Federal and city elections, U.S. tariffs and crime made 2025 an exciting year
It was the year when the Canada/U.S. tariffs issue hit the fan, when elections were being held in Laval as well as across Canada, and most people agreed there was a steep increase in urban violence and gun-related crime.
Although far from the whole story, these three themes dominated much of the news that broke in 2025. In our second issue of 2026, The Laval News explores these and other important newsmakers during the last six months of last year.
Retailers were preparing for longer hours in July
Laval businesses and shoppers were preparing for late nights, but not everyone was sold on the idea. As part of a year-long provincial pilot project, Laval was one of three Quebec cities where retail stores could remain open until 8 p.m. on weekends.
The move marked a shift away from Quebec’s longstanding rules that typically forced stores to close by 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The pilot project began late summer, with Laval joining Gatineau and Saint-Georges de Beauce as test cities. The measure could eventually be rolled out province-wide.
With housing shortages turning critical in many regions across the country, the City of Laval was pledging concrete action.
People living in Laval who were searching for a place to live and needed help doing so were being encouraged to call Laval’s municipal housing help hotline (SARL) at 450 505-6025 or by e-mail: sarl@omhlaval.ca.
“The summer holiday season, and especially all the moving taking place on July 1, represents every year a moment of precarity for some Laval residents,” said Mayor Stéphane Boyer
The Youth and Parents Agape Association – known to most people in Laval simply as Agape – “had another productive year,” according to its directors, with a consistent number of English-speaking clients receiving a range of social services in 2024-2025.
“Over the past 12 months, we have provided services, resources, presentations, referrals, emergency food relief and other essential support to over 5,000 individuals,” the non-profit group’s board of directors stated in their latest Report of Activities.
Tabled during Agape’s annual general meeting on June 26, the document offered a comprehensive overview of Agape’s efforts to improve the lives of the underprivileged English-speaking and multicultural communities in Laval between April last year and this past March.
Mother Nature smiled with warm benevolence on Holy Cross Church on Souvenir Blvd. in Chomedey for the 2025 Laval Hellenic Summer Festival. As it was just a few days until Canada Day, the festival was an occasion, as always, to celebrate the country’s origins and multicultural diversity – although it was primarily a celebration of Hellenic culture and values.
