Montreal November 2025

19 November
This Montreal street has been named one of the coolest in the world – ranking higher than New York, Berlin and Brisbane
Montreal’s Sherbrooke Street West takes a top spot in Time Out’s annual list of the World’s Coolest Streets 2025.
Time Out has published the coolest streets in the world—avenues where you can really experience local life, soak up cutting-edge culture, discover hidden treasures and experience a city’s identity.
Unassuming yet iconic, Sherbrooke Street West—the second-longest street on the Island of Montreal that is said to have originally followed the path of an Indigenous trail—is a major east-west artery that many locals take for granted, largely because it’s simply always been there… for nearly 300 years.

24 July
Nuns to sell historic Villa Maria estate, with college given a path to ownership
Under the plan announced Thursday, Villa Maria will have the right of first refusal on any offer.
(Montreal Gazette) The Sisters who own Villa Maria’s historic Mount Royal estate are formally putting it up for sale — and the college that leases part of the land may now have a path to survive — in the latest turn after years of bitter dispute over the site’s future.
Under the plan announced Thursday, Villa Maria College, which has occupied the land for more than 170 years, will have the right of first refusal on any offer the Congregation of Notre-Dame is prepared to accept. Any outside buyer would also have to honour the college’s existing lease, which runs until July 2030, and negotiate a further agreement lasting at least until the summer of 2032, according to the Sisters.
… Désirée McGraw, the Liberal MNA for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and a Villa Maria graduate, also welcomed the announcement. “You’ve now stabilized the situation by extending it by two years,” she said. “The students who are applying this year know that they’re going to be graduating from this school in this place.”

20 June
Storm system over Montreal leads to flooding, street closures and power outages
Several streets in Pierrefonds were flooded and cordoned off Saturday
(CBC) Montreal’s West Island is recovering from a series of “near-stationary thunderstorms” that dumped between 100 and 170 millimetres of rain Saturday, according to Environment Canada.
Streets and basements flooded notably in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough and Dollard-des-Ormeaux. Emergency crews say they worked all evening to aid residents, in some cases freeing them from vehicles trapped in flooded streets.
Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough Mayor Jim Beis, who is also responsible for security and prevention with the City of Montreal’s executive committee, said houses that had never experienced flooding before were affected.
“The storm water drainage systems do not have the capacity to receive or accept that quantity of water during that period,” he said Sunday morning. “The system worked but it didn’t work for the quantity of water we received.”

5 June
Stewards of the Fulford legacy extend hands to help Montreal women out of homelessness
Chez Doris and the Old Brewery Mission have joined forces to maintain the newly renamed Pavillon Fulford.
(Montreal Gazette) … For 131 years, the Fulford Residence, as it came to be known, was a happy home for older women, until declining occupancy and the deaths from COVID of one-third of its 31 remaining residents forced it to close in 2021.
The historic building, with the woodwork and stained glass of its main rooms still in impeccable condition after nearly 170 years, sat vacant for a time, its future uncertain. Developers showed interest, as did Concordia University and Chez Doris, an organization which since 1977 has helped Montreal’s most vulnerable and marginalized women. … Chez Doris purchased the Fulford Residence for $6.5 million. The building, which needs updating, is being restored and repurposed to consolidate services and activities currently spread among three of the organization’s downtown locations: These include a day centre, medical clinic, community space and offices housing services to clients. The anticipated reopening date is 2028.
Twenty rooms on the second and third floors will serve as transitional housing for women who are unhoused or at risk of homelessness. Since 2022 Chez Doris has opened several facilities for this population, including an emergency overnight shelter and three residences.

29 May
‘Exceptional situation’: Montrealers asked to reduce water usage this summer
Ailing water main that feeds the McTavish reservoir at fault, city officials say.
More than half of the population of the island of Montreal is being asked to drastically reduce their water consumption this summer due to the deterioration of a key water main in the city.
Residents in 16 of the city’s 19 boroughs and six demerged municipalities are being asked to limit outdoor watering and take shorter showers after an inspection uncovered a 48-inch water pipe that feeds the McTavish water reservoir is in poor condition. It is one of four pipes that feeds the reservoir, one of the main drinking water supplies for the city.

20-24 May
How tenants’ rights evolved — and eroded — under the CAQ
Experts say the Quebec government’s far-reaching reforms benefited landlords at the expense of tenants.
Part 2 of the Gazette series Renting Montreal. Read Part 1 here.
As the sun sets on the Coalition Avenir Québec’s second mandate, Quebec renters navigate a set of rules that have changed dramatically since the party first took power.
Limits placed on tenants’ right to transfer their lease and a recent rewrite of the rent calculation formula were among the most sweeping of a series of changes under the CAQ.
The Gazette asked a lawyer and a tenant advocate how they’d assess the party’s record on landlord-tenant rules. Both said the CAQ favoured landlords over tenants, legislating significant setbacks for renters amid skyrocketing housing costs.
Montreal rent prices have jumped 70% in the last decade
Population growth, gentrification and a game of catch-up with other markets have sent rents skyrocketing across the city.
Rising rents are hitting certain neighbourhoods harder than others, with some historically working-class or middle-class neighbourhoods gentrifying at a faster rate.
The years surrounding COVID-19 saw record population growth and low housing vacancy rates in Montreal, largely due to immigration, according to Francis Cortellino, a housing economist for the CMHC.
“The demand was higher than the supply. So you have a lot of tenants looking for the same apartments,” Cortellino said in an interview.
“I would say the economic and demographic environment during 2006, 2016 was quite different than what we had in the last few years,” he added, noting that inflation during those years was more “in control.”

13 February
Legault downplays referendum risk as Montreal bids to host NATO defence bank
It …could generate economic spinoffs for the local economy of more than $600 million, premier says.
(Montreal Gazette) Citing Montreal’s international credentials and its well-established financial sector and aerospace industries, the city’s mayor and Quebec Premier François Legault made their bid Friday for the city to become the host of a proposed international defence bank that would bolster the ability of NATO countries to increase their military spending.
The presentation at National Bank headquarters in the heart of Montreal’s financial district was attended by dozens of politicians, business heads and academic leaders.
Quebec political, business leaders backing Montreal’s bid to host NATO defence bank
Pierre Saint-Arnaud The Canadian Press
Legault was joined by Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada and National Bank president Laurent Ferreira, describing Montreal as the perfect city to host the new bank given that it is already an aerospace and artificial intelligence hub, along with being a host for 70 international organizations.
Legault called on federal ministers from Quebec, François-Philippe Champagne and Mélanie Joly, as well as Mark Carney’s chief of staff, Marc-André Blanchard, and Isabelle Hudon, the president and CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada, to support the Montreal candidacy.
… The Defence, Security and Resilience Bank says it will be a multilateral bank owned exclusively by nation-states and designed to help “like-minded allies and partners finance their capabilities for the defence, security, and resilience of the democratic world.”
Spearheaded by NATO countries, the bank is meant to reduce borrowing costs for military spending by pooling credit strength.
The founding countries must first decide on which country will end up hosting the bank before a city will be chosen. In Canada, Toronto and Vancouver are also actively lobbying to host the bank’s headquarters and Ottawa has also been mentioned as a potential landing spot.
There are also several international contenders for the bank’s headquarters, which is expected to generate an estimated 3,500 well-paying jobs.

12 February
Montreal’s mayor wants orange cones out of downtown — and roadwork handled better
Soraya Martinez Ferrada says she wants better co-ordination and the use of artificial intelligence tools to help reduce the impact of roadwork on Montrealers, but some are skeptical any significant change can be accomplished.

8 February
What’s next for the old Royal Vic site? Not student housing, at least for now
A feasibility study puts the cost of upgrading the former Royal Victoria Hospital’s heritage buildings at nearly 79 per cent of the estimated $845-million construction cost for 1,150 beds.
A report from CDPQ Infra on the feasibility of converting a portion of the former Royal Victoria Hospital into an inter-university campus consisting mainly of student housing puts the cost of upgrading the site’s heritage buildings at nearly 79 per cent of the estimated $845-million construction cost for 1,150 beds.
CDPQ Infra is the subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec that plans, finances, develops and operates major public infrastructure projects. The results of its analysis, carried out in accordance with a mandate granted by the provincial government, were announced on Friday.
The SQI said consultation with partners, “particularly the City of Montreal,” will take place over the next few months to identify conditions that would make possible new uses for the heritage site, “while highlighting the iconic site of the former Royal Victoria Hospital and limiting the financial contribution of the government.”

23 January
Drimonis: Departing Legault delivers another blow to Montreal
Amid labour shortages, the CAQ has chosen to extend its moratorium on low-wage temporary-foreign-worker permits in Montreal and Laval.
With so much happening lately, you’d be forgiven for missing an important, but frustrating, piece of local news: the Quebec government has decided to extend its moratorium on low-wage temporary-foreign-worker permits in Montreal and Laval.
With the exception of certain sectors, the Coalition Avenir Québec government has extended the freeze until Dec. 31, 2026. With that, Premier François Legault appears to have inflicted one more blow to our city’s economy before he rides off into the sunset.
Imposed in 2024, the moratorium was set to last until Nov. 30, 2025. Conveniently ignoring data pointing to long-term, systemic shortfalls in social and affordable housing and social policy investments, the CAQ instead seemed intent on attributing Quebec’s housing crisis, overstretched public services, the fragility of French and whatever else they might think of on the increased numbers of non-permanent residents.

2025

2-3 November
Former federal minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada elected mayor of Montreal
(CTV) Montrealers have chosen Soraya Martinez Ferrada, a Chilean refugee who became a federal minister, as their new mayor in a vote for change that has unseated the city’s left-leaning government of the last eight years.
Martinez Ferrada, who leads the centrist party Ensemble Montréal, tapped into the dissatisfaction of many Montrealers with the government of outgoing Mayor Valérie Plante, who announced last year she would not seek a third mandate at the head of Projet Montréal. She has defeated Plante’s successor, Luc Rabouin, who said Sunday he would resign as leader of the progressive party.
Martinez Ferrada arrived in Canada as a Chilean child refugee in 1980, when her family fled the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. She was elected a Montreal city councillor between 2005 and 2009, and made the leap into federal politics in 2019. She was named to the cabinet of former prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2023, but resigned in February to seek the leadership of Ensemble Montréal.
She has pledged to tackle homelessness, a major theme of the campaign, promising to triple the city’s budget for the unhoused, and to end the encampments that have cropped up across the island in the next four years. She has also promised to cut 1,000 city jobs and to increase the frequency of the subway system.
And she has taken aim at bike lanes — a key feature of Plante’s legacy that has sparked a backlash from some drivers and business owners — promising to launch an audit of the city’s bike paths in her first 100 days in office. She has suggested some may be removed.

20 November
Ensemble Montréal era begins with winter bike-lane rollback in Outremont
Outremont approved the motion Monday in its first council meeting since the municipal election.
It’s the first major bike-lane change since the municipal election, when the issue featured prominently among rival candidates. The victorious Ensemble Montréal, the party Braun belongs to and led by Soraya Martinez Ferrada, had, among other issues, campaigned on auditing the bike-lane network before building anything new.

18 November
Montreal’s new executive committee includes members from all parties at city hall
The inclusion of opposition members points to the collaboration needed at city hall, Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada says after ceremonies.
The equivalent of a prime minister or premier’s cabinet, the new executive committee brings together 14 members, including Martinez Ferrada, and seven associate councillors.
Former Centraide president Claude Pinard was confirmed as the committee’s new chair. Elected as a city councillor in the downtown Ville-Marie district, Pinard will also be in charge of homelessness for the city.
The mayor noted Pinard will be supported in his role by city councillor Benoit Langevin, the party’s former critic on homelessness, who has now been given the cohabitation file on the executive committee.
Speaking during Tuesday’s ceremony, Pinard vowed to put consultation at the heart of the city’s decision making and to bring a dignified and respectful approach to tackling the homelessness crisis.
“This is a major challenge that requires a co-ordinated, continuous and, above all, humane approach,” Pinard said. …
Associate councillors who will help with the executive committee’s work include …Leslie Roberts with responsibility for: Universities and higher education, downtown and the anglophone community.

14 November
Weekend STM shutdown called off as last-minute deal reached
Montrealers will have access to regular métro and bus service on the weekend schedule.
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada celebrated the news in a social media post on X. She wrote: “I want to highlight the intensive negotiation work carried out by the drivers’ union and the STM in the last few hours to reach an agreement. As I have always said, the best agreements are those negotiated at the table.”

13 November
Soraya Martinez Ferrada calls for unity as she’s sworn in as Montreal’s new mayor
The Ensemble Montréal leader promises to govern for all Montrealers and tackle the homeless crisis head on
Hanes: A transfer of power unlike any other in Montreal’s history
As a new era of female leadership dawns at Montreal City Hall, Valérie Plante helped blaze the trail that brought her successor to office.

4-5 November
Federal budget ‘speaks to Quebec,’ Champagne says in Montreal
Finance minister starts his post-budget tour in the city, meeting with Quebec’s top business leaders.
Champagne said a major reason he chose Montreal as his first stop was to congratulate his “good friend” Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the newly elected mayor and former cabinet minister with the federal Liberal party.
“I’m very delighted,” he told reporters. “Great election here in Montreal.”
Champagne said he wanted to sit down with Martinez Ferrada and listen to her directly.
“There’s a lot in the budget for municipalities, and in particular for Montreal. So listening to her, congratulating her, and making sure she understands that as (a) federal government, we want to work very closely with municipalities — and obviously with her.”

Pratte: To fix Montreal, look beyond first 100 days of new regime
Mayor-elect Soraya Martinez Ferrada has ambitious plans. She will need time to deliver them.
Montreal’s new mayor, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, has set an ambitious program for her first 100 days in office, including: a “mayors’ table” to ensure better services across the city; measures to alleviate the homelessness and the housing crises; and an “optimization process” to make municipal public service more effective.
However, the issues the new Ensemble Montréal administration needs to address are far too complex to be solved in a few weeks or months.
To replace Valérie Plante, Montrealers chose a woman they don’t know very well but has significant political experience at the municipal and federal levels. Martinez Ferrada demonstrated her political skills by taking over Denis Coderre’s former party and transforming it into an effective election machine.
… Ensemble Montréal’s priorities, as highlighted in its platform, are the right ones: tackling the housing crisis; promoting safe and efficient transportation; improving cleanliness; strengthening public safety; reducing homelessness; and managing the city with rigour and efficiency. Addressing them will require intelligence, political courage and, most of all, the capacity to work with other like-minded cities and levels of government.