Summary#
Montréal City Council unanimously adopted an orientation supporting a renewal of provincial funding for the SPVM’s Équipe de la surveillance des délinquants sexuels (Sex Offender Surveillance Team, ESDS). The orientation would authorize a grant of up to $2,030,000 for April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2027, and keep seven temporary positions for that period. City staff say the goal is to support the team’s work on monitoring and preventing sexual violence. The agglomeration council makes the final decision at a later meeting.
- The orientation supports receiving a maximum $2,030,000 grant from Quebec’s Ministry of Public Security.
- It supports keeping six temporary police positions and one civilian position in the SPVM for the grant period.
- It supports giving the SPVM director authority to sign a funding agreement that will set the grant’s administrative and financial terms.
- It supports additional revenue and spending budgets of $761,200 for 2025 and $1,015,000 for 2026, plus an adjustment to the budget base for the following year.
- This renews a grant arrangement that ran from April 2022 to March 2025. It does not change the legal rules governing the sex-offender registry.
What it means for you#
- SPVM: The orientation supports continuing the ESDS and its seven temporary positions through March 31, 2027. City staff say the team monitors people convicted of sexual offences, follows up on people considered at high risk, and may conduct observations or start investigations when information suggests a risk to someone’s safety.
- Montréal residents: City staff say the team’s work is intended to help prevent sexual violence and protect the public from reoffending. Those are stated aims, not guaranteed results.
- People subject to police monitoring: The orientation does not create new offences, penalties, or registry rules. The materials do not set out a new process for deciding who the team monitors.
Money#
The proposed funding is a maximum $2,030,000 grant; the team’s estimated total cost for the period is $2,737,600.
- The grant is budgeted at $761,200 for 2025, $1,015,000 for 2026, and $253,800 for January–March 2027.
- Estimated costs are $2,314,900 for salaries, $122,700 for police overtime, and $300,000 for goods and services.
- The $707,600 gap between the grant and estimated costs is assigned to the SPVM. City staff say it is expected to be covered by savings from vacant positions, but warn that those savings may not be available. They say the expense is borne by the agglomeration because public safety is an agglomeration responsibility, and that the grant will cover most of the cost.
What is unclear#
- The funding agreement, which would set the grant’s administrative and financial terms, is not included.
- The materials do not give the amount of the budget-base adjustment for the year after 2026.
- The materials do not explain how the SPVM would cover the $707,600 gap if savings from vacant positions are insufficient.
- The materials do not specify how the team chooses whom to monitor or what oversight applies to its observations and investigations.
Case for#
- City staff say the team’s workload increased after changes to how Quebec’s sex-offender registry is managed. Continuing the grant would help fund the added work.
- A dedicated team could keep attention on people assessed as high risk and support prevention work, including projects aimed at young people. These are intended benefits, not assured outcomes.
- The funding is time-limited, and the province would contribute most of the estimated cost.
Case against#
- The grant does not cover the full estimated cost. The SPVM must find $707,600, and staff identify a risk that expected vacancy savings may not be available.
- The orientation continues police monitoring and investigative activity without describing how people are selected for follow-up or what oversight applies.
- The funding terms are not yet set out in the materials; the agreement would define them later.