‘New shared vision’: Montreal brings back cultural alliance of government, tourism partners

An alliance dedicated to positioning Montreal as a major cultural metropolis is being reinstated.

The “Montreal, Cultural Metropolis” brings together the municipal, provincial and federal governments as well as the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Culture Montreal, and Tourism Montreal.

The goal is to develop a “shared vision” for Montreal’s cultural and artistic develop.

“Let’s seize the promising opportunities that lie ahead. Let us redouble our efforts and invest in culture so that Montreal can fully play its role as a cultural metropolis on a local, Quebec, Canadian and international scale,” Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada wrote in a letter co-signed by Quebec’s minister of culture, the federal minister of Canadian identity and other alliance partner organizations.

They say Montreal is at a “pivotal moment” because the city’s artists, arts organizations, and cultural businesses are facing “unprecedented challenges.”

“The economic climate, geopolitical upheavals, increased competition from other cities, and the well-documented crystallization of post-pandemic issues are exacerbating the sector’s vulnerabilities,” the letter reads.

“Montreal must be proactive in retaining and promoting its artists, fostering innovation, and keeping its creative capacity alive. In this way, culture can continue to be woven into the daily lives of everyone, while providing visionary minds with the necessary conditions to flourish.”

The mayor says attracting tourists is a big-money endeavour, especially with Canada’s biggest city just a few hours away.

“We’re competing (with) other cities in Canada,” she said. “Just Toronto, when you look at what Toronto had in the past few years, big events, 78 in 2024, I think. We had two in Montreal.”

Montreal’s arts and culture sector generates more than $9 billion a year and draws millions of tourists, according to the city, with nearly 40 per cent visiting specifically for Montreal’s cultural scene.

“How can we make sure that today Montreal can speak loud and clear and retake its own leadership in terms of Montreal as a cultural metropolis and make sure that we are showing to the rest of Canada and the world that we’re still that big metropolis and cultural metropolis,” Ferrada Martinez said at a press conference Monday.

The alliance was first introduced in Montreal in 2007 under the Gérald Tremblay administration. At the time, Martinez Ferrada was a city councillor for Saint-Michel with the then-governing, now-defunct Union Montréal.

The alliance is credited with creating an action plan that ultimately led to the development of Montreal’s Quartier des spectacles – considered the heart of the city’s festival scene – which the City of Montreal says has “changed the face of the city and amplified its influence.”

“Let’s bring ambition back to the forefront,” the letter reads. “Let’s develop together a new shared vision for Montreal’s development, one that is driven by arts and culture. Let’s seize the promising opportunities that lie ahead. Let us redouble our efforts and invest in culture so that Montreal can fully play its role as a cultural metropolis on a local, Quebec, Canadian and international scale.”

The letter was co-signed by Martinez Ferrada, Quebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe, federal Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller; and the heads of Culture Montréal, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Tourism Montreal and the Conseil des arts de Montréal