Montreal to appeal ruling on police racial profiling

Lawyer Papa Mike Diomande is shown at the Montreal courthouse, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, representing Alexandre Lamontagne in a class action suit against the City of Montreal and Montreal police for racial profiling. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Pierre Saint-Arnaud)

Lawyers for the City of Montreal are set to appear before the Quebec Court of Appeal on Tuesday to challenge a landmark 2024 ruling regarding police racial profiling.

• READ MORE: Black Lives Ruined: The effects of racial profiling by police

As part of a class action lawsuit, citizens from minority groups alleged that they had been unfairly arrested, detained and targeted by police racial profiling between mid-August 2017 and January 2019.

In September 2024, Superior Court Judge Dominique Poulin ruled that “the City of Montreal is liable for racial profiling committed by its police officers in the course of their duties.”

She concluded that racial profiling is “systemic” within the Montreal police force and awarded damages of up to $5,000 per person to the plaintiffs.

• READ MORE: Black Lives Ruined: What goes through a Black man’s mind when he’s pulled over

According to the Black Coalition of Quebec, which initiated the class action lawsuit, this was the most significant ruling on the issue of racial profiling by police in Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 21, 2026.