Montreal’s motorists faced frustrating service disruptions today as the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) experienced widespread technical issues affecting both in-person and online services. The outage began early this morning, leaving many Montrealers unable to access essential vehicle and licensing services.
“It’s been absolutely chaotic,” explained Marie Tremblay, who waited three hours at the SAAQ office on René-Lévesque Boulevard before learning about the system-wide failure. “I took the day off work to renew my license, and now I’ll have to do it all over again.”
The technical problems stem from what SAAQ officials described as “a critical server malfunction” affecting their central database. According to spokesperson Jean-Philippe Lavoie, technicians have been working since early morning to restore functionality.
“We understand the inconvenience this causes to the public,” Lavoie stated. “Our priority is restoring full service as quickly as possible while ensuring data integrity remains protected.”
This outage comes at a particularly challenging time, as many Montrealers are preparing for summer travel and seasonal vehicle registrations. The timing couldn’t be worse for local delivery driver Pascal Nguyen, who found himself unable to complete required paperwork for his commercial license renewal.
“Every day I can’t drive means income lost,” Nguyen told me outside the closed Saint-Laurent Boulevard service center. “They should have better backup systems for essential services.”
While most services remain unavailable, SAAQ officials have confirmed that certain emergency functions are still operational. Specifically, police and authorized emergency services maintain access to basic vehicle registration verification through secondary systems.
For ordinary citizens, however, the options are limited. Those needing immediate documentation for court appearances or legal requirements should visit their nearest service center, where staff are issuing temporary paper confirmations for urgent situations.
Montreal traffic attorney Maître Sophie Bergeron advised clients to document their attempts to access SAAQ services. “Keep records of your visits or online attempts,” she recommended. “This will help if you face penalties due to documentation delays beyond your control.”
The SAAQ expects most services to resume by tomorrow morning, though complete restoration might take longer. The agency plans to extend service hours at major Montreal locations to accommodate the backlog once systems return online.
My own visit to the Décarie Boulevard center revealed a handwritten sign directing visitors to check the SAAQ website for updates. Ironically, the website itself displayed an error message for most of the afternoon.
For those with urgent needs, the SAAQ has established a temporary hotline (514-555-7788) offering guidance on emergency options. However, multiple calls to this number resulted in extended wait times exceeding 40 minutes.
Local driving schools report cascading effects, with road tests canceled and certification paperwork delayed. “We’ve had to reschedule fifteen students today alone,” said Driving Academy Montreal owner Richard Lefebvre. “It creates a domino effect that will impact our schedule for weeks.”
The Montreal Chamber of Commerce expressed concern about the economic impact of such disruptions. “Vehicle-dependent businesses face significant challenges when basic administrative services become unavailable,” noted Chamber representative Isabelle Duchesne. “We encourage the SAAQ to invest in more robust systems to prevent future outages.”
Until full service resumes, Montrealers requiring SAAQ services should verify availability before visiting service centers. The most recent updates can be found through the SAAQ’s social media channels, which have remained operational throughout the technical difficulties.
For now, patience appears to be the only option for frustrated citizens. As Hochelaga resident Thomas Bélanger put it while walking away from the closed service center on Pie-IX Boulevard, “C’est Montréal—another day, another adventure in bureaucracy.”
