Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada made 10 key promises to Montrealers she said she’d achieve in her first 100 days in office.

Well, today she hit that first 100-day milestone, and how did she do? She told reporters this week, she gives herself an eight out of 10.

“On the 10 actions, we moved on all of them. Did we move as much as we wanted? Maybe not,” she said. “We have done a lot in 100 days!”

Martinez Ferrada, who stepped down from her post as a federal cabinet minister to run for mayor, won the November election during a trying time for the city as, among other issues, it is faced with a housing crisis, a financially strapped public transit system and growing complaints about traffic.

But these issues aren’t new, having also been a priority for Valérie Plante when she was elected eight years ago.

Fast forward to the 2025 election campaign, and Martinez Ferrada ran with the slogan “Listen and Act” — a clear jab at Plante’s reputation among her critics for pushing ahead with controversial projects, such as cycling network expansions, with little public consultation. 

Bike paths and orange cones

One of Martinez Ferrada’s first promises, back in August, was to conduct an audit of the city’s cycling network, focusing on four in particular, and eliminate any found to be dangerous.

That project was recently announced, with her administration saying the city will assess four bike paths it considers particularly problematic in order to identify safety issues and propose solutions.

She said the city is also replacing its crash-triggered review process with proactive monitoring to identify bike path safety risks before collisions occur. Martinez Ferrada said, while the goal is to eventually assess the entire cycling network, the process will take time.

WATCH | Montreal mayor vows to audit 4 bike paths:

Here are the bike paths included in Montreal’s ‘review’ of cycling infrastructure

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada says the city will undertake a review of four existing bike paths, as well as several planned ones, to “assure mobility that works for everyone,” following complaints it says it’s received.

She also promised, within 100 days of taking office, to conduct an inventory of construction sites to improve traffic flow, reform the city’s approach to affordable housing and boost funding to help deal with homelessness.

And like she told reporters this week, the city hasn’t been ignoring any of these promises.

Just like the mayor before her, Martinez Ferrada has promised to cut down on orange construction cones. In mid-February, she announced her own effort to improve construction site co-ordination and to use artificial intelligence tools to help reduce the impact of roadwork on Montrealers.

Housing and homelessness

When it comes to housing, in late January, Martinez Ferrada followed through with repealing the Règlement pour une métropole mixte (also known as the 20-20-20 bylaw).

Instead of forcing developers to build social housing, she is shifting toward financial incentives. The mayor said she would establish a working group composed of representatives from the private and non-profit sectors. 

She also has identified 80 city-owned sites to be fast-tracked for housing development. The administration claims about 40 of these sites could see shovels in the ground within three years.

WATCH | Montreal mayor reaches 100-day milestone:

What has Montreal’s mayor accomplished in her first 100 days in office?

Soraya Martinez Ferrada marked 100 days in office and, as promised, her administration launched a review of bike lanes and increased the homelessness budget. Here’s a look at her campaign promises and where they stand today.

In keeping with her promises, the administration increased the homelessness budget and implemented a tactical intervention group, the Groupe d’intervention tactique en itinérance (GITI). While the announcement came down to the wire just a few days ago, the promise was nonetheless fulfilled.

In collaboration with community organizations, public health, the provincial government, police and fire services, GITI will meet twice monthly with the goal of better harmonizing interventions and improving social coexistence.

Transitional housing action plans are on the way and a formal protocol regarding encampments is coming, according to Claude Pinard, who heads the city’s executive committee and is in charge of homelessness. 

“Prevention will be at the heart of this elite unit’s mission,” he said. 

On Thursday, the mayor said she is “really proud” of how her administration is tackling the issue of homelessness.

Then on Friday, her administration announced Montreal is adopting a more tolerant approach to homeless encampments by identifying specific sites where tents will be permitted rather than simply dismantled.

Under the new rules, encampments must maintain three metres of space between tents and may receive portable toilets, though they will be subject to strict cleanliness standards and potential location restrictions.

Martinez Ferrada also started the process of cutting civil service jobs. She promised to cut a thousand positions by the end of her term in 2029. So far, she’s cut 250.

Challenges and criticisms

Nonetheless, the mayor’s administration has faced its fair share of challenges and criticisms in the first three months. There were public transit worker strikes, snow-removal equipment breakdowns and wheel-swallowing potholes that rocked Martinez Ferrada’s own car, leaving her with two flats.

The leader of the Opposition isn’t impressed. Ericka Alneus of Projet Montréal said there’s a lack of clarity, things are moving too fast and no actions seem concrete. 

Alneus noted that, when it comes to the budget, the Martinez Ferrada administration decided to return to a 100 per cent debt-to-revenue ratio this year. The municipal tax rate was at 3.8 per cent because Martinez Ferrada wanted to make sure to pay the debt in 2026, she said.

“Everything could have been a bit slower to make sure it wasn’t too hard on the pockets of Montrealers. When we were there, we were aiming for 2027. Every year counts in the pockets of Montrealers,” Alneus said. 

Martinez Ferrada accepts that there will be those unhappy with her performance thus far and she’s ready to take more heat in the months to come. 

“I can take the criticism because I know the work we need to do,” she said.