COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal

[7] The first wave of COVID-19 lasted until early summer, at which point the economy started to gradually reopen, with daily case counts dropping into the double digits.

[9] Over the next few months, the second wave continued to worsen, prompting renewed closures and eventually, a province-wide lockdown, which came into effect on December 25 (Christmas Day).

[63] Starting on July 6, the active and safe routes put in place throughout the city to respond to physical distancing measures were animated through digital works.

[69] After a record year in 2019 with a tonnage of goods handled on its quays which exceeded 40 million tonnes, the CEO of the Montreal Port Authority announced on May 19 that she foresaw a 12% drop in traffic in 2020 compared to 2019 due to the pandemic.

The city's deficit could be close to $500 million this year, or 9% of the planned budget of $6.2 billion" and that "shops, hotels, restaurants, culture, leisure‍—‍these are almost 20% of all the jobs in town.

To make up for this possibility of losing a large number of students, the Université de Montréal has already indicated that all of its faculties will hold the fall 2020 session by online classes.

[106] With 10 days before the start of the school year for CEGEPs in Montreal,[107] the Regroupement des cégeps de Montréal, which brings together 12 French-speaking and English-speaking establishments, could not say the exact percentage of students who will have to set foot in class this fall.

[144] In a press conference on June 2, Premier François Legault stated that the majority of the 10,000 beneficiary attendant positions to be filled targeted the Montreal region.

[165] On May 22, General Roméo Dallaire launched the "Bâtissons l'espoir" movement with the Douglas Foundation to raise awareness of the mental health issues caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

[171] According to a study by the University of Sherbrooke, the levels of depression and anxiety were three times higher than before the pandemic, despite a slight improvement in psychological health since crossing the peak of the first wave of COVID-19, last April.

The Lakeshore was filled to beyond its capacity and the CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal is sending new patients to a field hospital set by the Canadian Red Cross inside a hockey arena in LaSalle.

[193] On June 5, the City of Montreal announced that the Municipal Court was gradually resuming its activities[194] Between mid-March and May 31, 2020, only urgent applications were processed by the Criminal Division[195] On May 19, a request for authorization to bring a class action against 15 universities in Quebec was filed[196] Normally, without the pandemic, one in six people with food insecurity,[197] while 614,000 people were in poverty and exclusion in Greater Montreal.

[224] Earlier that month, the Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urgain (FRAPRU), supported by 25 other community groups, warned that the pandemic could seriously worsen the housing crisis in Montreal.

[228] According to Accueil Bonneau, many homeless Montrealers with alcohol, drug and mental health problems have relapsed since the pandemic interrupted a large number of resources, such as meetings with Alcoholics Anonymous, were suspended[229] According to Samuel Watts, President and CEO of Mission Bon Accueil, COVID-19 has had the positive effect of forcing the creation of air-conditioned spaces for the homeless.

[233] The remarks were denounced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the mayor of Brossard, Doreen Assad, and Horacio Arruda, director of public health.

[238] On June 3, the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) published a report documenting incidents of hatred and violence against Montrealers of Asian origin.

[248] Following this news, the Archbishop of Montreal, Monseigneur Christian Lépine, held masses in camera the following Sunday from the crypt of Saint Joseph's Oratory.

[254] On March 23, a team at the Montreal Heart Institute led by Jean-Claude Tardif launched a clinical trial exploring the use of colchicine to help treat complications of COVID-19.

[263] On June 22, Marc Parent, President and CEO of CAE made a personal donation of $100,000 to the Foundation of the McGill University Health Center to support research related to the Quebec Biobank of COVID-19.

[268] However, on June 10, Le Devoir reported that it would seem that it was Shopify, who developed a digital tracking tool called Covid Shield, that the Trudeau government would prefer.

[269] On April 14, the McConnel Chair in Research-Creation on the reappropriation of maternity at the Université de Montréal launched a participatory and collective work project called Pregnancy in confinement.

On May 6, the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) conducted the first evaluation of a robot that disinfects using ultraviolet light in Canada.

This project, funded to the tune of one million dollars by Génome Québec, is a mixture of artificial intelligence, genomics and medicinal chemistry On June 3, a team of researchers from UQAM had recruited 2,000 participants for a study on the psychological impact of COVID-19.

[299][300] On May 6, when MLS leaders gave circuit teams permission to hold individual fitness sessions on the field, the Montreal Impact players still have not received city approvals.

[303] On May 7, Randy Ambrosie, the commissioner of the Canadian Football League (CFL) told the House of Commons that the most likely scenario was to cancel the 2020 season, which include the Montreal Alouettes.

The Old Port alone attracts nearly 7 million tourists a year[324] On April 9, the organization Tourisme Montréal foresaw an 80% loss of revenue for the summer season, while half of the hotel establishments had already suspended their operations.

[330] On June 2, Yves Lalumière, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal stated that nearly 10 million fewer visitors will be in Montreal during the summer because of the health measures decreed to halt the spread of COVID-19.

[336] On March 4, the Société des transports de Montréal (STM) adopted new hygiene measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus in its facilities.

[349] Two days later, transportation companies in Greater Montreal reduced their services because of the coronavirus lockdown[350] On April 7, the STM announced the suspension of non-essential activities in metro stations.

[366] On June 19, the president and chief executive officer of Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), Philippe Rainville, in an open letter distributed to the media, asked the governments of Quebec and Ottawa to grant "a loan with flexible repayment terms in based on restoring revenues "so that the Metropolitan Express Network (REM) project, valued at $ 250 million, can move forward.