Laurier—Sainte-Marie

Laurier—Sainte-Marie occupies the cultural heart of Montreal, extending from the base of Mount Royal south to the St. Lawrence River. The riding takes in parts of the Borough of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal — including Côte Saint-Louis and portions of the Plateau and Mile End — as well as the eastern section of downtown Montreal in the Borough of Ville-Marie, encompassing the Village and the Centre-Sud. With a population of approximately 116,000, it is a densely urban riding where over 50% of residents hold a university degree, yet median household income sits around $57,600, placing it among the lowest in Canada.

Candidates

Steven Guilbeault (Liberal) — Born in La Tuque in 1970, Guilbeault became one of Canada's most prominent environmental activists. He co-founded Équiterre in the 1990s and led Greenpeace Canada's climate and energy campaign. In 2001, he scaled the CN Tower to a height of 340 metres and unfurled a banner protesting Canada's climate policy ahead of UN negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol. He entered federal politics in 2019 and served as Minister of Canadian Heritage before being appointed Minister of Environment and Climate Change in 2021.

Nimâ Machouf (NDP) — Born in France in 1965 to Iranian parents, Machouf is an epidemiologist holding a doctorate in public health from the Université de Montréal with specialization in infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS. She completed post-doctoral studies in clinical epidemiology at McGill and teaches at the Université de Montréal's school of public health. She returned to Montreal at age 18 after fleeing political repression in Iran.

Marie-Eve-Lyne Michel (Bloc Québécois) — Michel previously worked as a political attaché for international relations in the Office of the Bloc Québécois Leader in the House of Commons. She launched her candidacy in Laurier—Sainte-Marie in early 2021.

Jean-Michel Lavarenne (Green) — Lavarenne represented the Green Party in a riding whose progressive, environmentally conscious electorate has historically been receptive to green politics.

About the Riding

The Plateau-Mont-Royal is one of Montreal's most iconic neighbourhoods — a dense, walkable quarter of colourful triplexes, independent bookshops, and café terraces that has long served as a centre for Quebec's arts, music, and literary scenes. Avenue Mont-Royal, the main commercial strip, is pedestrianized in summer. The neighbourhood is home to the National Theatre School of Canada, the Quebec Conservatory of Music, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.

The Village, centred along Sainte-Catherine Street East, is one of North America's largest LGBTQ+ neighbourhoods, with a vibrant nightlife and cultural scene. The Centre-Sud sector, historically more working-class, has seen significant transformation as artists, students, and young professionals have moved in.

Laurier—Sainte-Marie has been one of Quebec's most politically competitive urban ridings. It was held by the Bloc Québécois for two decades under Gilles Duceppe before the NDP captured it in 2011. The riding's highly educated, culturally engaged, and politically progressive electorate makes it a three-way battleground where the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc all mount serious campaigns. Housing affordability, cultural policy, climate action, and social justice issues dominate the local conversation.