STM’s 2026 budget includes cutbacks as agency pleads for more public transit funds

Montreal’s transit agency has announced more cutbacks to reduce its operating expenses and says it is delaying electrification.

Montreal’s transit agency has announced more cutbacks to reduce its operating expenses and says it is delaying the rollout of new electric buses as it faces a precarious financial crunch.

On Friday, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) unveiled its $1.8 billion budget for 2026, which includes $100 million in savings that were initially planned to be achieved in five years but instead will now be reached in three.

“This commitment demonstrates our determination to act with rigor and discipline in the face of significant budget constraints,” wrote STM CEO Marie-Claude Léonard and STM board chair Aref Salem in a preamble to the budget document.

The budget limits operating expenditure growth to 0.7 per cent according to its optimization plan, whereas normal expenditure growth would have been just over 3 per cent.

About $56 million in savings will be achieved in 2026. To achieve the savings, the STM is taking a number of new measures that officials claim will not have an effect on service.

The measures include:

• Closing customer service counters after 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, on weekends, and on holidays
• Adjusting the maintenance frequency of certain metro car components
• Extending the use of certain metro car parts
• Transferring paratransit minibus service to external partners
• Freezing external hiring and overtime for operations teams
• Cutting the number of IT project consultants and IT equipment
• Cutting the number of STM employee service vehicles

The STM says these measures will result in the elimination of 300 jobs, which was announced in October. Employee salaries represent the biggest expense in the STM budget, at approximately 65 per cent.

“Although service mileage will be maintained, these efforts could ultimately influence and impact certain aspects of service quality and customer satisfaction,” the STM bosses say.

Billions of dollars lacking to maintain aging metro infrastructure

The Montreal metro is marking its 60th anniversary in 2026, and as the system is showing its age, the STM says there is a severe lack of funding to maintain the underground system.

According to the budget documents, only $2.8 billion of the $15.2 billion needed over the next 10 years has been confirmed, “leaving 80 % of the needs unfunded.” This comes as assessments put 42 per cent of metro assets in poor or very poor condition.

“With current funding, it is becoming increasingly difficult to simultaneously preserve the integrity of the infrastructure and the quality of service,” according to the budget.

Philippe Jacques, spokesperson for Trajectoire Quebec, says the money is needed to avoid metro station shutdowns, like the one seen on the Blue line last year.

He adds he’s worried the cutbacks could undermine safety by adjusting maintenance schedules, extending the use of parts and freezing overtime for operations teams.

“For us it’s a time bomb. Time bomb budget,” he said.

The STM is calling on both the provincial and federal governments to unlock public transit funding to keep the transit agency’s buses and metros running smoothly for years to come.

“The new mayor just said she wanted to increase the frequency of the metro. We don’t see any money, any budget for that,” says Jacques.

Slowing electrification

The planned rollout of more fully electric buses is also taking a hit.

The transit agency said Friday it will “review the pace of its transition to the electrification of its bus network.” Of the 1,849 buses in the STM fleet, only 41 are currently fully electric, while 849 are hybrids.

The STM says it will instead acquire more hybrid buses during its transition to electric buses since they do not require special modifications to STM garages (charging stations), and they free up funds for other major projects like asset maintenance.

“We are committed to providing our customers with reliable, safe and efficient service, and to ensuring that every dollar invested generates maximum impact. It is in this spirit that the STM is strengthening its knowledge of the state of its assets and rigorously prioritizing its investments,” Salem noted in a press release.

“However, increased and predictable support from higher levels of government remains essential to ensure the sustainability of the network.”

With files from CTV News Montreal’s Anastasia Dextrene