Article content
Registration tax on passenger vehicles in the Greater Montreal area will increase from $59 to $150 as of next year to better fund public transit, the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) announced Thursday.
The change comes as the Greater Montreal area grapples with a public transit funding deficit that the city of Montreal recently projected will worsen over the next few years amid rising costs.
Article content
A resolution to increase the registration tax passed at a CMM meeting on Thursday. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who is the president of the CMM, said it was forced to make the change because of a lack of funding from other resources.
“We will continue to be open to changes, to turn over every stone, to think outside the box, to optimize, but always in the goal of supporting existing services … and to reflect on the future to develop public transit everywhere, in all the CMM’s municipalities,” Plante said.
The CMM noted that the Quebec government said it would contribute about $200 million to public transit for the 2025 fiscal year, a decrease of about $38 million compared to its contribution for 2024, which the CMM said was already insufficient.
Overall, transit agencies receive funding from users through fares; taxpayers in Quebec and Canada through government subsidies; municipal taxpayers through contributions to the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM); and motorists through car registration fees and taxes on gasoline.
The CMM noted on Thursday that municipalities and public transit users have reached their maximum contributions, while motorists’ registration tax hasn’t increased since 2011.
Article content
Earlier this month, the city’s standing committee on finance and administration announced it was beginning public consultations in search of innovative ideas to better fund public transit. Potential solutions were presented by the committee at the time: increasing fare prices, increasing the tax on gasoline, increasing car registration fees, increasing car registration taxes, increasing municipal taxes or creating a mileage tax.
In a statement, Ensemble Montréal leader Aref Salem said the party is surprised the CMM made its decision already while Greater Montreal-area mayors are still negotiating with Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault, and the city of Montreal’s standing committee on finance and administration is still holding its pre-budget consultations on how to better fund public transit.
“The mayor of Montreal, who chairs the CMM, should consider waiting for the committee’s recommendations before moving forward with this measure,” Salem said.
He added his party agrees with increasing the passenger vehicle registration tax, but called the amount drastic.
“Motorists must of course contribute more to public transit, just as users do by increasing their fares,” Salem said. “However, we must not forget that residents of outer boroughs currently have very few alternatives for getting rid of their cars. This draconian increase punishes motorists who have no other choice in terms of public transport.”
Later on Thursday, Plante said “it’s important to recall that the decision that was taken this morning was by the CMM,” adding that it “doesn’t give us pleasure at all.”
“There is no one who is happy to find themselves backed against the wall looking for solutions for the underfunding of public transport,” she said. “There is great solidarity. Twenty mayors out of 24 voted in favour of giving ourselves time and hoping that the Quebec government will support public transportation as needed.”
Recommended from Editorial
Share this article in your social network