Montreal is beautiful.
It’s also a bit strange.
Especially when compared to other Canadian cities. Montreal does things that are specific to Montreal, like waiting in line to scarf back a poutine at 3 am…
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Here is a collection of whacky, wild, and strange things that happen across Montreal that all make complete sense to Montrealers.
It’s a metro, not a subway
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Of all the Canadian cities with underground transit, Montreal is the only one that refers to its public transit network as a metro instead of a subway.
And you know what? It makes sense.
Subways are sandwiches, metros are underground rail cars.
Staff + you = drinks
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In some Canadian cities (ahem, Toronto), you get a lot of “it was my birthday last night” excuses from bartenders and waiting staff who refuse to drink with you.
In Montreal, floor staff are encouraged to drink and socialize with customers.
Heck, you might even get some hooch on the house.
So many plexes
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Other Canadian cities are dominated by single-family homes and skyrise condos. Not Montreal though.
Our city is full of duplexes, triplexes, and rowhouses.
According to Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montreal’s obsession with plexes (obsPLEXion?) stems from the 19th century, when the city fused French and Scottish traditions of “stacking one flat on top of another.”
And besides, look how pretty they are!
Those staircases, though
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Much like the iconic fire escapes on buildings in Chicago and New York City, winding staircases outside of apartments have become a staple of Montreal. So much so, in fact, that back in 2012, the Musée Pointe-à-Callière included them on their list of the most iconic symbols of the city.
Historically, the reasoning behind the spiral staircase is pretty sensible: to save space.
During the late 1880s, when Montreal was experiencing a building boom, city officials forced developers to push the facades of their homes away from the street to save room, and thus, the city’s iconic spiral staircase boom had begun.
Apartment sizes
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If you try telling someone not from Montreal that you live in a “five and a half,” they might think you’re talking square footage.
In Montreal, it’s common to refer to apartments using the non-bathrooms as a numerical indicator and bathrooms as a half room.
Do you have a two-bedroom spot in NDG with one bathroom? You have a 4.5 (it’s automatically assumed every apartment has a living room and a kitchen).
Do you want to know why? Because that makes sense.
Other Canadian cities break down their apartment by studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, loft, etc.
We don’t have happy hour
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Montreal technically doesn’t have a happy hour — we have 5 à 7.
We have a happy two hours. And sometimes longer.
Different restaurants and bars have different hours, and it’s not uncommon for 5 à 7s to go for multiple hours. Some bars are even doing 5 à 7 deals all day Sunday.
Fuse a fun 5 à 7 with a bartender who drinks and you’ll have yourself a day.
The Underground City
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Montreal’s Underground City is a series of interconnected shopping centers which link to numerous stops along with Montreal’s metro (not Subway).
You can go from specialty shops to food courts and movie theatres, all without having to go outside. During the holidays, it transforms into a beautiful underground wonderland.
Just don’t confuse the Underground City with the sewers in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — nobody lives there, especially not radioactive turtles.
(Or at least, none that we know of.)
Last call & 3 am meals
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Montreal likes to party.
COVID-19 aside, last call is 2:45 am which is quite late compared to the rest of the country.
And once last call is done and you’re booted out of the bar, resto, club, or tavern, it’s not uncommon to stand in line for a while to get that greasy 3 am food.
You don’t often consider 3 am to be busy times at restaurants and fast food joints but in Montreal, it’s commonplace.
We have CEGEPs
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CEGEPs are exclusively Quebecois.
CEGEPS (Collège d’enseignement general et professionnel), which means General and professional teaching college in English, is referred to as “college” in other parts of the continent.
But saying “I’m heading to a college party” still sounds better than “that was a wild CEGEP party last night…”
But hey, acronyms make sense — what does college stand for?
Ruelles rule
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It’s strange but Montreal has really nice alleyways.
Technically, they’re called ruelles — a service road parallel to streets that serve as the backyards to some houses and apartments.
The characteristic is unique to Montreal and was part of the city’s urban planning from the 1890s to 1930s.
According to the Ville de Montreal, the city has over 450 km of ruelles, decorated with trees, greenery, benches, and even cool graffiti.
It’s odd but doesn’t it make more sense than a boring cement alleyway? (Ahem, Toronto…)
What are other strange and wild things that are unique to Montreal? Sound off in the comments below.
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