How the municipal budget is prepared and adopted

The budget sets out the city’s financial projections for one fiscal year (12-month period). In Québec, the municipal fiscal year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31.

The budget is adopted by your elected representatives. It includes two types of expenditures:

• Operating expenses
• Capital investments

The operating budget

The operating budget projects Montréal’s current expenses for one year. Public security, transportation, water distribution and treatment, waste collection and recycling, cultural activities, park maintenance: many day-to-day services are funded by the operating budget.

In Québec, municipalities must present a balanced operating budget, meaning that expenditures must equal anticipated revenues, without resorting to borrowing. Operating expenses are primarily funded by taxes and other revenues collected by the city.

If Montréal were a family, all the expenses for groceries, electricity and home maintenance would be included in its operating budget.

The ten-year capital works program

The ten-year capital works program (in French, the Programme décennal d’immobilisations or PDI) includes a wide range of capital projects and programs that the city intends to undertake or complete over the next 10 years. These investments are used to maintain municipal infrastructures, such as road and water main repairs, and to undertake new projects, like building a new library or bike path.

These investments are financed through various sources such as government grants and long-term borrowing.

If Montréal were a family, all planned expenses related to purchasing a car or a house would be presented in its PDI.

How is the budget prepared?

The budget preparation process takes several months.