Montreal’s transit agency says too expensive to display ‘Go Habs Go!’ before winter
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/08/2025 (209 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
MONTREAL – Montreal’s transit agency says city buses won’t be flashing the “Go! Canadiens Go!” NHL hockey slogan any time soon, despite getting the green light to do so by Quebec’s language watchdog.
The electronic signs on each of the city’s more than 1,000 buses have to be updated manually.
Isabelle Tremblay, spokesperson for the Société de transport de Montréal, says the agency doesn’t have the money to modify them before the winter, during the regularly scheduled period to update signage. The Canadiens NHL season opener, meanwhile, is set for Oct. 8 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“One thing is certain: No changes to the buses can be made in the short term,” Tremblay said in an email.
The agency had removed the slogan from bus signs and replaced it with “Allez! Canadiens Allez!” to appease the language office, which enforces the province’s strict rules on the use of French. The watchdog had taken issue with the word “go,” calling it an anglicism.
It reversed course this June, after Quebec French-language Minister Jean-François Roberge intervened, declaring that the expression “Go Habs Go” was part of Quebec culture. The word Habs, short for “habitants” — a description of early settlers — is often used instead of the NHL team’s full name, the Montreal Canadiens.
Tremblay said the agency typically only updates the signage displayed on its buses once per year, in the winter; doing otherwise would be too costly. “We insist on using the usual update processes,” she said.
Modifying the screens is a complex task because each bus has to be updated manually with a USB key, according to internal correspondence between the agency and the language office obtained by The Canadian Press through an access to information request.
The public transit agency is struggling with an aging network it says it can no longer afford to maintain. In March, it decried a roughly $258-million reduction in provincial funding over three years for the upkeep of the metro system, far from the $585 million it had asked for.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2025.