Montreal STM Strike Limits Metro And Bus Hours In November

Published on Nov 28, 2025, 2:35 pm CST

9 min read

Key points

STM maintenance strike in Montreal cut metro and bus to three essential service windows from November 2 to 12, 2025
An Administrative Labour Tribunal ruling kept metro running 6:30 to 9:30 a.m., 2:45 to 5:45 p.m., and 11:00 p.m. to closing, with similar but offset bus hours
Visitors in downtown, Old Montreal, Plateau, and around major stations need to time moves and airport trips around morning and afternoon windows
Backup options include BIXI bikes, walking, taxis, rideshare, and regional buses, but they are slower and more weather sensitive
Travelers with reduced mobility should confirm paratransit and elevator access and leave extra time in case new strike days or overtime actions are called

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect the tightest conditions around downtown, Old Montreal, Plateau, major university districts, and connections to rail and coach terminals during the three service windows
Best Times To Travel: Plan most cross town trips, attraction hops, and airport links for the early morning and mid afternoon windows, keeping late night mainly as a backup
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Assume much longer transfer times between hotels, Gare Centrale, the intercity bus terminal, and airport buses when metro or buses are offline midday and early evening
What Travelers Should Do Now: For any late November or future strike visit, map your hotel and key stops to the restricted windows, prebook airport rides, and download STM and BIXI apps for live options
Accessibility And Mobility Needs: Travelers who rely on elevators or paratransit should lock in bookings early, check station accessibility status, and keep taxi numbers handy in case service drops again

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Montreal, Quebec, Canada spent part of November 2025 under a Montreal STM strike metro schedule that pushed most bus and metro trips into three short rush hour windows. The maintenance workers strike, combined with separate walkouts by bus drivers, metro operators, and station agents, meant that for many days visitors could only count on regular service early in the morning, late in the afternoon, and again around midnight. Travelers who were staying downtown or in Old Montreal, or who needed to reach Gare Centrale, the intercity bus terminal, or Montréal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL), had to plan their days around those windows or risk long, cold waits.

In plain terms, the November STM strike metro schedule in Montreal limited bus and metro service to three essential service windows per day and forced visitors to treat most of the daytime as if the network were running a skeleton holiday timetable.

Background, who was striking, and what the tribunal decided

The core of the dispute involved about 2,400 maintenance workers represented by the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, who launched a month long strike from November 1 to 28 as part of a wider contract fight that had already produced June and September walkouts. In parallel, nearly 4,500 bus drivers, metro operators, and station attendants signaled their own strike days, which created the risk of not just limited service, but total shutdowns on specific weekends.

Because STM is classed as an essential public service, the Administrative Labour Tribunal, known in French as the Tribunal administratif du travail, had to set minimum service levels. Municipal notices from suburbs such as Westmount and Pointe Claire explain that from November 2 onward the tribunal ordered strictly limited metro and bus windows each day, with full service suspended on November 1 itself if no last minute deal was reached.

Under that decision, metro trains were scheduled only from about 630 to 930 a.m., from 245 to 545 p.m., and again from 1100 p.m. until normal closing time. Buses ran on a similar pattern, from roughly 615 to 915 a.m., then 300 to 600 p.m., and 1100 p.m. to about 1:15 a.m., with some variation by route. Outside those hours, many lines simply did not operate, and frequencies inside the windows were closer to a reduced schedule than a full rush hour peak.

Negotiations moved faster than many expected. By November 12, STM and the maintenance union agreed to suspend strike action to give mediation a chance, and the agency began ramping service back up from 6:15 a.m. that morning. For visitors who were in Montreal later in the month, this meant a return to mostly normal operations, but with a clear warning signal that similar limited service windows or full shutdown weekends could be back on very short notice. New overtime strike notices running from December 9 to January 11, 2026, reinforce that risk, even if they initially focus on overtime rather than core daytime service.

How the restricted hours map to hotels and attractions

For travelers, the practical effect of the November windows is easy to visualize if you overlay them on the main hotel and attraction corridors. Downtown towers near Peel, McGill, and Bonaventure stations sit on the Orange and Green lines, with quick links to the underground city and the Quartier des spectacles. Old Montreal and the Old Port cluster around Place d Armes and Champ de Mars stations, while Plateau Mont Royal, Mile End, and the Jean Talon food market rely heavily on the Orange and Blue line interchanges at Jean Talon and Snowdon.

During the 630 to 930 a.m. window, visitors could reliably move from Old Montreal up to the Plateau for breakfast, transfer between downtown hotels and business meetings in Mile End, or connect from residential neighborhoods into the core before tours and museum openings. Midday, the system effectively went dark, so anyone who left Old Montreal for lunch in a different district needed to be prepared to walk, use BIXI, or pay for a taxi to get back.

The 245 to 545 p.m. window became the main slot for returning to your hotel, crossing town for dinner, or positioning yourself near your departure point for an evening train or coach. After about 600 p.m., and until the late night window resumed around 1100 p.m., most visitors had to assume that metro platforms would be closed and many bus stops would have no service. Late night service worked as a safety valve, but in practice it was most useful for people who had already positioned themselves near a station or major transfer point during the afternoon window.

Planning rail, coach, and airport trips around the strike windows

Montreal s intercity rail and many coach services use Gare Centrale, which connects to the metro at Bonaventure and to the underground city. Under the strike windows, arriving by VIA Rail in the late morning or early afternoon meant you could take the metro into downtown or Old Montreal only if your train arrived before about 930 a.m., or you were willing to wait until service resumed after 245 p.m. Otherwise, you had to be ready to walk through the underground network or head straight for the street to hail a taxi or rideshare.

For flights, the biggest constraint fell on the 747 airport express and the bus links that connect downtown and neighborhoods to Montréal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. When buses were only guaranteed in the early morning, late afternoon, and around midnight, travelers with mid day or early evening departures had to budget for taxi or rideshare costs, or consider staying at an airport hotel for one night to simplify a tight connection. Anyone arriving late in the evening also needed a backup plan in case their flight was delayed past the 1:15 a.m. bus cutoff and taxi lines grew as other travelers realized their passes no longer guaranteed a ride into town.

If similar strike windows return, the safest move is to align your flight or train times as closely as possible with the morning or afternoon transit windows, leave at least one full window of buffer for any same day connection, and avoid separate tickets that would require tight moves across the city.

Backup options when metro and buses are offline

Montreal is more walkable than many North American cities, especially in the downtown core and Old Montreal, and a network of underground passages links many office towers, shopping centers, and hotels. However, in November, snow, freezing rain, and early dusk combine to make long walks less attractive, especially for travelers pulling luggage or traveling with children.

BIXI, the city s public bike share, extended year round operations at more than 230 stations in 2025, partly in response to earlier rounds of STM strike disruption. On dry days, this gives confident cyclists a viable way to move between downtown, the Plateau, and some waterfront areas during the long midday and early evening transit gaps. Helmets and lights remain your responsibility, and in wet or icy conditions BIXI should be treated as a last resort rather than a routine option.

Taxis and rideshare, including app based services, will fill much of the gap when buses and metros are not running. That said, strikes compress demand into the same few hours when many commuters, students, and visitors all want to move, which means longer waits and higher dynamic pricing. Booking ahead for airport transfers, especially in the afternoon window, reduces stress, but you should still leave extra time in case congestion builds near bridges, tunnels, or around major intersections.

Accessibility and paratransit

Travelers with reduced mobility have more constraints when metro stations close and bus frequencies fall, because not all stations in Montreal are fully accessible and not all sidewalks are reliably cleared in early winter. STM runs a paratransit network, Transport adapté, with its own booking rules and service patterns, and tribunal decisions on essential services usually prioritize these trips. Even so, strike schedules can lengthen pickup windows and reduce spontaneity, so visitors who rely on door to door service should build even more buffer into their plans.

In practical terms, that means confirming elevator availability at key metro stations before you travel, including those near your hotel and your main attractions, and asking your hotel in advance which accessible taxi firms they work with. It also means avoiding last minute cross town dinner bookings that would require multiple mode changes or travel during the midday gap. If you must cross the island during a strike, slot that move into the morning or afternoon window and keep late night transit for short hops only.

How to use this for late November and future trips

By late November 2025, most STM services had returned to normal, but the November strike made one thing very clear, transit windows can compress suddenly, and tribunal imposed essential service schedules leave large holes in the day. If you are booking a future visit and see fresh strike notices or essential service rulings on the STM, Westmount, or neighboring city websites, assume that you will be living inside a similar three window pattern, then map your hotel, key attractions, meals, and airport or rail transfers to that structure. Combine metro and bus when they are available, walk and use the underground city where it is safe and practical, lean on BIXI when roads and paths are dry, and keep taxis or prebooked rides as your safety net rather than your only plan.