Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante will not be seeking re-election in the 2025 municipal election, calling it a “heartbreaking decision” to step away from a job she loves.
The first woman to be elected to the city’s top job addressed her choice Wednesday, saying she didn’t think she would have the same amount of energy to serve a third term.
“It was a decision that wasn’t easy to make,” Plante said during a news conference. “It was heartbreaking because I love my job.”
Plante described recently coming to realize she couldn’t commit to another four years as mayor, but vowed to continue working for Montrealers “day after day” until the end of her current mandate.
The mayor also said she is doing well and that she will leave office next year with her head held high.
“In the next year I won’t be slowing down, it will be quite the opposite. Just watch me,” Plante said.
The 50-year-old politician, who is originally from Rouyn-Noranda, Que., first came onto the municipal scene when she was elected to Montreal’s city council in 2013. She moved to the city at 19, where she earned university degrees in anthropology and museology.
Plante was first elected as mayor in 2017, beating out then-mayor and former Liberal cabinet minister Denis Coderre. In 2021, she won a second mandate.
As well as being mayor of Montreal, Plante is also mayor of the downtown Ville-Marie borough and has served as leader of Projet Montréal since December 2016. A leadership race will begin in the coming months, she said.
During her address, Plante said her “world for the last 30 years has been Montreal” and that it was the residents who gave her the courage to make “difficult but necessary” decisions to make the city greener, safer and more resilient to climate change.
Plante and her party are recognized for transforming major arteries to be more accommodating to cycling as well as closing streets to car traffic to make vibrant, pedestrian and bike-friendly zones in several districts.
“Our movement is no accident: our ideas or projects reflect the will of the vast majority of Montrealers, and are making waves elsewhere in Quebec,” Plante said.
The reaction quickly poured in from Plante’s political counterparts across different levels, with Quebec Premier François Legault thanking her for her two terms. The two have often clashed on different issues, including funding for public transit and province’s tuition hike for out-of-province students.
“Her love for her city has been evident throughout her political commitment,” Legault said on social media. “I wish her the best of luck for the future.”
Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand described Plante’s commitment as “sincere,” adding it was a privilege to work alongside her.
“She has initiated great changes and made all of Quebec shine,” Marchand wrote on X. “Every time our cities shine, our entire nation shines too.”
Aref Salem, leader of official Opposition Ensemble Montréal, thanked Plante and said his party was ready for the upcoming election in November 2025.
“I thank Valérie Plante for her commitment to the metropolis since her election, despite our many disagreements on construction management, homelessness, public safety and the state of services to citizens,” Salem said in a statement.
— with files from The Canadian Press