Here's what to know about Montreal's International Women's Day march

An open letter and march in the heart of downtown Montreal are among the calls to action from groups marking International Women's Day on Friday.

The March 8 Collective (Collectif mars 8) sent an open letter saying issues facing women are "erupting" everywhere, and will take part in the International Women's Day march, calling it "Just Peace, Equality and Liberation Now!"

The collective's open letter cites climate change, the housing crisis, wage inequalities, disrupted public services and others as major issues affecting women in 2024.

The march started at 5:30 p.m. at Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal.

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"It will be a march of protest and of celebration," march organizers Women of Diverse Origins said in a news release before the event. "We mark together the victories on the long road to gender equality but to also call out all the work that's still needed to collectively achieve this. We march for ourselves, our families, communities, children and grandchildren."

In the March 8 Collective letter titled "Quiet as a Rumbling Volcano" (Tranquilles comme un volcan qui gronde), the group calls out inaction on climate change, public service and housing crises, and labour discontent.

"One theme stood out: the rumblings," the letter reads. "It's both a statement of fact and a warning that we can't go on like this because a volcano that rumbles eventually explodes."

The collective says, among other issues, that women are almost five times more likely to spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing and that racialized, disabled, immigrant, Indigenous and older women face discrimination in searching for housing.

"Climate change, the housing crisis, wage inequality, public services under attack, the rising cost of living, a lack of jobs, cost of living, lack of childcare places - it's all exploding everywhere," the collective said. "And every time, women are the first to be affected."

The collective met with Status of Women Minister Martine Biron on Feb. 13 to discuss crises, including "inequalities and violence which obstruct the achievement of equality between women and men as well as between women themselves."

Greater access to abortions, fighting domestic violence and finding structural solutions to end homelessness are issues the collective would like addressed.

"The meeting was an opportunity to take stock of the issues faced by women even today," said collective spokesperson Virginie Mikaelian in a news release. "We are counting on the minister to raise awareness with her colleague Labour Minister Jean Boulet, so that he adds the establishment of a bank of 10 days of paid absence for victims of domestic violence in Bill 42 currently under study."

Mikaelian added that women feel the impacts most acutely when health-care, social services and education services are weakened.

"We would have liked to speak to him (Boulet) at greater length about the deterioration of public services and our concerns regarding recent reforms adopted in education and health and services," she said.

The March 8 Collective is a combination of trade union and feminist organizations that said it represents around 800,000 women and 450 women's and mixed groups.