The race for Montreal’s next mayor kicked off on Sept. 19, following current mayor Valérie Plante’s announcement last year that she would not be running for a third term. Montreal’s municipal election day will be held on Nov. 2, 2025. The Tribune explains how to navigate voting.
How can I vote?
Voting on election day will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Nov. 2 at local polling stations. Advance polling is also scheduled from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Oct. 26.
For the first time, students from 16 Montreal post-secondary institutions, including McGill, will be able to vote on their campuses on Oct. 24, 27, 28, and 29.
If one is unable to vote in person for health or mobility reasons, they can register to vote by mail or by mobile.
Montrealers can register to vote through an online video conference call before Oct. 15 at 6:00 p.m., or in-person at a commission of revision between Oct. 11 and Oct. 16. Voters can also check online to see if they are already registered.
You must be registered to vote.
Who is eligible to vote?
To be eligible for registration, a voter must be a Canadian citizen who is at least 18 years old by Nov. 2, reside in the territory of the City of Montreal, and have lived in Quebec for at least six months prior to the election. Moreover, one must not have lost their right to vote due to legal incapacity or guardianship.
Who are the candidates?
There are currently five candidates running for mayor: Luc Rabouin for Projet Montréal; Soraya Martinez Ferrada for Ensemble Montréal; Craig Sauvé for Transition Montréal; Jean-François Kacou for Futur Montréal; and Gilbert Thibodeau for Action Montréal.
Luc Rabouin, the current borough mayor for the Plateau-Mont-Royal, was selected by Projet Montréal as Valérie Plante’s successor. Rabouin is running on a platform to offer discounted transit fares for low-income users, add more public bathrooms across the city, and add 1,000 BIXI stations to Montreal over the next four years, ensuring all Montrealers have a BIXI station within a 15-minute walk of their homes.
Soraya Martinez Ferrada resigned from her role as former federal tourism minister in Justin Trudeau’s Liberal cabinet to run for Montreal mayor with Ensemble Montréal. Her key campaign promises include using artificial intelligence to enhance traffic management and construction planning, and conducting a review of the city’s bike paths to eliminate any dangerous ones. Moreover, she is concerned with tackling youth crime and homelessness, aiming to create more non-market housing that also offers social support to its residents.
Craig Sauvé is a city councillor for Montreal’s Sud Ouest borough. He was a former member of Projet Montréal, and left the party after a sexual assault allegation, which he has categorically denied. He ran for the New Democratic Party in the riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun in the most recent federal election. Some of Sauvé’s key campaign promises include taxing the “ultra-rich” to reinvest the resulting money in social housing, establishing a night mayor, and “standing up” to François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Quebec provincial government on its supposed neglect of Montreal’s infrastructure, citing the province’s abandoned tramway project in LaSalle and Lachine. Recently, Sauvé has denounced the provincial government’s directive banning the use of gender-neutral language in official state communications, calling it divisive and stigmatising.
Jean-François Kacou is running for mayor with Futur Montréal, a party founded by civil rights activist Joel DeBellefeuille and community leader Matthew Kerr. He is originally from the Ivory Coast and was a former executive director of Ensemble Montréal. His platform includes making police and fire department equipment up-to-date and electrifying the entire bus network.
Gilbert Thibodeau is running again under the Action Montréal banner after receiving one per cent of the vote in the 2021 municipal elections. He believes Montreal requires more efficient financial and infrastructural management.
