In 2016, Montreal recorded 11,951 complaints for illegal dumping of waste, with weekly collection, functioning equipment and a street maintenance budget that had not yet been reduced.
In 2024, the number reaches 27,961, while Montreal’s population has continued to grow, supermarkets now wrap in plastic things that didn’t need it — apples, zucchinis, lemons — and each household mechanically produces more waste than before, because the industry has shifted its packaging costs onto the consumer.
Between those two figures, collection frequency has been reduced in several boroughs, a quarter of cleaning equipment is outdated or damaged, and the street maintenance budget has gone from 100 to 80 million dollars.
No one is in favor of dirtying their own city. But when a service declines, resources are reduced, packaging accumulates and the result deteriorates, responsibility gradually shifts toward the one who already pays property taxes and waits for the truck.
The city cleans less. The citizen must do more.
This week, the mayor published a message on Facebook asking Montrealers to pick up their waste.
That’s all.
