Montreal wants to “boost its nightlife”, battered by the pandemic. The Plante administration plans to carry out studies and pilot projects this summer with the aim of testing extended opening hours in certain bars. A subsidy program for performance halls wishing to reduce noise will also be launched in June.
Posted at 12:17 p.m.
“We want to energize the nightlife, but we don’t want to do it haphazardly. There are people who want to sleep, there are people who want to party,” warned Mayor Valérie Plante Monday during a press conference, speaking of a “fair balance” to be struck to “promote cohabitation “.
His administration aims to adopt a “nightlife” policy by 2023. The City undertakes by then to extend 2.1 million in an “action plan”, which will allow, among other things, to carry out studies and analyzes to “better understand” the issues specific to the ecosystem of the night. .
A sum of 1.4 million will also go to a new subsidy program for alternative performance halls with less than 400 seats. From June, those who wish can be funded to carry out “acoustic studies” in order to reduce their noise in the neighborhood, with the aim of possibly being able to close later. The program will run for two years, until 2024.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Valerie Plante
Cautious, Valérie Plante however mentioned needing “data” before deciding whether, for example, bars or other establishments could open beyond 3 a.m. “Is it by area, is it by establishment? Everything is possible. […] It’s really to test things so that in 2023, we have our first policy, ”she offered.
This all comes a few days before the Montreal at the top of the night event, scheduled for May 21 and 22 at the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT). Local and international artists will perform there non-stop during the weekend, and alcohol may be served continuously under an exemption granted by the City of Montreal.
Obstacles remain, however. The idea of authorizing bars to close until 6 a.m. had already been raised by former mayor Denis Coderre a few years ago, but the Régie des alcools had refused to go ahead, judging that such a decision would harm the peace and public interest. At the time, Mr. Coderre had condemned that the Régie had “erred in its way of perceiving the thing”.
2.26 billion in direct spending
Mathieu Grondin, general manager of the Montreal 24/24 organization, unveiled an “economic portrait” of nightlife on Monday, with figures that, according to him, allow comparison with other major cities in the world. “The nights of the metropolis, that is to say its bars, its restaurants, its performance halls and its festivals, represent 2.26 billion dollars in direct expenditure, which includes 121 million in tax benefits for the government. “, he pleaded, recalling that this industry also includes 33,559 jobs and a payroll of 994 million.
In 2019, 22% of tourists chose Montreal because of its ” vie de Nuit says Mr. Grondin, which represents 2.44 million visitors and 909 million expenses. “If this share of night tourism were to grow, to represent 33% of the tourist mass as is the case in Amsterdam and Berlin, an additional 676 million would be injected into the local economy”, he said. raised.
Montréal 24/24 has been campaigning for several years now to offer more possibilities to the industry. Among other things, the group calls for the revision of the noise by-law in order to provide it with an “objective standard”, and the designation of “night zones” where commercial activities could take place continuously.
“Every dollar invested in infrastructure for nightlife has a return on investment of 265%,” said Mathieu Grondin, explaining that an extension of opening hours would require additional municipal investments in roads.