Safety ambassadors begin patrolling Montreal's Metro stations to beef up security

Philippe Gagnon makes the rounds at Place-des-Arts Metro station. He's one of the six safety ambassadors who started this month, a new position created by the city to increase security in Montreal's Metro stations. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) plans to have 20 safety ambassadors patrolling its stations by this spring.

"We're more boots on the ground, basically, for all the help people might need," said Gagnon, whose utility belt holds Narcan, a nasal spray that can be administered to people overdosing.

Often, that means helping people understand how to get to their destination or buy tickets. Other times, he says that means speaking with vulnerable people and directing them to a place to spend the night or take a shower. If necessary, he can call on a special constable, police officer or outreach worker.

At a news conference on Thursday morning, STM board chair Éric Alan Caldwell said the safety ambassadors are a necessary long-term component of Montreal's plan to adapt to what he calls a "new reality."

"Since the end of the pandemic, the social context has really changed in the Metro," he said.

According to STM security director Jocelyn Latulippe, there were 47,000 incident reports in 2023. That number has been steadily rising: there were 42,000 reports and interventions in 2022, 35,622 in 2021 and 31,628 in 2020.

Latulippe said there are "many reasons" behind the increase with the "social environment is evolving at a really fast pace."

The safety ambassadors, he said, "may be considered our eyes and ears into our stations," and will support both users and other security personnel. 

The STM plans to spend $5 million in 2024 on security, including $600,000 on safety ambassadors.

The safety ambassadors receive 80 hours of training, mostly focused on security. Their base salary is $22 per hour.

Safety ambassadors, said Latulippe, are part of a multi-pronged security approach that also involves teams of outreach workers, special constables and police officers, and the ambassadors allow for more rapid response for interventions.

The STM has added 16 new special constables since last December, bringing the total number to 200 constables.

In addition, eight workers from the Équipe mobile de médiation et d'intervention sociale (EMMIS), a team of intervention workers who respond to conflicts or other issues people in precarious living situations, will provide support to the STM.

Sam Watts, CEO of Welcome Hall Mission, says the use of safety ambassadors signals a shift in approach when it comes to the way the STM deals with the unhoused, a change he attributes to a necessity because of the larger numbers of people experiencing homelessness in Montreal and seeking shelter in its Metro stations.