Montrealers across 19 boroughs are heading to the polls Sunday to elect their representatives.
Candidates will be hoping the last-minute effort to woo voters has worked, after several polls in the lead-up to the vote showed nearly one-third of electors were undecided.
The two frontrunners for mayor of Montreal are considered to be Ensemble Montréal’s Soraya Martinez Ferrada and Projet Montréal’s Luc Rabouin. Craig Sauvé (Transition Montréal), Gilbert Thibodeau (Action Montréal) and Jean-François Kacou (Futur Montréal) round out the top five candidates for mayor.
Election officials will want to see a higher voter turnout than in the last municipal election in 2021, when 38 per cent of eligible electors cast their ballot.
Who’s running
On the ballot are 421 candidates looking to fill 103 positions across the city’s 19 boroughs. Residents in each borough are casting a vote for:
- Mayor of Montreal
- Borough mayors (except Ville-Marie)
- City councillors
- Borough councillors (where applicable)
You can find the list of candidates for your district, their party and platforms on the Élections Montréal website. An interactive map is also available.
Top candidates for mayor
Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Ensemble Montréal: The former federal minister in the Justin Trudeau government made an entry into municipal politics with an uncontested victory for the party leadership. She is hoping to capitalize on Montrealers’ desire for change after two consecutive terms for Projet Montréal. Martinez Ferrada has promised to tackle homelessness and housing, a reduced bureaucracy and a bigger police force.
Luc Rabouin, Projet Montréal: As a member of the city’s executive committee and mayor of Plateau–Mont-Royal, Rabouin is no stranger to Montreal City Hall. He has defended the city’s infrastructure and greening projects and bike lanes, while promising investments to tackle homelessness and better coordination of projects.
Gilbert Thibodeau, Action Montréal: The businessman-turned-politician is a fiscal conservative, who has promised to bring efficiency and accountability to city hall. His platform includes undoing the current administration’s 20/20/20 housing policy (requiring social, affordable and family housing in new developments) and reducing bike paths.
Craig Sauvé, Transition Montréal: A former independent city councillor for Sud-Ouest, Sauvé launched his party in the summer, after two unsuccessful bids to become a Member of Parliament in the last year. Sauvé has promised to end the dismantlement of homeless encampments, more investment in cooperative housing and to appoint a “nightlife mayor” to end closure of music venues plagued by high costs and hefty fines due to sound bylaws.
Jean-François Kacou, Futur Montréal: A newcomer to the political scene, Kacou has branded himself as a centrist and a pragmatist. His platform includes getting rid off the 20/20/20 housing rule and replacing it with a tax on luxury housing and building transitional housing centres with services located inside them. Kacou has also promised to remove bike lanes from commercial arteries and building multi-level parking lots while increasing bus services.
Voting in demerged cities
Apart from the City of Montréal, voters from the 15 independent cities on the island of Montreal are also heading to the polls to pick their mayors and councillors.
- Baie-D’Urfé
- Beaconsfield
- Côte-Saint-Luc
- Dollard-des-Ormeaux
- Dorval
- Hampstead
- Île-Dorval
- Kirkland
- Montréal-Est
- Montréal-Ouest
- Mont-Royal
- Pointe-Claire
- Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue
- Senneville
- Westmount
Mayors of Baie-D’Urfé, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Kirkland, L’Île-Dorval and Senneville were elected through acclamation as there were no other candidates.
How to vote
All eligible and registered residents can vote. Before heading to the polling stations, verify that you are on the voting rolls.
- Location: Find your nearest polling station using your address here
- Time: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- What to carry: One piece of identity document (driver’s licence, passport, health insurance card, certificate of Indian status, military ID)
Under Quebec law, employers are required to provide at least four hours for voting on the election day without reduction in pay or other penalty.
STM strike
The STM’s maintenance workers are on strike from Nov. 1 to Nov. 28 with limited service.
The labour tribunal (TAL) rejected STM’s request for full service on election day and STM will operate during these hours:
Metro
- 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
- 2:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
- 11 p.m. until the usual closing time
Buses
Buses will operate regular services from:
- 6:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.
- 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- 11:15 p.m. to 1:15 a.m.
The schedule of services is available on the STM website.
