“We are operating in an uncertain socioeconomic context,” the incumbent mayor, who is seeking a second term, states in a foreword to his party’s 2025 electoral platform.
He notes that tariff tensions with the U.S. and a rapid increase in the cost of living in recent years have made an impact on everyone and on the management of the city.
While maintaining that Laval’s economic vitality and purchasing power are under pressure, Boyer says “we must find pragmatic and innovative solutions to these challenges,” and for the next term the Mouvement lavallois is proposing to focus mostly on the essentials.
The ML’s four commitments
The ML summarizes its pledges in the form of four basic commitments: An efficient and well-managed city; A prosperous city that takes its place; Clean and safe neighbourhoods; And green neighborhoods on a human scale.
In a seven-point elaboration of their vision for a well-managed city, Boyer’s team pledges to upkeep Laval’s reputation as a municipality that has one of Quebec’s lowest property tax rates. Other points include: Simplifying interactions between citizens and the municipal administration; reducing resolution times to citizen requests; reducing permit delivery times for citizens and businesses; using new technologies and AI to automate repetitive processes; and implementing a pilot project to manage traffic lights using AI to reduce traffic and make getting around easier.
A prosperous city
With the ML’s concept of Laval as a prosperous city that takes its place as a leader among municipalities, the party pledges, among other things, to improve STL bus service; to boost economic development in Laval’s historic villages (such as Vieux Sainte-Rose); support the development of new large-scale sporting and entertainment sites; increase the amount of cultivated farmland; work to open a second hospital or expand the Cité de la Santé to increase healthcare services for all; extend the orange Metro line to Chomedey to connect Côte-Vertu station, Carrefour Laval, and Montmorency station; seek a revision of the Criminal Code and penal laws to better fight crime; continue efforts to bring the high-speed rail project between Quebec City and Toronto to Laval; and ensure the redevelopment and heritage protection of the old Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Penitentiary site.
Clean and Safe Neighbourhoods
The ML begins to address these concerns with one of the most sensitive points Laval residents have faced in decades: flooding. If re-elected, the incumbent party proposes to establish a subsidy program for the installation of protective measures in homes at risk of flooding. As well, they would invest an additional $440 million to better maintain Laval’s streets and build infrastructure to better protect from flooding.
In two key areas of commitment if elected, the incumbent mayor’s party says it would double the road maintenance budgets to repair roads and sidewalks in poor condition more quickly, and ensure rapid snow removal in high-traffic areas, particularly schools and subway stations, within a maximum of 12 hours. In yet another passage from their list of engagements, the ML pledges to clean up graffiti in public spaces more quickly.
On the issue of making Laval’s neighbourhoods safer, some of the ML’s proposed measures would make pedestrian crossings and intersections safer, particularly in school zones and near senior residences; install 20 new traffic lights at the busiest intersections to facilitate travel and reduce the risk of accidents; hire additional police resources to increase presence in neighbourhoods and services to citizens; improve the investigation process and resolution of crimes against persons and property; make better use of existing public and private cameras in the area to fight crime; and . Continue prevention initiatives targeting young people in Laval, in collaboration with schools, community organizations, and the healthcare network.
Green neighbourhoods
Regarding the party’s promise to build green neighbourhoods in Laval, they pledge to double the number of new social and affordable housing units built in the last five years to 2,000 in the coming four years, and to protect existing affordable rents in the context of the current housing crisis.
On the issue of green spaces, the party makes an important pledge when it says it will create a new nature park in northwest Laval, while noting that negotiations are underway to finalize the acquisition of a golf course in Sainte-Rose in order to transform it, in collaboration with the public, into a large riverside nature park.
Along the same lines, the ML would also expand the wildlife refuge on the Mille-Îles river to create a large protected regional park; increase the area of protected natural and agricultural environments in our territory by 20 million square feet; offer a free tree on a voluntary basis to Laval residents who wish to green their property; reduce heat islands through targeted greening and demineralization initiatives; and implement a project to capture, sterilize and care for stray cats.
On the question of the beautification of Laval’s neighbourhoods, they pledge to continue Laval’s riverbanks redevelopment projects to make the city’s waterways accessible to all; increase beautification projects in neighbourhoods with decorative lighting and public art; and optimize the use of rooftops of major construction projects by installing green roofs, terraces or sports facilities.
Seniors not forgotten
The party has not forgotten the City of Laval’s senior citizens. In this regard, the ML pledges to improve urban amenities around seniors’ residences and places they frequent; develop new accessible and safe trails in woodlands, while saying that “active aging is essential to the physical and mental well-being of seniors”; continue efforts to promote seniors’ sense of security and combat isolation; and support community organizations that fight fraud against seniors. Regarding Laval’s cultural heritage, Mayor Boyer and his team promise to adopt and implement an action plan to promote the French language and launch a campaign to promote French; establish collaborative cultural governance to strengthen cultural vitality in Laval; create new spaces for cultural and artistic expression in Laval neighbourhoods; promote Laval artists in the city’s cultural programming and municipal libraries; facilitate local cultural events to celebrate Francophone culture and diversity; and continue to protect Laval’s built heritage.
