Montreal's REM Revealed The Person Behind Its Voice & It's The Metro Voice Lady's Daughter

Montreal transit is a family affair, apparently.

Senior Editor

Bienvenue à bord. Montreal's Réseau express métropolitain (REM) has revealed the person behind the voice that will make announcements along the 67-kilometre network.

Quebec-born actress Caroline Dhavernas will become the personality of the REM. According to a news release, she's perhaps best known for her work on TV series Les beaux malaises and Mary Kills People and movies De père en flic 2 and Hochelaga, terre des âmes.

Dhavernas is also the daughter of Michèle Deslauriers, the actress who voices STM metro announcements.

Dhavernas' voice was chosen for the REM following a public vote. Out of three then-anonymous options, her voice won out with 14,200 votes.

"Without knowing it, the public voted for a voice that echoed that of the Métro de Montréal," the REM said in the release.

In a promotional video, Dhavernas said she thought "it'd be really funny" if Montrealers ended up choosing her voice.

"Now that it worked out, I can't believe it," she continued. "Because when I take the metro with my daughter, I tell her that she's hearing her grandma's voice and that when we'll take the REM, we'll hear my voice."

She said that when she went into the audition to be the voice of the REM, she was still recovering from a sinus infection and tried to vocalize from her stomach instead of her nose to compensate.

"I have to admit that even I could barely recognize myself when I was listening to it on the website during the vote since my voice was slightly different because of the sinus infection."

The first branch of the REM is set to start rolling in 2022.

  • Thomas MacDonald
  • Senior Editor

    Thomas MacDonald was the Senior Editor of MTL Blog. He received a B.A. with honours from McGill University in 2018 and worked as a Writer and Associate Editor before entering his current role. He is proud to lead the MTL Blog team and to provide its readers with the information they need to make the most of their city.

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