Montreal's got a nightlife policy, so why are venues still at risk?

A year into the city's first-ever nightlife framework, the future of Montreal's independent venues still hangs in the balance.

Max Honigmann

15 octobre 2025- Read time: 8 min

Montreal's independent music venues are closing at an alarming rate, with beloved spots like Blue Dog, La Tulipe, and Diving Bell falling victim to noise complaints from single residents. | Photograph: Vivien Gaumand

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On July 19, the quintessential Plateau venue Blue Dog shut its doors after more than 30 years of operation.

Its shuttering followed a string of similar venue closures clustered around the Plateau borough, each of which almost always involved issues with a single residential neighbour.

The fate of Blue Dog—and its unfortunate predecessors like La Tulipe, Diving Bell Social Club, Divan Orange, and others—is no accident. It’s the product of a regulatory deck that has long been stacked in favour of real estate developers and unreasonable residents, and against live music spaces just trying to survive.

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