STM extends ban on loitering in the metro until 2027

A Metro sign in Montreal, Thursday, November 14, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

In an effort to improve the sense of safety within the city’s metro network, Montreal’s transit agency is extending the ban on loitering in stations until April 30, 2027.

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) said it is basing the decision on data collected over the winter, stating “the use of facilities for reasons unrelated to transportation” affects the sense of safety for clients and employees.

Public transit officials have expressed concern about the number of people struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues who use metro stations as unofficial shelters.

Special constables removed loiterers from metro stations at least 2,500 times per month over the winter, the transit authority said in a news release Tuesday.

According to the STM, keeping people moving has helped “limit undesirable behaviour in the metro.”

The agency released a comparison of indicators from November 2025 to March 2026 from the previous year:

“Service reliability has improved thanks to a decrease in the number of service interruptions caused by vandalism,” the STM stated, adding that it acknowledges the ban isn’t the only way to improve safety and reliability on the metro network.

It also noted there was not necessarily a link between the influx of marginalized people into the metro system and crime.

The ban was first implemented in March 2025 and reinstated in June.

Officials argued at the time that the measure helped reduce assaults on staff and boost users’ sense of safety.

In early April 2026, the STM ordered the closure of two entrances at the McGill and Square-Victoria-OACI stations, while one entrance at the De Castelnau station has remained closed since March 30. The Square Cabot entrance to the Atwater metro station was also closed during the winter.

Increase in assaults in the metro between 2024 and 2025

Last February, Montreal police stated (SPVM) that reported assaults in the Montreal metro increased by 15 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024.

The SPVM said there were 726 reported assault cases in 2025, compared to 631 in 2024 and 652 in 2023.

The number of assaults in 2025 was higher than at any other time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Police note that data before 2020 was collected differently and is therefore not comparable to subsequent years.

With files from Noovo Info