Ensemble Montréal

The party was created in 2013 under the name Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal to support the candidacy of Denis Coderre for Mayor of Montréal during the November 3, 2013 municipal elections. In 2012, Denis Coderre announced his candidacy for mayor of Montreal.^[2] Beginning in June 2013, seventeen sitting members of Montreal City Council, as well as several borough councillors, switched their party affiliation to Coderre's team.^[3] Most were sitting as independent councillors following the dissolution of the Union Montréal party in the wake of Gérald Tremblay's resignation as mayor in 2012, although Coderre attracted support from former Vision Montréal and Projet Montréal councillors as well.

The party also announced a number of non-incumbent candidates in other races, including former Radio-Canada journalist Philippe Schnobb.^[4] However, the party also faced some criticism for the fact that of the 19 candidates announced by the party as of early August, fifteen were incumbents and only four were new candidates, resulting in media speculation that Coderre could potentially fall short of his early promise to put forward a slate of candidates that was at least 50 per cent new.^[5]

Denis Coderre also contested the Montreal municipal elections in 2017 under the name Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal. On losing the 2017 municipal election, Denis Coderre left municipal politics. To disassociate themselves from their resigning leader, the party known as Équipe Denis Coderre first declared an intention to change its name to "Mouvement Montréal", but failed to register the name before making the announcement, allowing another party to quickly reserve the name for themselves.^[8][9]

Thus, the party had to come up with another new name and changed to "Ensemble Montréal."^[10]

The party was renamed to Ensemble Montréal from Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal on January 11, 2018.^[11] Coderre ran for mayor against Plante once again, and was defeated with a decreased vote and seat share. The party won 23 seats, down 2, with Coderre resigning as party leader following the results declaration.^[12][13]

Seat totals following the election:

On February 28, 2025, Soraya Martinez Ferrada was elected leader by acclamation on February 28, becoming the party's candidate for mayor in the 2025 Montreal municipal election. Martínez Ferrada focussed her campaign on housing and affordability, and promised a review of the city's bike lanes. The party formed an electoral pact with Équipe LaSalle Team and Équipe Anjou.^[14] She was elected mayor on November 2, defeating Luc Rabouin of Projet Montréal. Ensemble Montréal also won a majority of seats on the Montreal City Council, with 34. The party became the first Montreal municipal party to elect 2 different mayors.^[15]

The party has often attacked Projet Montréal over anti-car policies. Interim party leader Lionel Perez has attacked the Plante Administration over its handling of the pilot project limiting private vehicular access to the Mount Royal service road.^[16]

The party has not consistently supported expansions to Montreal's mass-transit network. While then-Mayor Denis Coderre was a strong proponent of the Réseau express métropolitain, which is being built as a "public-public partnership" between the provincial government and the Caisse de dépôt et placement, the party has opposed the construction of the Pink Line (Montreal Metro). Ensemble Montréal proposed a pilot project that would keep the metro system open during the overnight hours on summer weekends.^[17]

While it was in power from 2013–2017, Ensemble Montréal planned to heat and widen sidewalks along a stretch of Sainte-Catherine Street West. Once Projet Montréal took office in 2017, the heating elements were removed from Sainte-Catherine's renovation plans due to their expense. However, plans to widen sidewalks and beautify the street were otherwise largely retained.