New PQ government opens door to closer Montreal-Quebec collaboration on housing and transit

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said the incoming Parti Québécois government presents an opportunity to strengthen collaboration between the city and province, particularly because incoming premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon represents a Montreal riding.

"Today we have a new premier who represents a Montreal riding, and this is an opportunity to strengthen the partnership between Quebec and our city," Martinez Ferrada said Tuesday, the day after the election.

St-Pierre Plamondon represents the National Assembly seat for Camille-Laurin in Montreal's East End. Martinez Ferrada said she had "a really good conversation" with St-Pierre Plamondon shortly before speaking with reporters.

Homelessness ranks among Montreal's top priorities as it works with the new government. The Notre-Dame encampment, a visible symbol of the city's housing crisis, is located near Plamondon's Camille-Laurin riding. "We need lasting solutions, housing and greater involvement from the health-care system," the mayor said, without specifying what those solutions would entail or a timeline for implementation.

Martinez Ferrada also identified public transit and infrastructure as priorities for discussions with the minority government. She said these priorities matter not only for Montreal but for Quebec as a whole — framing them as provincial concerns rather than city-specific requests.

The mayor's early outreach reflects a broader political calculation: with the PQ governing as a minority and needing opposition support on major legislation, local leaders have leverage to press provincial priorities. Montreal has long advocated for increased transit funding and housing investments; a premier with a personal stake in the city's stability may be more receptive than his predecessor.