Saâd Tekiout’s two-man pothole filling operation is turning into something much bigger.
The Montreal landscaper who went viral last week for patching city streets on his own dime has launched a GoFundMe campaign called “On répare Montréal, rejoins le mouvement!” and the response has been swift. As of Monday morning, the campaign has raised $28,781 from 674 donors, closing in fast on its $35,000 goal.
The biggest single donation, $5,000, came from a recognizable name: James William Awad, the Montreal entrepreneur best known for organizing the infamous Sunwing flight to Cancun in 2022 that drew national headlines and a personal rebuke from then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In the GoFundMe description, Tekiout is straightforward about where the money is going. “Every dollar will go directly toward materials (asphalt, sand, tools), equipment, and repairing more streets, faster,” he writes. He also promises to document every repair publicly.
“I started alone,” he adds. “Now we’re doing it together.”
Tekiout, who goes by “Marquize” on social media, posted a video on April 25 showing him and a friend patching a pothole in under ten minutes. Set to Cowboys Fringants music, the clip racked up over a million views across Instagram and TikTok and turned him into something of a folk hero in a city that has been battling a pothole crisis for years.
Montreal mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada responded at the time, calling his efforts appreciated but noting that it shouldn’t fall to residents to do the city’s road work themselves. She later clarified to MTL Blog that no one is going to send Tekiout a cease and desist letter, and that her comments were more about frustration with how things got to this point than any attempt to shut him down.
Tekiout and his partner have continued to fill potholes over the past week, despite operating in a bit of a legal grey zone. Locals, meanwhile, have continued to embrace their efforts with open arms.
It’s worth noting that filling potholes on public roads without a city permit is technically against Montreal’s rules, with fines ranging from $500 to $1,000 for individuals and up to $2,000 for companies. Whether the campaign’s newfound scale changes that conversation remains to be seen.
For now, Montrealers seem content to fund the movement first and ask questions later.