Downtown business owner urges Montreal to work 24/7 to fix Ste-Catherine St.

A Chinese restaurant in downtown Montreal is struggling to survive, and the owner blames years of roadwork on nearby Ste-Catherine St. W. for driving customers away.

Feigang Fei, who owns the restaurant Cuisine Aunt Dai, says the city should treat the construction project as a priority, running shifts 24/7 to reopen the downtown artery as fast as possible, including on Sundays and holidays.

“Whatever they pay, they can pay extra. You have to treat it like it’s urgent,” he said in an interview. On Sunday, Fei posted a photo on X of the nearby construction site sitting empty on a warm and sunny day, which he said would’ve been a perfect opportunity to make progress on the project.

“(Business owners) still make their living working on Sundays, and at the same time you’re blocking them. It doesn’t sound fair,” he pleaded.

Construction on Ste-Catherine between Peel and St-Marc Sts. began in August 2025 and was scheduled to continue until 2030 until Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada announced in February that the project will finish one year early. 

Asked if the city would consider extending working hours and paying construction workers overtime for the Ste-Catherine project, city councillor Leslie Roberts said laws make it impossible.

“I asked that exact question when the administration took over. We were meeting with the services, and I said, ‘Can we do nighttime? Can we work weekends? The rules are clear. We can’t,” he said in an interview.

“This weekend would have been a perfect opportunity, but unfortunately, the rules are, laws are clear. The reason why it’s because people live there, so you can’t go around the clock, because it would be disturbing the neighbourhood.”

A municipal bylaw on “nuisance caused by construction” prohibits any work to be carried on between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., Sundays, and public holidays.

But for Fei, the impact of the construction outweighs the noise disturbance. The pavement is torn wide open across the width of the street, leaving behind a pit of exposed pipes, wires and dust. People walking down Ste-Catherine are forced to snake through wire fences.

“It’s not attractive at all,” Fei said.

“Whatever they pay, they can pay extra. You have to treat it like it’s urgent,” says restaurant owner Feigang Fei. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

A server at Petit Poisson Bistro on Ste-Catherine St. said he walks down a completely different street to get to his job.

“Even when I walk to work, it’s getting pretty frustrating,” said Félix Paul St-Pierre. “I can’t really imagine what it’s like for the actual customers,” he said, noting the restaurant has been much quieter since the construction began.

Provincial labour laws also limit the number of hours that can be worked by employees to five days a week, and Roberts said paying overtime would cost taxpayers more. “We don’t have the money,” he said.

Hiring additional contractors is not an option either, Roberts said, since the contracts have already been awarded.

“I feel for the guy. I feel for everybody who’s affected,” Roberts said, offering to show Fei how to apply for relief for the city, which he acknowledged can be overwhelming.

Leora Schertzer

Leora Schertzer is a reporter at the Montreal Gazette who thrives on the chase. Whether it’s producing a documentary about sewage or investigating a Nazi gold scandal, it’s the novelty and adrenaline that keep her in this challenging industry. Send her tips at [email protected].

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