Cathy Wong

Borough Mayor, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, City of Montreal (QC)

Cathy Wong is a long-time activist for women’s rights and gender equality, a mother of two, and an advocate for building a more inclusive city. She became the first woman to serve as President of Montreal’s City Council in 2017, while also serving as City Councillor for the Peter-McGill district in Ville-Marie from 2017 to 2021. She later joined Montreal Executive Committee, overseeing diversity, French language, employment inclusion, and anti-racism initiatives.

With a background in law, Cathy Wong previously chaired both the Montreal Youth Council and the Conseil des Montréalaises, a consultative body that advises the municipal administration on issues related to gender equality and the status of women. She has also contributed to the work of several boards of directors, including Juripop, Concordia University, Tourisme Montréal, and artch, a Quebec-based non-profit organization dedicated to identifying, supporting, training, and promoting emerging contemporary artists.

Former reporter for the television program La Course Évasion autour du monde, she continued her commitment to the cultural sector as vice-chair of Telefilm Canada from 2021 to 2025, where she championed issues related to official languages, as well as equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Cathy Wong returned to municipal politics in 2025 and now serves as Mayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal Borough, in Montreal. 

In this role, she worked last April on a modernized noise bylaw replacing subjective noise complaints with new sound thresholds and measures based on spectral emergence. The changes made to the bylaw removed police from music venue noise enforcement in favor of mediators, and lowered first-offence fines to protect both nightlife and cultural scenes.

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Location

National Arts Centre, Fourth Stage
1 Elgin Street, Ottawa Canada