Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada to present her 1st municipal budget | CBC News
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Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada is set to present her first municipal budget Monday after running on a promise to “restore order” to the city’s finances.
The mayor will hold a news conference in the morning to go over the budget and the ten-year capital works program, detailing long-term investments, before tabling them in the afternoon.
Part of Martinez Ferrada’s financial plan begins at city hall, where she promised to cut at least 1,000 jobs held by people who are not frontline workers, and implement a hiring freeze, in a bid to streamline operations.
Ensemble Montréal, Martinez Ferrada’s party, projects the move will result in $320 million in savings over her first mandate.
Much of her approach to municipal finances has focused on freeing up funds so the city can invest more in the priorities laid out by her administration. These include affordable housing, public transport, infrastructure maintenance, and security.
Notably, the two largest expenditures during her first mandate will go toward fighting homelessness and violence among youth, according to Ensemble Montréal’s financial plan presented in the lead-up to November’s elections.
In total, the administration is expecting to spend just under $303 million on its electoral commitments over the next four years.
It has also promised to limit municipal tax increases to inflation.
Ensemble Montréal says it anticipates a budgetary surplus of nearly $146 million between 2026 and 2029.
Municipal budgets are typically adopted in November or December, but exceptions are made for election years such as 2025.
Once the budget is tabled, a standing committee — the Commission sur les finances et l’administration — will study it and issue recommendations. The public can also weigh in during that period which will stretch until Jan. 22.
City council has until the end of January to adopt the budget.
Valérie Plante, Martinez Ferrada’s predecessor, tabled a budget totalling $7.28 billion in late 2024. That was four per cent higher than the $6.99 billion budget she tabled in 2023.