Montréal, September 4, 2025 – The leader of Ensemble Montréal and candidate for mayor of the metropolis, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, unveiled on Thursday her first commitments to strengthen Montreal’s cultural sector.
Culture is not only essential to improving the quality of life for all Montrealers and fostering social cohesion; it is also a powerful economic driver, particularly for the downtown core. It plays a key role in international visibility, tourism development, and talent attraction.
Over the past few months, Soraya Martinez Ferrada and her team have engaged in extensive consultations with the cultural sector to fully understand its needs and address today’s challenges effectively.
Funding and Montreal as a Cultural Metropolis
For Ensemble Montréal, supporting artistic creation is essential to the vitality of the metropolis. To allow Montreal to reclaim its place on the cultural stage, an Ensemble Montréal administration commits to:
- Boost cultural funding: Increase the City of Montréal’s contributions to the Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM) starting in 2026, reaching $30 million by 2028, with permanent annual indexing to ensure sustainable support.
- Establish a Cultural Metropolis Secretariat: Within the first 100 days, create a dedicated Secretariat to unite cultural stakeholders, the City, and the governments of Québec and Canada, driving collaboration, investment, and innovation across the sector.
Quotes
“For us, culture is not a luxury—it is an investment that benefits everyone. It enriches our quality of life, strengthens social cohesion, and stands as a pillar of our metropolis’s growth”
– Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Leader of Ensemble Montréal and Candidate for Mayor
“Culture has always been important to me. Its impact on economic development, especially in the downtown core, is too often underestimated. It also plays a key role in our international visibility—a reputation our metropolis must reclaim.”
– Claude Pinard, Ensemble Montréal Candidate for the Saint-Jacques District“
As an elected official, I have always made it a priority to ensure that citizens have equitable access to culture. We have listened to associations, artists, and managers across all disciplines to ensure that we act in the right way—and above all, in close collaboration with the cultural community.”
– Chantal Rossi, Ensemble Montréal Spokesperson for Culture
