How to run for Council in Montréal

On the day you file your nomination paper for councillor in Montréal, you must be:

• A Canadian citizen.
• At least 18 years old.
• A resident of Montréal, OR a non-resident owner or tenant of land in Montréal (or the spouse of one).
• Not legally disqualified from running.

Councillors in Montréal vote on by-laws, the annual budget, and local services like parks, transit, and zoning. They are the most direct point of contact between residents and city hall.

Filing happens at the municipal greffier (clerk), in person during regular office hours and on nomination day until 2:00 PM. You'll need to bring:

• Nomination paper, signed in the presence of the clerk or a commissioner of oaths.
• 5 to 200 supporting electors (varies by population and office) from eligible electors of Montréal.Mayor: 5 / 10 / 50 / 100 / 200 across population brackets. Councillor: 5 / 10 / 25 / 25 / 25. Confirm with the greffier.
• Government-issued photo ID showing your name and qualifying address.
• Filing fee: None.

Missing the financial-statement deadline can trigger automatic disqualification from running in the next cycle and forfeiture of your filing fee.

Montréal runs under Quebec's Loi sur les élections et les référendums dans les municipalités. The headline numbers for the 2029 cycle:

• Only directly elected borough mayors in Québec. Anywhere else with arrondissements (Québec, Lévis, Longueuil, Saguenay, Sherbrooke), the borough chair is chosen from elected city councillors. Montréal candidates running for borough mayor file separately and have their own ballot line.
• Ville-Marie exception. The downtown borough has no separately elected borough mayor; the mayor of Montréal serves in that role and appoints two additional Ville-Marie city councillors under the Charter.
• Charter powers for boroughs. Each borough is a real spending and bylaw-making body; campaign issues frequently turn on borough-level decisions (urban planning, parks, local roads).
• Demerged cities are separate. Westmount, Mont-Royal, Côte-Saint-Luc, Hampstead, Montréal-Est and the West Island demerged municipalities (Beaconsfield, Baie-D'Urfé, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Dorval, Kirkland, L'Île-Dorval, Pointe-Claire, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Senneville) run their own elections; their voters do not vote for mayor of Montréal. They each send representatives to the agglomeration council, but those seats are filled by virtue of their own elections, not on the Montréal ballot.
• Postering bylaw: Ville de Montréal Règlement 17-018 (and borough-level overlays) governs election signage, with substantial variation by borough — check each borough hôtel for specifics.
• Voter turnout 2025: 36.5% — slightly higher than 2021 (38.3%) but still in the typical Montréal range.

Voters in Montréal also choose:

• Mayor of Montréal (*maire / mairesse de Montréal*) — At-large, island-wide; also ex officio borough mayor of Ville-Marie
• Borough mayor (*maire d'arrondissement*) — One per borough except Ville-Marie; sits on city council

• Montréal elections page
• Candidate information page
• Current Mayor and Council
• Quebec 2029Candidates' Guide
• Loi sur les élections et les référendums dans les municipalités

Considering a different office? We have plain-English guides for every position on the Montréal ballot:

• How to run for Mayor in Montréal
• Browse every Canadian municipality