Montreal Is Upgrading Its Streets. Are Restaurants Paying the Price?

Montreal street construction with roadwork, barriers, detours and heavy equipment disrupting access along a city street.

Montreal wants better streets and more attractive public spaces. Fair enough. But while the city works toward that vision, restaurants across the island face blocked routes, disappearing parking and customers who may decide getting there simply isn’t worth the hassle. This isn’t just a downtown problem. From Sainte-Catherine Street to Verdun, construction is disrupting commercial streets where businesses still have rent, payroll and suppliers to pay.

In Verdun, Garage Café became a painful example of what’s at stake. According to Le Journal de Québec, Éric Lépine and his partner bought the restaurant in 2024, but prolonged roadwork on rue Hickson severely hurt business. Lépine says he sold at a loss and was left with approximately $350,000 in debt. The report also says the city acknowledged that the restaurant had been mistakenly left off the list for construction-related financial assistance, with the money still outstanding at the time of publication. Lépine is considering legal action. His experience raises a serious question: what good is a support program if a business that needs help is left out?

Downtown, Brigade Pizzeria Napolitaine has also struggled with construction-related disruption and changes to access at Peel Metro. Owner Jean-Daniel Nadeau told CityNews that sales had dropped by as much as 60%, forcing the restaurant to reduce its operating hours. He described losing customers who once passed the restaurant on their way from the Stanley Street metro exit to the Bell Centre. A pizza and a drink before a hockey game or concert might seem like a small thing, but that passing traffic can make a real difference to a neighbourhood business.

St-Hubert du Village, on Sainte-Catherine Street East, closed in September 2026 after the company and its operator weighed the outlook for the area. The planned reconstruction, reduced accessibility, loss of a summer terrace and likely difficulties with deliveries all factored into the decision. The closure is a reminder that the effects of construction can extend beyond the work itself, especially when businesses are asked to plan around years of disruption.

I recently tried to visit my favourite 24-hour Burger King downtown, and getting there was an adventure in itself. I navigated construction barriers and detours and, at one point, had to cross a plank laid across the street. You almost needed an expedition plan just to reach your destination. After all that, I discovered the Burger King had temporarily closed.

I have no idea whether it will reopen once the construction is finished. The experience left me wondering how many customers simply give up when reaching a business becomes this difficult. Street upgrades may promise a better experience in the future, but what happens to the businesses and customers trying to get through the present?

Montreal offers financial assistance to eligible businesses affected by certain major construction projects. Under the city’s current program, qualifying establishments can receive a one-time $5,000 adaptation subsidy and up to $40,000 per fiscal year in assistance based on reductions in gross profit. Eligibility depends on the business, its location and the project involved, and applications under earlier programs are subject to their own rules. The Garage Café case raises a crucial question: when a business is mistakenly left off an assistance list, how quickly can that mistake be corrected, and will the help arrive in time to make a difference?

Clear detours, accessible storefronts, delivery arrangements and timely communication matter too. Customers shouldn’t need an expedition plan to reach their favourite restaurant. Montreal should improve its streets, but it must also protect the businesses that give neighbourhoods their character. A newly paved street may be a welcome improvement, but if the businesses that made it a destination cannot survive until the work is finished, something important has been lost along the way.

What do you think? Is Montreal doing enough to protect restaurants and small businesses during lengthy construction projects across the island?

Sources and further reading