Futur Montréal takes first step toward official municipal party status

By India Das-Brown
Posted April 16, 2025 5:51 pm.

Futur Montréal, a political movement, announced Wednesday that its name has been officially reserved by Élections Québec — a step in the process toward becoming a fully authorized municipal political party in the City of Montreal.
“This is an important milestone for us,” said co-founder Joel DeBellefeuille, who is also the founder of The Red Coalition, a Montreal-based anti-racism group. “It reflects months of preparation and growing momentum.”
Futur Montréal is now preparing the steps to gain party authorization, with the intention of presenting a full slate of 103 candidates in the next municipal election in November of this year — including borough mayors, city councilors and borough councillors.

As part of this process, the movement is currently looking to residents across the city to find prospective candidates, volunteers and community voices “who share the vision of building a city that is more equitable, transparent and responsive to local needs.”
They are presenting two key proposals.
The first is the Annual Borough Dividend (ABD) policy. Under the ABD, if the City of Montreal ends the year with a budget surplus, a not yet decided portion of that surplus would be redistributed to each borough.
Boroughs would then provide direct support to residents, in the form of property tax credits for eligible homeowners and community benefits or relief programs for renters.
“The ABD is designed to reward timely municipal tax payments, encourage financial transparency at the borough level and ensure Montrealer's benefit directly when the City does well,” said Futur Montréal in a press release on Wednesday.
The second proposal is a “use it or lose it” policy that aims to address the growing number of long-vacant lots and abandoned buildings across Montreal. If a property remains unused without valid justification over a not-yet-defined period, the City would have the legal grounds to seize and reclaim the property for public use. Redeveloped sites would prioritize affordable housing, public parks or essential infrastructure.
“Futur Montréal is focused on ideas that […] respond to real urban challenges,” said co-founder Matthew Kerr.