Montreal’s mayor elect Soraya Martinez Ferrada is promising change on everything from housing and homelessness to transportation and construction. CBC journalists Sudha Krishnan and Ben Shingler break down what the new mayor is hoping to accomplish and some of the challenges her administration might face.

30 years ago the No side won a narrow victory in the 1995 Quebec referendum. While polls suggest most Quebecers don't want to go through another referendum, some young Quebec sovereignists are hoping they’ll get their chance to vote for independence. Reporter Aatefeh Padidar speaks with some young people in the sovereignty movement about how they’re trying to reframe the debate for a new generation.

Despite growing numbers of cyclists and rebounding transit ridership, most people in the greater Montreal area still commute by car. But the choices available to you depend a lot on where you live and where you’re going. Transportation researchers say we need to do a better job of offering everyone alternative ways to get around. We’ll look at what some municipal politicians are proposing, and what it will take for Montreal to make a mobility shift where no commuter is left behind.

*Correction: A previous version of this episode referred to active commuting "by bike or by car" increasing 26 per cent. It's been corrected to "by bike or by foot" and 25 per cent.

Montreal has long enjoyed a reputation as an affordable rent haven that has supported the artists that live, work, and make the city vibrant. But with rents skyrocketing and with most artists earning a lot less than the Montreal average, one listener asks: "How are artists affording to live in Montreal anymore?” We’ll also hear how parties in the municipal election are proposing to support local artists.

Candidates in Montreal’s mayoral race are making some ambitious promises to solve homelessness, including more social and transitional housing and new policies on encampments. But cities across Canada have struggled in recent years to respond to the growing number of people who find themselves living on the streets. So what will it take to change things? Reporters Kwabena Oduro and Ben Shingler spoke with people at one Montreal encampment and join host Ainslie MacLellan to talk about solutions.

MR. JEAN MARC RICHARD HAS WON A CASH PRIZE OF $833,337! In 1999, a letter with this claim from Time Magazine lands in a Montreal man’s mailbox. But according to the fine print, he's not actually a winner. Jean Marc Richard, feeling determined to get his promised payout, launches a court battle with one of North America’s biggest publishers. This week, This is Montreal shares an episode of the new CBC podcast See You in Court. Host Falen Johnson and journalist Craig Desson rip open the case of Richard v Time to uncover one man’s quest for an elusive cash prize that somehow escalates into a Supreme Court battle over misleading advertising, setting a standard for Canadian consumer rights that is still in use today. For more episodes of See You in Court, visit their main feed: https://link.mgln.ai/syic-drop

The fatal police shooting of 15-year-old Nooran Rezayi in Longueuil has left a family and a community demanding answers. Reporter Matthew Lapierre explains what we know so far. We also hear why some worry an investigation by Quebec’s police oversight body the Bureau des Enquêtes Indépendantes (BEI) might not be enough to truly get to the bottom of what happened.

With Valérie Plante not running again, Montrealers will be choosing a new mayor when they go to the polls on November 2. On top of that, the city is dealing with some major issues: from housing and homelessness, to infrastructure and transportation. Journalists Ben Shingler and Sudha Krishnan look at how the campaign is shaping up, and why municipal politics may deserve more of our attention.

Whether straight, zig-zagging or curved, outdoor staircases are a fixture of many Montreal duplexes and triplexes. But how did a wintry city like ours end up with so many stairs to shovel? We’ll debunk some rumours step by step and hear how the evolution of the outdoor staircase is wrapped up in ideas about class, aesthetics and even morality.

In 2018, Quebec brought in restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides that had been shown to be harmful to bees. Now Vermont is becoming the latest U.S. state to take similar steps. In this episode from Vermont Public Radio Podcast Brave Little State, reporter Sabine Poux heads into the field with This is Montreal’s Ainslie MacLellan to find out what impact the restrictions have had on this side of the border.

As the school year begins, Quebec schools are still dealing with the aftermath of budget restrictions imposed by the province. Some parents worry that, even if specialized education positions are spared, they could still go unfilled. We hear from parents, a special education technician and a school psychologist who say meeting the needs of all students is an investment in our future.

Ribbed like a pumpkin, but with a spiderweb exterior like a cantaloupe, the Montreal melon was a wildly popular fruit in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but it all but disappeared by the 1950s. In this archive episode, we'll hear why some people are going to great lengths to try to restore the Montreal melon to its former glory.

From Verdun to Rosemont to NDG, wild turkeys have been popping up all over Montreal in recent years. In this archive episode from June 2024, we'll hear about the curiosity turkeys have spurred amongst Montrealers and get some advice for how to avoid accidentally running afoul of our urban bird neighbours.

From 1923 to 1983, the sounds of a rumbling roller coaster, carnival games, and the laughter of a giant animatronic woman invited people to Belmont Park, an amusement park along the Des Prairies river in Cartierville. In this episode from the archives, we take you through the twists and turns of the amusement park's history, tying together a former prime minister, a Quebec superstar singer, a Guinness World Record and a police raid.

Dive into the Montreal stories you’re curious about and the issues you want to understand. Host Ainslie MacLellan explores the complexities of our colourful, vibrant and sometimes frustrating, but always interesting city. Every Thursday.

If you check out a compass or maps app, you may notice our sense of direction in Montreal is a bit … tilted.

Our "north" leans pretty far west and if you head over to the South Shore and keep going, you end up in the Eastern Townships — which are not in Eastern Quebec. In this favourite episode from March 2024, we try to help you find your bearings by exploring our off-kilter geography. 

New housing developments, especially highrises that require zoning changes, can draw opposition from residents, in some cases leading to referendums on whether the projects can go ahead. While some argue referendums amount to NIMBYism during a housing crisis, others argue citizens should have the power to block projects that don’t meet neighbourhood needs.

No matter who wins the NBA finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, a Montrealer will be hoisting the trophy. And perhaps no one is cheering harder for both the Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin and the Thunder’s Luguentz Dort than people in Montréal-Nord. We’ll hear from Montrealers who love basketball about their sport in their city: how far it’s come, how far it can go, and what it takes to get there.

This week’s strike by maintenance workers has left many commuters out of luck. The labour action is happening at a time when the STM is facing pressure to cut costs, all while facing some major maintenance challenges over the next decade. We’ll look at what this all means for workers and Montreal transit users in the long term.