Montr�al, a winter city

Winter adds a special dimension to the Montr�al landscape. Snow puts buildings and vegetation in a new light and makes the City feel cozier. Due to the unavoidable issues of safety and accessibility, however, these positive aspects of winter are quickly overshadowed by snow-removal practices.

The Master Plan emphasizes the necessity of improving the City's adaptation to the realities of winter and ensuring that the design and maintenance of the public realm fosters the City's liveability, regardless of the season. The City intends on promoting winter-conscious design by taking the following measures:

Plan and upgrade public spaces in terms of their use in winter, particularly for leisure and cultural purposes;
Identify public spaces that require improvements in order to increase their accessibility and to attract more people during the winter;
Take into account the needs of the mobility-impaired in designing the public realm;
Design street furniture components suitable for winter conditions;
Enhance the winter dimension of Montr�al's nightscape within the context of the Plan lumi�re (Lighting Plan).