Film permits in
Montréal

Application portal or method

Two-track and split by borough. In the 10 boroughs served by the film office you first contact the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision de Montréal (BCTM) to open a production file and get a file number, then send the completed application form plus documents to film.tv@montreal.ca. The occupation permit itself is applied for on the city's online form (entretien-circulation.demandes.montreal.ca/tournage-audiovisuel). A separate application is required for every public place occupied: roadway (street, lane, sidewalk), park or public square, or municipal building.

Boroughs coordinated by the BCTM (central film office)

10 of the 19 boroughs route through the BCTM: Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Saint-Laurent, Le Sud-Ouest, Ville-Marie, Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension. The same 10-borough list is what the city's own permit page shows as the BCTM procedure.

Boroughs that do NOT go through the BCTM

9 boroughs run their own film authorisation and publish their own procedure, fees and lead times: Anjou, Lachine, LaSalle, L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève, Montréal-Nord, Outremont, Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Saint-Léonard and Verdun. Verdun says so explicitly. Outremont is a partial exception: rue Hutchison shoots go to the BCTM. This borough-level split is the single most common outsider mistake. There is no one Montréal film permit.

Minimum lead time — BCTM boroughs

3 weeks recommended between opening the production file and the first day of shooting on public property. The BCTM notes processing times vary from May to October (high season) and advises submitting earlier.

Processing time — online public-domain occupation permit

2 business days, as published on the Anjou variant of the city permit page (this is the processing time for the online occupation permit itself, not the film authorisation).

Minimum lead time — Lachine and LaSalle

10 business days before the first shooting day. Lachine states it for the online occupation permit request; LaSalle states it for the borough filming authorisation, which is a separate step from the occupation permit.

Minimum lead time — Outremont

14 business days. Outremont requires an in-person appointment with the completed form and documents at the Service de la sécurité publique, 999 avenue McEachran, bureau 101.

BCTM file-analysis fee

38 $ per request analysed, from January 2026, regardless of the number of shooting days. Charged once the BCTM analyses a request, even if the shoot is cancelled. Does not apply to amateur shoots or shoots by a non-profit legal person.

Occupation permit fees — standard city tariff (as published for Anjou)

Taxes included. Permit issuance 30 $. Daily occupation charge on top: up to 99 m2 of a rear sidewalk, lane or unpaved surface 35 $/day; up to 49 m2 of street or sidewalk 40 $/day; 50–99 m2 of street or sidewalk 100 $/day; any surface over 100 m2 at 1,30 $ per m2. Lane-obstruction charge by width of local or arterial street obstructed: under 3 m (1 lane) 40 $/day; 3–6 m (2 lanes) 70 $/day; 6–9 m (3 lanes) 240 $/day; 9–12 m (4 lanes) 360 $/day. Permit valid for a maximum of one month; an extension means a new application.

Occupation permit fees — Outremont (own tariff, much higher)

Taxes included. Non-refundable analysis fee 227,14 $; permit issuance 126,88 $. Surface per day: up to 99 m2 of rear sidewalk/lane/unpaved 151,93 $; up to 49 m2 of street or sidewalk 92,29 $; 50–99 m2 183,44 $; 100–299 m2 at 3,38 $/m2; 300 m2 and over at 5,62 $/m2. Local street obstruction per day: 68,65 $ / 92,29 $ / 137,30 $ / 298,24 $ for 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 lanes. Arterial street obstruction per day: 92,29 $ / 298,24 $ / 596,46 $ / 918,33 $ for 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 lanes. Parking: 10,30 $/day for a space without a meter, 29,43 $/day per metered space, plus 3 $/hour lost meter revenue to a maximum of 12 h. Filming in a park, per hour: under 10 people 236 $; 10–30 people 352,50 $; over 30 people 586,25 $.

Permit fees — Lachine, LaSalle, Saint-Léonard

Lachine (taxes not included): permit issuance 150 $; borough park or public space 307 $/day; municipal building 520 $/day per location plus cost of works. LaSalle: filming authorisation 100 $/day; use of any part of a municipal building 750 $; other related costs possible, e.g. security services. Saint-Léonard (taxes included): filming fee 96 $/day.

Permit fees — the 10 BCTM boroughs

on request

What activity requires a permit

A temporary public-domain occupation permit is required to shoot in a public space, close a street, or occupy parking spaces. One application per public place occupied. A site layout sketch (croquis d'implantation) is required whenever the public domain is occupied (street, sidewalk, parking); a signage board / engineer-sealed plan is required for a street closure.

Published exemptions

Lachine: no charge for non-profit shoots, televised news bulletins and student shoots. BCTM: the 38 $ analysis fee does not apply to amateur shoots or non-profit legal persons. No city-wide exemption for small handheld crews on public property is published. See the not-published note below.

Permit duration

Maximum one month; to extend you must file a new application, and the permit can be reissued at most one additional time per year.

Montréal has no single film permit. A central film office (BCTM) coordinates 10 of 19 boroughs; the other 9 boroughs issue their own filming authorisation with their own forms, fees, lead times and in some cases their own consent rules. On top of whichever film authorisation applies, the physical occupation of the roadway is a separate city occupation permit filed through the online portal. Budget for two permits, not one, in Lachine/LaSalle-style boroughs.

Who must be notified

The producer is responsible for distributing a filming notice letter to riverains (immediate neighbours) affected by the shoot. The BCTM supplies a template. Lachine requires a letter for each separate obstruction. No city-wide notification radius is published.

Notice period before filming

not published

What the notice must contain — Outremont (most specific published version)

A bilingual letter to residents of the affected sectors giving the date and hours of filming and including the cell number of the location manager (régisseur des extérieurs) or, where applicable, the set manager.

What the notice must contain — BCTM boroughs

The BCTM provides the notice-letter template to the production; content beyond that template is not separately published. Lachine additionally requires written authorisations from other stakeholders (owners, school boards, STM) to accompany the application.

Whether polling or signed consent is required, and when

Yes, in some boroughs and situations. Outremont: any permit application for filming between 19:00 and 08:00, or on Sundays and statutory holidays, must be accompanied by the written signed authorisation of 90% of citizens in the affected sectors. BCTM: for a complete street closure and in certain specific cases, the BCTM requires the producer to run a consultation with affected riverains. Nothing equivalent is published for most other boroughs.

The 90% consent rule is borough law in Outremont, not a Montréal-wide rule. Producers who assume Outremont's threshold applies city-wide over-plan; producers who assume the BCTM's lighter notice-letter regime applies in Outremont get refused.

Lead time for a full or partial closure

not published

Cost of a closure — standard city tariff (as published for Anjou)

Closure charge per day on top of the permit and occupation fees: arterial street 160 $/day; any other public way except lanes 80 $/day. Lane-obstruction charges (40 $ to 360 $/day by width) apply in addition.

Cost of a closure — Outremont

Outremont publishes obstruction charges rather than a flat closure fee: arterial street obstruction runs 92,29 $/day (1 lane) to 918,33 $/day (4 lanes); local street 68,65 $/day to 298,24 $/day.

Circumstances under which a closure is granted

Full street closures are permitted but conditioned: the BCTM requires the producer to consult affected riverains for a complete street closure and in certain specific cases. Access to residences must be maintained throughout the occupation, with a clear, linear, continuous pedestrian passage at least 1.5 m wide usable by wheelchair users, blind pedestrians and parents with strollers, plus guaranteed passage for emergency vehicles and waste collection. If the street is inaccessible, an agreement with the borough public works team is required.

Whether a traffic management plan is required

Yes. A signage board (planche de signalisation / plan d'ingénieur) is required for any street closure. The online occupation-permit route asks for a signage plan or detour plan covering pedestrians, cyclists, cars, buses and priority vehicles, signed and sealed by an engineer. Each separate obstruction needs its own attached plan.

Whether a permit is required for basecamp or unit parking

Yes. Occupying the public domain including parking is covered by the temporary occupation permit and requires a site layout sketch (croquis d'implantation). Occupying parking spaces for an advertising shoot is given as an explicit example of what the permit is for.

Reserving off-street lots for basecamp

Spaces can be reserved on any of the 75 lots operated by the Agence de mobilité durable using a downloadable form obtained through the BCTM logistics page.

Cost of on-street parking occupation — Outremont (only borough publishing it separately)

10,30 $ per day for a space without a meter; 29,43 $ per day per metered space; plus 3 $ per hour of lost meter revenue to a maximum of 12 hours. Taxes included.

Cost of meter removal or bagging — city-wide

not published

Advance posting period for temporary no-parking signage

No-parking signs must be installed 12 to 14 hours before the start of works or the event. All other signage goes up at the start of the occupation. The permit holder is responsible for procuring and installing the signage, and must notify the Agence de mobilité durable through the online sign-installation form (formulaire de pose d'enseignes) as soon as the no-parking signs are up. All temporary signage must be removed as soon as the work ends.

Earliest occupation of the space

You may occupy the public domain at most 24 h before the actual start of the works or event.

When police paid duty is required

SPVM officers may direct traffic or temporarily close streets during the filming of a film, television series or commercial, and the SPVM also sells motorised escorts for road vehicles, lowboys, parades and camera cars. A City of Montréal permit remains mandatory depending on the activity. Separately, the borough may require police presence, for example for work affecting traffic signals or for major obstructions, in which case you file a demande de louage de services policiers en circulation with the SPVM.

Police hourly rates and minimum call-out

SPVM Tarification 2026: officer 118,60 $ per hour, minimum 4 hours; service vehicle 26,80 $ per hour, minimum 4 hours. Each request is assessed for the number of officers and duration required, taking weather and operational factors into account.

Late-request and cancellation surcharges

Any new request received less than 24 hours before the start of the police service attracts an additional 421,88 $. Any modification or cancellation received less than 24 hours before also attracts 421,88 $; if the cancellation arrives less than 3 hours before, a minimum of 4 hours per scheduled officer is billed as well.

When fire service involvement is required

Special effects using fire, flame or pyrotechnics require an authorisation from the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM). The city permit page states the SIM permit must be obtained at least 5 days before the start of filming; the SIM states it needs the request at least five business days before the performance to complete its analysis. Applicants must supply site-owner authorisation (or the borough-issued special event authorisation number), the certification/accreditation numbers of the pyrotechnician, fire performer or flame-effect professional including their SIM identification number, a detailed description of the performance, the safety measures and a site sketch. Contact 514-872-2662 / sim.evenement@ville.montreal.qc.ca.

Standby firefighter attendance and hourly rates

not published

Private security guard requirement

Outremont: any permit application for filming between 19:00 and 08:00 or on Sundays and holidays must also carry the production company's written undertaking to pay for a security guard from the agency of its choice. LaSalle notes that other related costs such as security services may be incurred.

Permitted filming hours in residential areas — city-wide

not published

Restricted hours — Outremont (the one borough publishing a threshold)

Filming between 19:00 and 08:00, and on Sundays and statutory holidays, is treated as restricted: it requires 90% signed resident consent plus a funded security guard. Outremont is the only borough publishing an explicit night/weekend threshold on the city permit page.

Noise bylaw limits

Règlement sur le bruit, R.R.V.M. c. B-3. Noise exceeding the maximum set by ordonnance, or specifically prohibited by the bylaw, is a nuisance and prohibited as contrary to public peace and order (art. 2). Specifically prohibited when heard outside or in another premises: noise produced by sound equipment whether inside or outside a building, shouting, clamour, singing, altercations and any other form of tapage (art. 9). Penalties (art. 21): a legal person faces 1 000 $ to 3 000 $ for a first offence, 3 000 $ to 6 000 $ for a first repeat, and 6 000 $ to 12 000 $ for further repeats. The city warns that standards differ from one borough to another.

Numeric decibel limits

not published

Process and lead time for a noise or curfew exemption

not published

Municipal rules on top of Transport Canada RPAS

The city's only stated instruction for drone shoots is to consult the Transport Canada regulations. It layers no published municipal drone approval on top for filming on the public domain.

Drones in city parks

Operating a drone for recreational purposes, or a motorised scale model such as a remote-controlled car, is prohibited in Montréal parks to protect users' privacy and quiet. The city does not publish how a permitted production drone flight in a park is authorised. In practice this sits inside the park occupation authorisation.

Restricted airspace or zones affecting the city

not published

Whether a separate municipal permit is needed

not published

Which authority controls parks

Split. In the 10 BCTM boroughs the film office arranges access to municipal buildings, grands parcs and other infrastructure. Elsewhere the borough does: Lachine charges 307 $/day for a borough park or public space and 520 $/day for a municipal building; LaSalle charges 750 $ for use of any part of a municipal building; Outremont charges by the hour by crew size (236 $ / 352,50 $ / 586,25 $ for under 10, 10–30 and over 30 people); Verdun routes park, green space and municipal building requests to the borough, with dedicated addresses for Quai 5160 – Maison de la culture and for the Auditorium de Verdun, borough hall, Marcel-Giroux community centre, Centre Elgar and sports facilities; Montréal-Nord splits public-domain requests (division des études techniques) from indoor public spaces (bureau des réservations).

Parc Jean-Drapeau

Not a BCTM location. Shooting at Parc Jean-Drapeau goes directly to the park's rental spaces service.

Heritage designation affecting locations

The Site patrimonial du Mont-Royal is a protected territory covering the Mount Royal park, the cemeteries, institutions, residential neighbourhoods and some of the largest green spaces on the island, governed by the Plan de protection et de mise en valeur du Mont-Royal and coordinated by the Bureau du Mont-Royal.

Additional lead time for parks and heritage locations

not published

Locations categorically off-limits

not published

Minimum general liability coverage

Varies by borough, which is itself the trap. BCTM boroughs: proof of civil liability insurance of 1 to 5 million dollars (the band is stated as a range, with the applicable figure set case by case). Lachine: 2 million dollars. LaSalle: minimum 1 million dollars. Outremont: minimum 1 million dollars of filming liability insurance.

Who must be named as additional insured

The Ville de Montréal must be named as coassurée (co-insured, not merely additional insured) on the policy. This wording is used identically across the BCTM boroughs, Lachine and LaSalle.

Additional coverage for special effects and pyrotechnics

For a special-effects performance the SIM requires insurance coverage in the amount of 5 million dollars covering the specific details of every aspect of the performance, plus coinsurance for all partner agencies and municipal organisations, along with any amendments.

Additional coverage for drones and watercraft

not published