Please complete your profile to unlock commenting and other important features.

Please select your date of birth for special perks on your birthday. Your username will be your unique profile link and will be publicly used in comments.
MTL Blog Pro

This is a Pro feature.

Time to level up your local game with MTL Blog Pro.

Pro

$5/month

$40/year

  • Everything in the Free plan
  • Ad-free reading and browsing
  • Unlimited access to all content including AI summaries
  • Directly support our local and national reporting and become a Patron
  • Cancel anytime.

downtown

Well, we’ve made it through another short week! And just like that, the weekend is back in Montreal.

Keep the good times going with these awesome ways to celebrate our beautiful city.

Keep readingShow less

If you've been walking along Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest lately, you likely noticed that the area in front of Saint James United Church got a major makeover. It's now a sandy beach — yes, a beach — smack dab in the middle of downtown Montreal. 

Plage Saint-James, as it's being called, is one of 11 oasis intallations created by the Quartier des spectaclesMontréal centre-ville and Tourisme Montréal

Keep readingShow less

At this point, we all know that the REM is beginning to take shape across Montreal.

As progress moves forward, the folks over at the REM have released another series of photo renderings and even a new video previewing what the downtown core is set to look like.

Keep readingShow less

It might be a cliché to say "this summer will be the best one ever" in Montreal but looking at what's been announced so far, that cliché might ring true. 

In addition to the already incredible summer events lined up in and around the Quartier des Spectacles, the recently announced Aventures du coeur de l'île bring circus acts, dancers and 600 local artists to take over the streets of downtown Montreal with spontaneous performances every single week for three months starting June 26. 

Keep readingShow less

How was your week, Montreal? Busy? Ours, too, filled with catching up on the things we love like drinks on terrasses, picnics in the park and spending time with friends.

Luckily, the weekend is here to bring us even more of what we love. Here are 17 things to do in Montreal (plus two bonus day trip ideas).

Keep readingShow less

Opening a new restaurant in downtown Montreal is always a risky venture. But to do so during the pandemic — a painful time for eateries and the people who work in them — might seem like an impossible task.

Yet family-owned chicken rotisserie chain Benny&Co. has done just that with the launch of a new location at 1175, boul. Robert-Bourassa that offers a new concept for urban folks.

Keep readingShow less

Exciting news for all of the city's courageous drivers: parking in Montreal's Ville-Marie borough will continue to be free for the month of March.

On Friday nights after 6 p.m. and weekends, that is.

Keep readingShow less

New data on the average rent price in Montreal suggests you'll have to look outside of the city's most popular neighbourhoods if you're looking for an apartment for under $1,000 per month... at least for now.

The data, compiled by liv.rent for its March Rent Report and shared with MTL Blog, shows average prices in nine areas on Montreal Island: the Plateau-Mont-Royal, downtown, Saint-Henri and Westmount, Verdun, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Côte-des-Neiges, Saint-Laurent, Ahuntsic–Cartierville, and Villeray–Parc-Extension.

Keep readingShow less

Walking by, you'd never guess this home for sale in downtown Montreal is actually an elaborate complex filled with eccentric treasures.

The $3,799,000 townhouse for sale by Sotheby's has 7,000 square feet of living space, four bedrooms, three full and two half bathrooms, and a rooftop terrace and pool.

Keep readingShow less

Montreal is a city on the cusp of a huge transformation. With several large Montreal transit projects underway that will connect the city like never before, the future is looking bright for the metropolis.

As you probably know by now, we absolutely LOVE public transit news here at the Blog and since the metro hasn't flooded recently, we thought that you'd all enjoy a run-down of four huge transit projects currently taking shape. 

Keep readingShow less

Good news for anyone who's been taking advantage of Montreal's free street parking initiative, which makes parking in front of a meter downtown totally free of charge on weekends. 

The City of Montreal announced on December 23 that the initiative has been extended, so it will end on January 31 rather than December 31.

Keep readingShow less

A happy hour destination for Montrealers is being turned into condos. The historic greystone building where the Irish Embassy was located had been a feature of rue Bishop since 1885, according to the bar’s website, but it was transformed forever on March 24, 2018, due to a massive fire.

The business had just expanded, opening a new craft-beer bar in the basement to match the classic pub upstairs, when it all went up in smoke, explained Irish Embassy general manager Joe Cannon.

Keep readingShow less