Montreal Votes 2025: What each party is saying about language & identity this election

Spend enough time in Montreal and you’ll hear it: quick switches between French and English and a third language—could be Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, you name it—and back again, often in the same breath. It’s a rhythm of mutual accommodation that most Montrealers barely think about.

As writer Toula Drimonis once pointed out, those who worry the city is being “anglicized” often overlook how much effort non-francophones put into speaking French every day—how conversations unfold through small gestures of respect and belonging. Montrealers coexist by collaborating linguistically.

And yet, language and identity remain politically charged: How can the city protect its Francophone foundation while embracing the multilingual reality that defines Montreal? What role should culture play in bridging, rather than deepening, linguistic divides here?

Ahead of the 2025 municipal election, The Main asked every party how they plan to celebrate and protect Montreal’s Francophone identity while recognizing its diversity. We also asked what role cultural events and institutions should play in reflecting that mix, and how they’ll support initiatives that bring Montrealers together across communities.

Editor's Note: Projet Montréal and Action Montréal did not respond to our repeated requests for an interview. The notes included for those parties are extrapolated from their published platforms.

Here’s what each party had to say in their own words, where available.

How do you plan to celebrate and protect Montreal’s Francophone identity while also recognizing its multilingual reality and anglophone minority?

Action Montréal – Équipe Gilbert Thibodeau:

Action Montréal’s platform emphasizes pride in Quebec’s French identity and the need to preserve it as a defining feature of Montreal’s character. The party frames French as an essential unifying language and supports measures that reinforce its everyday use in public life, business, and education. While the platform does not directly address multilingualism or the anglophone minority, its focus on accessibility and tourism suggests an openness to promoting Montreal’s international reputation alongside its Francophone roots.

Ensemble Montréal – Équipe Soraya Martinez Ferrada:

"Montreal is the largest French-speaking city in North America, but we recognize the important contribution that different cultural communities make to the city's identity, and we must continue to support and celebrate them. To be clear: this is an advantage to Montreal’s calling card all over the country and the world."

Transition Montréal – Équipe Craig Sauvé:

"Transition Montréal sees French as the city’s connective tissue, its shared language and cultural foundation. Montréal is, and must remain, a francophone metropolis. Within that framework, we also embrace our multilingual reality as a complementary strength, not a threat. We’ll celebrate both, with French coming first, through inclusive programming that reflects how Montrealers truly live and speak, and ensures that culture builds bridges, not barriers."

Futur Montréal – Équipe Jean-François Kacou:

"Our Francophone identity is an important part of our distinct culture, a part of the charm of our city. However, we must always remember that if we aspire to be a global city, we must be welcoming to people of all backgrounds. I will work to ensure that we are a place where it’s safe for all people to live and visit."

Projet Montréal – Équipe Luc Rabouin:

Projet Montréal’s platform reaffirms French as Montreal’s common language and a core part of its identity. It also recognizes that Montreal’s strength lies in its diversity. The party supports cultural policies and communications that promote inclusivity while maintaining French as the city’s public language. Its broader cultural strategy continues to integrate multilingual expression within a Francophone framework, ensuring the city remains open, creative, and cohesive.

What role should cultural events and institutions play in reflecting the city’s diversity?

Action Montréal – Équipe Gilbert Thibodeau:

Action Montréal’s cultural stance is tied closely to its focus on economic revitalization. The party supports public events and festivals that attract visitors and promote Montreal’s distinct character. While it doesn’t outline specific diversity measures, its emphasis on local entrepreneurship and tourism suggests it would encourage cultural programming that showcases the city’s variety of traditions and neighbourhood identities.

Ensemble Montréal – Équipe Soraya Martinez Ferrada:

"Montreal has many festivals, museums, organizations and institutions that celebrate the city's diverse communities. We must continue to support them so that they can shine here and beyond the city limits, across the country, North America and the world."

Transition Montréal – Équipe Craig Sauvé:

"They should lead by example: accessible, multilingual, and rooted in neighborhoods. The city must encourage partnerships that connect communities, rather than segregating cultural funding by identity."

Futur Montréal – Équipe Jean-François Kacou:

"Cultural events bring our city to life—as such they should be representative of the diversity of our city."

Projet Montréal – Équipe Luc Rabouin:

Projet Montréal supports community-level cultural engagement and sees festivals and cultural spaces as vital to inclusion. Its platform emphasizes collaboration between boroughs and cultural institutions to reach a wider range of voices, ensuring that events in every neighbourhood reflect Montreal’s linguistic and cultural diversity.

How would your administration support cultural initiatives that bring together Montreal’s different communities?

Action Montréal – Équipe Gilbert Thibodeau:

Action Montréal focuses primarily on supporting public events that drive tourism and economic activity. While it does not present a dedicated inclusion strategy, its general commitment to promoting local commerce and public gatherings suggests it would back initiatives that attract broad participation and showcase Montreal’s cultural vitality.

Ensemble Montréal – Équipe Soraya Martinez Ferrada:

"Like we said earlier, our team is all about bridging the gap between citizens. Having cultural spaces where all can act, sing, play or simply express their art is fundamental to the type of city we want. For that, we need to be inclusive of the different efforts towards cultural spaces that appeal to all communities."

Transition Montréal – Équipe Craig Sauvé:

"We’ll fund cross-community projects that highlight collaboration, for example a festival in one language, with artists in many. Culture should remind us we share a city, not separate us into silos."

Futur Montréal – Équipe Jean-François Kacou:

"We need to do a better job as a city communicating and connecting people with different parts of our city - we want to promote a more mobile and more modern way to share information with all Montrealers—the initiatives already exist, we need to work together to increase awareness and participation."

Projet Montréal – Équipe Luc Rabouin:

Projet Montréal’s cultural plan highlights intercultural dialogue and inclusion as priorities. The party aims to strengthen community partnerships through grants and collaboration between cultural organizations, promoting projects that foster connection among Montreal’s linguistic and cultural communities while maintaining French as the city’s common foundation.