STM unveils 2023 budget with $77M deficit
The STM is forecasting a deficit of nearly $78 million next year, an even bigger loss than Montreal's transportation authority forecasted in its 2022 budget.
According to the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) 2023 budget, released Monday, some routes are expected to see a drop in frequency due to the ongoing financial troubles.
"The STM is facing major financial challenges in 2023 related to the economic climate and funding issues affecting public transit. While the pandemic transformed travel needs and habits, our target is to maintain a level of service similar to 2022. However, to do so, we will have to find additional means that align with this goal," said Marie-Claude Léonard, the STM's chief executive officer, in a news release.
The $1.7 billion budget shows a shortfall of $77.8 million for 2023, larger that the $43 million deficit that was tabled with the STM's 2022 budget.
Ridership is still down compared to pre-pandemic levels, hovering around 70 per cent this year, including on routes during weekly rush hour with many employees still teleworking.
The STM said Monday that inflation, the rising cost per trip and "unavoidable operating expenses" are driving the transportation authority into the red.
The opposition at City Hall denounced the STM running deficit for a second year in a row.
"The worst part of this mismanagement is that the administration does not even have the honesty to tell Montrealers where it will cut services. All it is doing is waiting for Quebec's money while negotiations with the government are at a dead end," said Christine Black, the Official Opposition critic for public transit, in a statement.
Officials say despite the deficit, projects are still going ahead in 2023, including the installation of elevators in 24 metro stations (including Jolicoeur, McGill, D'Iberville and Place-Saint-Henri), as well as the ongoing electrification of the bus fleet.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.