Public transportation | Quebec plans to absorb 20% of the deficit, cities are worried

Quebec plans to absorb only 20% of the deficits of transport companies by 2028, with total aid of 502.8 million, the bulk of which would go to the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM). In the municipal world, which would pay a good part of the remaining bill, we already sense great concern.

A first working scenario was in fact presented to operators in the province, who met at the beginning of the week with the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault.

It completed its consultation tour this fall and had already promised a five-year funding plan by the end of 2023 for public transportation.

According to what could be confirmed The Press, the minister is proposing aid of 482.8 million over five years to the ARTM, which for several months has already suffered a shortfall of 500 to 600 million and an anticipated deficit of more than 2 billion. Quebec would extend 149.5 million to the organization from 2024, then 132 million in 2025, 99.6 million in 2026, 66.6 million in 2027 and 35.1 million in 2028.

The rest of the government envelope, approximately 20 million, would go to other transport companies in the rest of the province. The cities of Laval, Quebec, Lévis, Gatineau, Sherbrooke and even Saguenay should therefore share this sum, while their cumulative losses exceed 250 million.

A deficit of 2.5 billion

Including revenue from the registration tax and the REM, Quebec calculates that the industry’s cumulative deficit should reach $2.5 billion over the next five years.

This calculation is already more optimistic than that of the Urban Transport Association (ATUQ), which last year calculated a cumulative deficit of 3.7 billion by 2027, with a shortfall of 560 million in 2023, 650 million in 2024, 800 million in 2025, 860 million in 2026 and 900 million in 2027.

However, the financing of 502.8 million only represents barely 20% of the deficit of 2.5 billion mentioned by the government. The rest would be covered largely by municipalities: in Greater Montreal alone, cities would have to spend more than a billion, including more than 260 million in 2024 alone. Outside the metropolis, cities would spend nearly 165 million in five years.

For the rest, M^me Guilbault proposes certain “optimization” efforts of some 365 million, including 345 for the ARTM. A committee led by the Ministry of Transport and the ARTM would also be set up to generate up to 150 million additional savings. Income linked to standardized land wealth (RFU), a mechanism for distributing expenses linked to taxation, would bring in 415 million, including 353 million in Greater Montreal.

Questioned on this subject on Wednesday, Minister Guilbault showed a certain openness to reviewing her offer. “This is a first proposal. They all know that I am waiting for their counter-proposal,” she told the National Assembly.

“Should taxpayers’ money be used to finance the entire operating expenses of transport companies, while […] ourselves, do we have our spending increases? “, however, she asked in the same breath, before adding that Quebec “cannot finance endlessly operations that are the responsibility of municipalities.”

“We have never invested so much in public transportation, whether in infrastructure, operations and electrification. In addition, even if this is not the historical role of the Quebec government, we have compensated for the deficits generated and accentuated by tariff losses during the pandemic (2.1 billion),” argued its director of communications, Maxime Roy.

“Disproportionate financial burden”

However, in the community, the announcement of these new proposals was poorly received. The president of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ), Martin Damphousse, deplores that a “financial disengagement of the Quebec government in public transportation represents an inordinate financial burden for municipalities, and this, only a few weeks before their budget submission”.

“The financial responsibilities of municipalities continue to increase. It is essential that the government takes this reality into account,” adds Mr. Damphousse.

At the ARTM, spokesperson Simon Charbonneau affirms that his group “has taken note of the proposal and is consulting local partners”. “A special CA will be held on this subject. We will not comment this week as discussions continue,” he limited himself to saying on Wednesday.

Last week, Minister Guilbault warned, in a speech to the ATUQ, that the government would not absorb all the deficits. Instead, she called on transport companies to tighten their belts while waiting for future financial aid.

What they said

With Tommy Chouinard