{"id":510511,"date":"2026-03-03T00:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T00:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/510511\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T00:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T00:52:12","slug":"tour-guides-call-for-modernization-of-by-law-requiring-certification-for-montreal-tours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/510511\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour guides call for ‘modernization’ of by-law requiring certification for Montreal tours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some tour guides in Montreal, including Indigenous guides, are saying the city\u2019s certification rules are making it harder for certain voices to be heard. <\/p>\n

They say that the single path to certification and language requirements limits access and creates barriers, urging the city to modernize its rules around tour guide certification, saying it creates bottlenecks for the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some Indigenous people, their first language will be their Indigenous language and they will speak either French or English,\u201d said Sophie-Claude Miller, an uncertified Cree First Nations tour guide for Haunted Montreal. \u201cIt\u2019s rare that they will speak both.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Sophie-Claude Miller, an uncertified Cree First Nations tour guide for Haunted Montreal, March 2, 2026 (Deirdra Danovitch, CityNews). <\/p>\n

Miller said the bilingual language requirement can exclude some Indigenous storytellers and for anglophone guide, Misha Pelletier, language is also a significant barrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing an English person in Montreal, applying to school like that where it\u2019s 80 per cent French, the possibility of getting in is hard,\u201d Pelletier said. \u201cIf my French is not proficient enough, then I\u2019m not accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Misha Pelletier, a freelance uncertified tour guide in Montreal outside Complexe Desjardins ahead of a morning tour, March 2, 2026. (Deirdra Danovitch, CityNews)<\/p>\n

Montreal is one of two cities in Canada that requires guides to be certified before they can start providing tours, a rule falling under by-law G-2. To date, there\u2019s only one way to get certified, and that\u2019s through a program at Institut de tourisme et d\u2019h\u00f4tellerie du Qu\u00e9bec (ITHQ).<\/p>\n

In a statement to CityNews, the ITHQ said that applicants are required to demonstrate French and English proficiency \u2013 a B2 level \u2013 unless the individual qualifies for an exemption based on their educational background. They said a third language is an asset in professional practice, but does not provide any particular advantage in the admissions process. <\/p>\n

According to the school\u2019s most recent data, 26 applicants out of 50 were admitted in 2024. <\/p>\n

In 2023, the course wasn\u2019t offered at all.<\/p>\n

The ITHQ said cohorts are limited to a maximum of 24 students, based on pedagogical and safety considerations. Programs being offered are done in sub-groups of approximately 12 participants to ensure optimal supervision and rigorous training, according to the ITHQ. <\/p>\n

The ITHQ also said the program is offered every other year in order to \u201crespond in a structured manner to the demand for certified tour guides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelletier is among others who want the by-law replaced with options like a standardized city exam or renewable municipal licenses \u2013 systems they said that would focus more on accountability than gatekeeping.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the licensing should be more focused on the safety of the tourist, traffic rules, and emergencies rather than a certificate through a school,\u201d Pelletier said. \u201cI think the clients are actually able to judge us on the quality of our experiences of our tours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also an eight month class at least, that\u2019s if you do the certification. If you go for other programs that offer tour guide, it\u2019s even longer. We\u2019re talking a few years. It\u2019s many thousands of dollars,\u201d Miller added. <\/p>\n

Donovan King, the founder of Haunted Montreal, said that one of his tours explores what he calls \u201ccolonial secrets\u201d of Old Montreal. He said the current training program offered by the ITHQ doesn\u2019t fully prepare guides to tell stories from that perspective and is calling on the city to repeal the by-law before summer begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need a guide with lived experience,\u201d King said. \u201cYou need someone who understands what it\u2019s like to be on the receiving end of colonialism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ITHQ said that the single pathway primarily serves as a guarantee of quality, further highlighting that it ensures certified guides possess both strong guiding techniques and in-depth knowledge of Montreal\u2019s history, urban development, and society.<\/p>\n

ITHQ also stated that history makes up just under 20 per cent of the 240 hour course, totaling 45 hours. They described the content as an overview of Montreal\u2019s evolving history by situating it within the history of Quebec and Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think bringing a diversity of perspective is crucial and if we\u2019re going to keep having those systemic barriers, basically that\u2019s what they are, it\u2019s going to be harder and harder for people to tell their stories,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some tour guides in Montreal, including Indigenous guides, are saying the city\u2019s certification rules are making it harder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-510511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}