Sorry, Montreal drivers: Vehicle registration taxes are going up by over 150% next year

Sorry, Montreal drivers — but you’re going to have to pay a lot more in vehicle registration fees next year.

The Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) has announced that the tax it collects on passenger vehicles registered in Greater Montreal will more than double as of January 2025.

“In order to complete the 2025 financial framework for public transportation and ensure the maintenance of current services, the elected officials of the […] CMM were forced to adopt, today, a resolution aimed at increasing the share of motorists in the financing of the metropolitan network,” reads a CMM news release from May 30, 2024.

The CMM says the increase is necessary to make up for a $38-million drop in financial aid promised by the provincial government for 2025 compared to the amount it contributed in 2024, “which was already far from meeting needs.”

In April, Quebec’s Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Geneviève Guilbault, announced that the province would give $200 million to cities for public transit. That’s less than half of what the CMM says the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain needs to finance the development, operation and maintenance of the transportation network without increasing costs.

“The share of funding from municipalities and users has reached its maximum, while the share of funding from motorists is declining to around 5%,” the CMM says.

And, so, car registration taxes will go from the current $59 to $150 in the next few months — up 154%.

This is an addition to a $30 “public transit contribution” introduced in 1992.

However, the CMM says this is subject to change should Quebec decide to contribute more funds.

Responding to the price hike, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) published a press release announcing its opposition, calling the surge “disproportionate and unprecedented.”

“Tripling the registration tax is an easy solution that does not take into account the tax burden that is already too heavy for the citizens and businesses of the metropolitan region. We oppose the tripling of a tax that applies indiscriminately to all vehicle owners, regardless of the actual availability of public transit alternatives or the reasons behind the need for a vehicle,” says Michel Leblanc, president and CEO of the CCMM.

“We are asking public decision-makers to go back to the drawing board and find other ways to ensure sustainable funding for transit companies.”

Meanwhile, on September 11, the mayor of Quebec City announced that his constituents would also be paying more for vehicle registrations in 2025 in order to finance public transit expenses. In the Communauté métropolitaine de Québec, added registration taxes will triple from $30 to $90 — a 200% increase, albeit still less than we pay in Montreal.

This article has been updated since it was originally published on June 4, 2024.