Montreal hopes to repair damaged reputation during Grand Prix weekend

Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, drives during the qualifying session at the Canadian Grand Prix June 8, 2024 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Montreal is hoping to redeem itself during the upcoming Grand Prix weekend after last year’s event veered off course due to heavy congestion, flooding and some ill-timed patio inspections.

The city says it’s taking steps to improve access to the Formula One site, located on a man-made island, and to reduce traffic headaches during the international event, which begins June 13.

“In the last year, we’ve been working through every single thing that went wrong... to address it and find solutions,” Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante told reporters earlier this week. “We need to do better, and this is what we’re working toward.”

Organizers say they’ve upgraded the infrastructure on Montreal’s Notre-Dame island, in part to improve drainage. And the city’s fire department says it’s working with restaurant owners to ensure they’re ready for the influx of tourists.

Last year, fire inspectors caused an uproar when they abruptly shut down four restaurant patios in downtown Montreal on one of the busiest evenings of the year because the tents covering them had been placed too close to the buildings.

At the time, Plante said the incident, which took place in the middle of Grand Prix weekend, had damaged the city’s reputation. The patio closures, combined with flooding at the race site and accounts of angry crowds on the island unable to find transportation back to the city, prompted Quebec’s tourism minister to say she was “very embarrassed” for the city and the province.

The race is on now for Montreal to prove it can do better – despite a transit strike that will disrupt bus and metro service before and after the event.

Last year’s fiasco was a “perfect storm,” said Caroline Bourgeois, a borough mayor and vice-president of Montreal’s executive committee, who is responsible for sports and recreation.

“It’s deplorable, but we rolled up our sleeves,” she said in an interview. “In presenting the edition this year, I’m confident that it will be behind us.”

Bourgeois said the Grand Prix is the biggest tourist event in Canada. Formula One estimated that 350,000 people attended the race last year.

This time around, the city is working to ensure that no new construction sites crop up next week, Bourgeois said. She added that ahead of last year’s event, the city managed to remove 600 orange pylons – a familiar and much-maligned symbol of Montreal’s summer construction season – and aims to remove even more this year from city streets.

Event organizers have also announced several changes they’ve made to improve traffic flow to the race site and reduce the risk of flooding. A new app will provide spectators with real-time updates on mobility, security, weather and programming.

Bourgeois said the city is planning to unveil more details of its mobility plan for the Grand Prix next week.

Still, she conceded that a looming strike at Montreal’s transit agency is a “source of concern.” A maintenance workers’ strike is scheduled to start Monday and continue for nine days. Buses and metro lines will run as usual on the three days of the Grand Prix weekend, but service will be reduced in the days before and after the event.

Bourgeois said she’s “relieved” that service will be maintained during the race. But Philippe Jacques, spokesperson for Trajectoire Québec, an organization that advocates for public transit users, said the city has its priorities mixed up.

“It raises questions to see that we prioritize a well-off person who comes to pay to watch cars go around in circles and pollute versus people who go to work or to medical appointments,” he said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Montreal’s fire department says the service now has a “new culture” around inspections.

The firestorm of criticism following last year’s patio closures was “definitely an electroshock, a catalyst,” said Guy Lapointe in an interview. He said inspectors this year have been working with restaurants to set up their patios ahead of time.

If fire safety issues do arise over Grand Prix weekend, officials will investigate “in a much more discreet way than last year, still with a philosophy of support,” he said.

“We’re confident that there won’t be a problem this year.”

The Canadian Grand Prix will be held in Montreal until 2031.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.

By Maura Forrest