MONTREAL — Metro and bus service in Montreal will be disrupted nearly every day this November due to a transit strike, with municipal election day this Sunday being no exception.

It was already known roughly 2,400 maintenance workers would be on strike between Oct. 31 and Nov. 28 — but up until recently it wasn’t known to what extent public transit would be disrupted.

In a decision rendered Wednesday, Quebec’s labour tribunal ruled metros and buses will only be available during rush hours throughout each day of the strike.

This wasn’t the case during the transit workers’ last strike in September and October, when it had ruled service would still be available during usual hours every Tuesday, Thursday and during weekends.

The transit agency in the city had requested service be extended on election day to ensure as many voters as possible could get to the polls, open between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., but the labour tribunal didn’t agree.

In his decision, administrative judge François Beaubien emphasized the tribunal’s role isn’t to weigh the right to strike against citizens’ right to vote, but rather to ensure the population’s health and safety isn’t endangered by strike action.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2025.

The Canadian Press