Valérie Plante Has Big Plans For Downtown Montreal If Reelected

Valérie Plante has big plans for downtown Montreal if she's reelected mayor and has outlined her party's ideas for the city's economic and social recovery after the pandemic.

From free parking to planting hundreds of thousands of trees, here's what her vision for the future of downtown Montreal looks like.

Her plan, self-described as "ambitious," aims to boost what she already says has been the "best economic recovery" in Canada post-pandemic.

But while the economic aspect of downtown is looking positive, "there is still work to be done to enhance our downtown area and make it more attractive to workers, businesses, tourists, and Montrealers from all over the island," according to her party.

If reelected mayor, Plante promises to:

• "support the Palais des Congrès expansion project, and consequently the covering of a part of the Ville-Marie highway;"
• "offer free parking downtown on evenings and weekends in December to support our merchants during the holiday season;"
• "[accelerate] construction sites and [limit] potential nuisances;"
• "support the redevelopment of large offices into adequate spaces to accommodate [small and medium enterprises] and start-ups;"
• make "a $1 billion investment by 2030 to develop beautiful, large public plazas in downtown, redevelop key commercial arteries and create vibrant living environments;"
• "green" downtown by planting 500,000 trees in four years;
• and "facilitate the transformation of vacant office space into housing."

The Montreal municipal election is on November 6 and 7.*

*This article has been updated.