The Société de transport de Montréal will increase metro service by 5% at the start of the 2027 school year — its largest service boost in a decade — under a six-measure package unveiled this week with city hall and Montreal police.

The service increase targets evening operations and is designed to cut wait times and improve predictability for off-peak riders. By the transit agency's own accounting, no comparable increment has been delivered since 2017.

How much new money is on the table?

The city will invest C$6.4 million (US$4.5 million) per year to add 52 special constables by the end of 2027, expanding the unit to 230 members. The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) will deploy 12 additional officers to the network this autumn.

The STM will spend a further C$3 million (US$2.1 million) upgrading the Operations Dispatch and Monitoring Center (CRVO), with the goal of adding real-time monitoring to a portion of the network's roughly 2,500 cameras. The agency frames the upgrade as a tool for earlier detection of disruptive behaviour and faster coordination with police and emergency services.

The combined security commitment — C$6.4 million annually for constables and C$3 million for the camera centre — totals C$9.4 million. STM did not provide a baseline security budget for direct comparison, leaving the scale of the increase open to interpretation.

What will the social-intervention partnership add?

The city, the province of Quebec and the STM have engaged St. John Ambulance to place social workers in the metro. During winter, two teams — each comprising a supervisor, a social worker and a security and liaison officer — will patrol the network seven days a week. A single team will continue year-round.

The partnership extends work that began in 2025; STM has not published outcome data from that earlier phase. The new measure also accompanies plans for warming stations open around the clock, part of a wider municipal approach to vulnerable riders.

Who will run the new security division?

STM has established a Safety and Organizational Resilience division under Martin Prud'homme, a 30-year veteran of the Sûreté du Québec, the SPVM, the Quebec public security ministry and the city of Montreal. The unit reports directly to chief executive Marie-Claude Léonard.

"Despite our financial constraints, we are increasing our investments in safety year after year, and we will continue our efforts for as long as necessary to ensure that both customers and employees feel safe," Léonard said.

Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada framed the package as a winter readiness initiative. "Montrealers must feel safe in the metro at all times. As winter approaches, we are increasing our presence in the field, improving support for people in vulnerable situations and giving the STM additional tools to respond quickly," she said.

What questions remain?

The 52 new constables expand the existing 178-strong unit by roughly 29%. The EMIC brigade increase — from two teams to six — triples field response capacity, though STM has not specified how the additional brigades will be staffed or funded beyond the 12 new SPVM officers this autumn.

The CRVO upgrade leaves several operational details unanswered. The agency did not disclose how many of the 2,500 cameras will gain real-time feeds, how many additional monitoring positions the upgraded centre will require, or the project completion date. Each omission turns a stated capability into a claim that requires confirmation against the procurement timetable once contracts are awarded.

Whether the combined measures move the needle on ridership recovery or on rider perception of safety will depend on execution, and on the data STM eventually chooses to publish. The plan as written is a credible roadmap; every line item still requires verification against the agency's quarterly operating reports once the rollout begins.