Can 24-hour drinking zones transform a city?

Following in the footsteps of Berlin and Tokyo, venues in a new all-night district in Montreal’s city centre will be licensed to remain open, and serve alcohol, throughout the night.

City officials say the move will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue. Currently bars and clubs in the city have to close by 3am.

Montreal will become the first city in Canada to allow 24-hour drinking. In Toronto venues have to close by 2am, and it is 3am in Vancouver.

In the US, Las Vegas and New Orleans have long allowed bars and clubs to stay open all night. While in New York the cut off time is 4am, and in Los Angeles it is 2am.

On the other side of the Atlantic, pubs in London still typically close at 11pm. The city does, however, have a handful of nightclubs and bars that stay open all night, thanks to flexible licensing laws.

On a warm Friday evening in July, the centre of Montreal is bustling; busy bars and restaurants line the wide, pedestrianised streets.

“This is an opportunity for economic growth,” says Ericka Alneus, the city councillor behind the 24-hour plan.

“But it’s also to present, and reinforce, the cultural scene.”

In 2022, the annual financial value of Montreal’s nightlife was estimated to be worth C$2.25bn ($1.6bn; £1.3bn), according to advocacy group MTL 24/24. It says that from this, C$121m went in tax to the government.

Clearly, Ms Alneus hopes those figures will increase when venues are allowed to stay open all night.

But not everyone is supportive of the change: “We don’t have enough security for it,” says one concerned reveller.

A fellow citizen is worried about the practical implications: “It’s nice for people who like to party, but the Metro closes at 1.30am,” she says. “There has to be some kind of way people can go back home.”