Safety and Cohabitation: The Concrete Actions of Montréal centre-ville

At Montréal centre-ville, our mission is to energize the heart of the city. But dynamism doesn’t only mean economic growth or commercial appeal. It also involves the harmonious cohabitation of all who frequent and animate our downtown area: workers, residents, business owners, tourists, and people in vulnerable situations.

Supporting the Most Vulnerable, Concretely

With this in mind, Montréal centre-ville has developed a partnership with the YMCA of Quebec to support the Dialogue Program. This program offers free access to the sanitary facilities at the YMCA’s downtown headquarters. Offering a shower is a simple, yet essential gesture. For many, it’s a first step toward social reintegration, access to services, or simply a return to a form of dignity.

With an increase in attendance of 185% between 2023 and 2024, this service demonstrates very real needs and a reality too often ignored: that of precarious workers, who are often on the margins of public attention but who actively contribute to the economic and cultural vitality of downtown.

Working Hand in Hand with Law Enforcement

In parallel, we strengthened our collaboration with the SPVM, notably by funding cadets during the summer period and implementing a joint operation to address shoplifting on Black Friday. This increased presence allows for more targeted local interventions: loss prevention for merchants, conflict mediation, public space management, etc.

This approach is based on on-the-ground knowledge, building trusting relationships with merchants, and working in a way that complements police services, without ever replacing them.

A Security Brigade in Our Image

Launched at the beginning of the summer season last June, the security brigade embodies our desire to act in a human and proactive manner in contexts where other responders are not always present. Active 7 days a week, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., on Sainte-Catherine Street West and its surroundings, this team of four uniformed agents primarily intervenes through dialogue, mediation, and active listening, whether to de-escalate tensions, accompany community partners, or intervene in sensitive cohabitation situations.

A Human and Proactive Presence

Their regular and easily identifiable presence helps to create a calming climate in public spaces, reassuring users and naturally preventing problematic behaviors.

Placed under the supervision of the Public Space Cohesion Manager, with 15 years of field experience, the brigade works in close consultation with municipal services, the SPVM, community organizations, and our internal teams (cleanliness, animation, urban planning).

Preventing tensions, fostering a sense of community, and welcoming all downtown users with respect: such is the daily mission of this brigade.

Safety, inclusion, cleanliness, collaboration: all are inseparable pillars of a downtown that is more welcoming, more human, and resolutely action-oriented.