Peter Black

May 15, 2024

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com 

In a surprise turn of events last week, Mayor Bruno Marchand announced the city will take advantage of the Quebec government’s offer for municipalities to raise money for public transit through the vehicle registration fee.

Marchand had initially dismissed the idea, complaining the May 31 deadline to apply for the program, set by the Société d’Assurance Automobile du Québec (SAAQ) for cities across the province, did not take into account the study of regional transit needs from CDPQ-Infra, expected in June.

In a compromise move, the Marchand administration came to an agreement with SAAQ, which administers the registration fee, to meet the deadline while setting a “provisional” fee of $10, with the final figure to be decided before Sept. 15.

Marchand said the arrangement “will allow us to better assess the real needs that will be met by this levy. I thank the minister’s openness for this request which will allow us all to act as rigorous managers and wait to have an overall picture before moving forward. The city will need this tax, but it is our duty to define it better.”

Marchand said he is ready to pay whatever political price that may ensue from adding to the cost of vehicle registration. “It’s definitely risky. There is no positioning without risk,” the mayor said at a May 8 City Hall news conference. 

At the moment, only municipalities in the Montreal region are allowed to add to the registration fee to fund public transit, with the current amount $59. This sum is on top of the $30 dedicated to public transit paid by motorists across the province since 1992.

The tax raised an estimated $125 million for public transit in the metropolitan region of Montreal last year, according to the SAAQ.

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