Not everything will grind to a halt on Thanksgiving Day Monday. In fact, it might actually be a good shopping day for most people.
Here's a partial list of what will be operating normally, and what won't:
• Banks (no live tellers or loan officers)
• Most government offices (including passport offices and licence bureaus) and municipal court
• No mail delivery and no service at Canada Post post offices — except for postal counters in drug stores and other private businesses which are open
• Five of six Exo commuter train lines will be closed — the lone exception being the Vaudreuil-Hudson line, which will run on a Sunday schedule. (Ongoing work on the new REM line will put the St. Jerome and Deux-Montagnes lines out of commission.)
• Most malls and most retail, grocery, and drug stores — big box or not — are expected to remain open. (Westmount Square's mall, however, is expected to be closed.)
• SAQ stores should also be open — provided, of course, there are no surprise walkouts by employees, as we've seen recently
• The city's large public markets, including the Atwater and Jean-Talon markets
• The city's major attractions, including the Botanical Gardens, Science Centre, Insectarium and Planetarium (The Biodome is closed for renovations until next year.)
• Garbage pickup generally should continue as usual, except for a few isolated towns and boroughs. (Phone Montreal's 3-1-1 hotline, or check with your city or town.)
• Schedules for Montreal's arenas, sports centres, swimming pools and libraries vary, depending on the borough. Some will open, some won't. (Again, check with 3-1-1.)
• Just one Exo commuter train line, the Vaudreuil-Hudson line, will run — and only on a Sunday schedule.
• Buses and metros in Montreal, Laval and Longueuil will run on weekend schedules.