The city of Montreal’s new administration is promising to do more to accelerate the pace of building affordable rentals, even as it softens the requirements for private developers to invest in or build social housing. Host Ainslie MacLellan sat down with Caroline Braun, executive committee member in charge of housing for the city at the end of January to hear more about her administration's vision for how to get housing built.

If Canada’s women’s hockey team has developed to where it is today, and if professional women’s hockey in Montreal has become a reality, it’s in large part due to Daniele Sauvageau. CBC journalist Melinda Dalton traces Sauvageau’s journey from a hockey-loving kid in Deux-Montagnes who wasn’t allowed to play, to being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Watch the video documentary here.

The City of Montreal is planning to review some bike paths across the city, following through on a campaign promise by Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada. The mayor says the goal is to evaluate mobility and safety for all and that, at this point, the city isn’t removing any bike paths. But some are skeptical that this review is the right focus when it comes to road safety in Montreal.

Throughout most of the 20th century, you could find downhill ski runs on and around Mount Royal, complete with tow ropes, T-bars and even a 100-ft long ski jump! More than 100 years ago, ski-jumping competitions in the city would draw crowds of thousands of people. In this episode from the archives, we hear why downhill skiing disappeared from the heart of Montreal, and why not everyone agrees over whether it should come back. This episode was first released March 6, 2025.

International students and immigrants on work visas are finding new allies in their fight to stay in Quebec and get permanent residency. Many have been calling for the province to reverse its decision to scrap the Quebec experience program, known as the PEQ, or at least to grant them exemptions to apply under the old rules, instead of new ones that penalize applicants from the Greater Montreal area. Now, the Mayor of Montreal and the opposition at city hall have come together to put pressure on the immigration minister too.

During a cold snap this winter, Hydro-Québec was twice forced to issue a rare alert and to tap into reserve power to meet "exceptional" demand. The utility has chalked it up to bad timing because some installations were undergoing maintenance and says it has enough capacity to keep the lights on for everyone, at least, right now. With demand increasing, and the province courting energy hungry-industries, the power utility is looking to double its network by 2050. We’ll hear what that means for Quebec residents and businesses.

Quebec Premier and Coalition Avenir Quebec leader François Legault has announced he is stepping down, just nine months before the next provincial election. We’ll talk about the issues that shaped his terms as premier and what his resignation means for voters who are headed to the polls next fall.

One Montrealer finds himself asking: What’s the deal with Westmount? How did this suburban enclave grow to become its own city, surrounded by a bigger city? The answer takes us through early French and British colonial history to the 2000s campaign to merge the whole island of Montreal, to the layers of municipal governance that we all live with today.

Gurbaj Singh Multani is just playing basketball when the ceremonial dagger that symbolizes his Sikh faith falls onto the playground of his Montreal school. The next thing the 11-year-old knows, his principal is giving him an ultimatum: hand over his kirpan, a symbol of his Sikh faith, or leave school. This week, This is Montreal shares this episode of the CBC podcast See You in Court. Host Falen Johnson and journalist Sonali Karnick take us through the case of Multani v Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys. It sparks a heated public debate over multiculturalism in post 9/11 Quebec, with grown-ups hurling slurs at the tween, and ends with a landmark ruling for religious freedoms in Canada. 

Check out more episodes of See You in Court

After weeks of turmoil, Quebec Liberal Party leader Pablo Rodriguez told his caucus he was resigning. It’s the latest twist in a tumultuous session at the National Assembly. So where does this leave the Liberals? Did other parties end the year (mostly) unscathed? Which issues made the biggest impact? CBC National Assembly reporter Cathy Senay dives into a big year in Quebec politics.