In a preamble to Ensemble Montréal’s 2025 electoral platform, the party’s mayoralty candidate, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, says she dreams of an accessible and inclusive city.
“A city where everyone has a roof over their head and can thrive,” states the former federal Liberal cabinet minister. “Where young people find quality jobs. Where families and seniors feel safe everywhere, day and night. A city that embraces community, welcomes with hope, and opens up opportunities for all.”
But to achieve this, she continues, “we need to breathe new life into it.” Therefore, she suggests, the city must refocus on its core missions, beginning with citizen services, after which it must put its finances in order and improve its operations.
‘Recovery’ necessary, says mayoralty hopeful
“Without a major recovery, meeting the challenges ahead and improving our neighborhoods will be impossible,” says Martinez Ferrada, who served from 2005 to 2007 as the Montreal city councillor for Saint-Michel.
“The facts are clear,” she continues. “Spending is exploding, municipal staffing levels are swelling, particularly at the management level, but service improvements have not kept pace. Montrealers are demanding greater rigor. And they are right. It’s time to better provide basic services: cleanliness, security, street and sidewalk maintenance, snow removal, and infrastructure modernization. It’s time to act.”
But to succeed, she also suggests, the next administration at Montreal City Hall “must listen. Listen to the public, merchants, associations, the business and cultural sectors. The challenges are complex and numerous: access to housing, homelessness, mobility, and the ecological transition.
Restoring trust and bridge building
“We need concerted solutions, supported jointly by the mayor and city council, community organizations, the private sector, and the governments of Quebec and Canada.”
Soraya Martinez and her team are pledging to “build these bridges and defend Montreal’s interests with conviction,” while also promising to “restore the bond of trust between the population and its municipal administration.
“We will work with respect, in partnership with all those who care about the Quebec metropolis. A new lease of life also means reviewing our ways of doing things and reducing the red tape that simply no longer has a reason to exist and that slows Montreal’s development.”
They promise to simplify exchanges and transactions between the city, the population and entrepreneurs, while also pledging to build a prosperous city “that offers an exemplary quality of life and a business environment. Our direction is pragmatism. Our approach is listening and collaboration. Our plan is to act, now with ambition.”
Party’s six basic themes
A condensed version of the Ensemble Montréal platform breaks down their pledges into six themes: Address the housing crisis; Reduce homelessness; Strengthen security; Restore a clean city; Promote smooth, safe and inclusive mobility; And manage with rigor and agility.
Their agenda also includes the following points: Ensure the ecological transition and resilience of the metropolis; Rebuild reliable, sustainable infrastructure worthy of a major city; Accelerate the development of East Montreal; Revitalize Montreal’s shopping streets and support the local economy; Propel the economic sectors of excellence; Promote Montreal’s reputation through culture, arts, and design; Revive the downtown; And increase Montreal’s influence and attractiveness on the international stage.
Ensemble Montréal’s proposed course of action for its first 100 days in office if elected contains 10 specific measures:
Housing and homelessness
Create a Mayors’ Table to establish the foundations for quality services throughout the territory and work in close collaboration; Evaluate all municipal land and buildings and establish a public registry of vacant or abandoned buildings to accelerate housing construction; Replace the ‘Regulations for a Mixed Metropolis’ with financial incentives and establish a true partnership with real estate stakeholders, NGOs, and the private sector to quickly build affordable and social housing; Establish a Tactical Intervention Group on Homelessness (GITI) and draft a protocol for encampments.
Increase the homelessness budget and create a $10 million matching fund with the private sector to combat the homelessness crisis; Deploy monitoring committees and increase multidisciplinary teams to quickly secure Montreal’s neighborhoods; Relaunch the Montréal Metropolitan Cultural Office; Produce an inventory of projects and launch an assessment of the cycling network to assess user safety issues (cyclists, pedestrians, motorists); Begin the process of optimizing the municipal system and launch a call for projects for artificial intelligence; And mobilize partners to develop a plan for concerted action and common objectives to enhance Montreal’s international reputation and attractiveness.
‘Responsibility to act,’ says Martinez Ferrada
The Ensemble Montréal platform leans heavily on what it sees as a pressing need to deal with homelessness effectively.
“Homelessness is not inevitable,” states the platform document. “It’s a reflection of a system that needs to better prevent, better support, and better house. In Montreal, more and more citizens find themselves on the streets: young people, the elderly, newcomers, and sometimes even families. They are Montrealers in their own right, and we have a collective responsibility to act.”
“For too long, we have managed the crisis instead of preventing it,” it continues. “Our approach is based on dignity, prevention, and coordination. This means: Investing in transitional housing and social and economic housing to provide sustainable solutions; Supporting Montrealers on the streets toward stability through ongoing psychosocial support; Ensuring harmonious coexistence with local residents in a safe and respectful environment for all.”
They promise better security
Another area of the party’s platform pledges to take measures to boost security in the city’s neighbourhoods. “The causes are multiple: the increase in antisocial behavior, issues related to drug addiction; the increased presence of firearms and a nearly 28 per cent increase in crimes against persons between 2019 and 2024. Added to this is the uncleanliness of certain streets, which reinforces the feeling of insecurity and undermines trust in public spaces.”
The proposed actions include providing more support to police, reinforcing security on public transit and near schools, acting proactively to prevent incidents from happening, providing more support to firefighters while upgrading their equipment, and making sure that everything in the city is done “inclusively” with an emphasis on cultural diversity.
“Every Montrealer has the right not only to be safe, but also to feel safe, regardless of the neighborhood, the time of day, or the means of transportation,” the party states. “Because security is everyone’s business and is the essential condition for Montreal to once again become a confident, welcoming, and vibrant city.”
