With negotiations at an impasse, Montrealers brace for four-week transit strike

By Canadian Press on October 31, 2025.

MONTREAL — Montreal’s bus and metro system will be paralyzed entirely on Saturday, with service restricted for most of November.

The union representing about 4,500 bus and metro drivers says the strike this weekend — and two other days in November — is its first in 38 years.

Maintenance workers are also going on strike between Nov. 2 and Nov. 28, limiting metro and bus service to morning and afternoon rush hours and late at night.

The general director of the public transit agency says she isn’t opposed to calling on the province to appoint an arbitrator to resolve the dispute with the maintenance workers union.

Marie-Claude Léonard told reporters should the agency want to call an arbitrator before the end of November, both sides would need to agree.

The strike by the union representing roughly 2,400 maintenance workers is its third since June.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2025.

The Canadian Press