unions and announced he would simultaneously hold his seat as a Member of the Legislative Assembly.

Although he was cleared by Integrity commissioner Alexandre Deschênes, who warned him that while there were things he should avoid doing whilst holding the job, nothing in the law prevented him from taking it.

As a result of the controversy and given an ultimatum by Premier Brian Gallant, Arseneault announced he would resign as an MLA, effective November 30, 2017.