Montreal’s transit authorities and the newly elected mayor are addressing rising safety concerns on the city’s bus and Metro systems in response to an uptick in transit-related assaults across major Canadian cities. According to a recent analysis by CBC News, the number of reported assaults on transit in several Canadian metropolitan areas, including Montreal, doubled between 2016 and 2024.
Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada emphasized that ensuring public safety encompasses multiple challenges beyond just one issue. The analysis revealed that transit-related violent crime rates peaked in 2023 in cities like Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge before showing a slight decrease in 2024, though still significantly higher than a decade ago.
Mayor Martinez Ferrada noted that while there wasn’t a significant surge in numerical figures, there is a prevalent sense of insecurity among residents. She highlighted the need to address issues such as homelessness and drug crises in addition to increasing the presence of constables in the Metro as part of the solution.
Laurence Houde-Roy, a spokesperson for Montreal’s public transit authority, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), acknowledged the challenging social context faced by the transit network, especially exacerbated by the pandemic. This has led to increased incidents of alcohol and drug use, loitering, misconduct, and deliberate vandalism in transit facilities, affecting both customer safety and operations.
To tackle these challenges, STM renewed its policy requiring individuals to keep moving in stations to aid constables in maintaining order and intervening with those without a legitimate travel purpose. Additionally, the STM is implementing various safety measures, including a text messaging service for non-urgent safety concerns and enhanced staff visibility in key stations.
The STM currently deploys around 180 special constables and 30 safety ambassadors to patrol the network, with heightened surveillance through more than 2,500 cameras for real-time monitoring of critical areas. The collective efforts aim to enhance the overall sense of safety for both passengers and employees within Montreal’s transit system.