The best team-building and team-bonding activities foster camaraderie and collaboration, problem solving and creativity, entertainment and decompression. If you’re looking for the perfect way to bond your team and leave them with an unforgettably unifying experience, look no further than this ultimate guide to Montréal’s best group activities.
All for one, and one for all
Escape rooms and mazes unite groups in a quest for safe passage to freedom involving puzzles to be solved, mysteries to be cracked, and a race against the clock. A/Maze Montréal, Find the Key, Adventure City Games and EZKAPAZ offer a variety of hair-raising escape games involving brainteasers and tasks better tackled together than alone. A/Maze even offers a mobile escape car that teams must get started using clues scattered throughout the vehicle that can be transported to any location. Lighter in tone but every bit as entertaining, make your way through the Old Port’s SOS Labyrinthe as either a pirate on the move or a crime-solving detective (check the schedule for the daily themes).
Get teams racing against for clues with Scavenger Hunt Anywhere’s Old Montréal tour (ending with a well-deserved meal in one of the area’s fine dining establishments at the finish line), or Team Building Montréal’s activities, which include an Urban Challenge program, a unique BBQ Challenge, an HT Rally or various Social Give Back programs. Another option: Canada’s first geogaming startup, Walking Brain, will challenge your gang to think outside the box.
Let the games, um, continue
For those seeking games that feel a little less life-or-death that escape rooms, Laser Game Evolution has players navigate three multi-level mazes that are, at once, obscure and confusing. Digi-sports Canada brings the game to you, in the form of a mobile interactive digital wall that offers a variety of games including hockey, soccer, tennis and basketball.
If you just want to take the team out for an old-fashioned good time, BoulZeye, Pub & Attractions offer a wide range of options. With 16 bowling lanes, an arcade, escape games and a bistro-pub, BoulZeye has something for everyone. Randolph Gaming Pub is also a great option with two locations, both trendy game bars that also serve delicious food among a selection of 1,500 board games.
The fast and the curious
Let your attendees fulfill their need for speed on La Ronde amusement park’s famous rollercoasters Le Vampire, Le Démon and Le Monstre, the tallest two-track wooden coaster in the world. Those who prefer keeping their feet on firm ground will revel in the chance to fly a B737 in the AeroSim Experience or an Airbus A320 in the AviaSim flight simulators.
At the huge, indoor facilities of Action 500, give your team an incredible adrenaline rush with electric karting, paintball, laser tag and escape games galore.
Soaring to new heights
Fears are best faced together, and Montréal holds a wealth of options to reach brave new heights and overcome some phobias while you’re at it. Fly over the Old Port on the MTL Zipline. Climb at Centre d’Escalade Horizon Roc indoor rock-climbing gym. Or let La Grande Roue de Montréal, Canada’s tallest observation wheel, do the heavy lifting and take in the views over the city and St. Lawrence River!
To offer your small team the highest view of all (4,200 metres high above Montréal’s skyline, to be exact), go all-out and treat them to a Hélicraft experience, which offers different panoramic city tours for up to 3 passengers at a time. Team members can even fly the helicopter themselves during Hélicraft’s supervised pilot experience.
Skill sharing
The team that learns together, earns together. Arm your team with whole new glassblowing skills at Espace VERRE, a glass arts school housed in a former fire station. The fashionable Harricana par Mariouche offers workshops to make recycled fur pompoms, braided scarves or custom hats. At Les Affûtés your team can pick up a plethora of manual skills, so they can make their own cutting boards, t-shirts, terrariums, bags and even skateboards. For skills of a linguistic kind (and what professional can’t benefit from those?), look to UQAM’s non-credit language courses, offered in intensive formal from the end of May to mid-August, or as evening courses during the academic year.
For a physical challenge, sign up your team for a session at Beta Bloc, an indoor climbing facility that offers several competitive circuits that will challenge their problem solving skills while helping build confidence. For baseball fans, the Grand Chelem ball center offers baseball and softball training for all levels.
Let’s go on tour
If you want your group to get creative or learn about the history of the city, the Montréal experts at Guidatour have you covered with scavenger hunts that everyone will love. Other memorable walking tours are offered by Spade & Palacio, 16/42 tours and N-tours, or you can lead your own self-guided tours with TourBird or by following the itinerary of Cité Mémoire, a nighttime art installation that shines light on the Old Montréal’s illustrious past.
Let the good times roll with Fitz Montréal Bike Tours, offering private tours of neighbourhoods, landmarks or green laneways – whatever you like! Montréal On Wheels will lead your team on bicycles on thematic tours about the city’s history, neighbourhoods, architecture, cuisine and quirky charm. Dyad, meanwhile, is a one-stop shop for guided scooter tours of Montréal. See a full list of Montréal’s top guided tours here.
Navigating the waterways
Fans of choppy waters will never forget jet boating the Lachine Rapids with Saute-mouton jet boats, and suggests themed towels as the perfect conference accessory. Rafting Montréal has brought rafting enthusiasts, in groups of all sizes, on rafting adventures for more than three decades. For a more athletic experience, offer your team a 90-minute or 3-hour guided jet-ski tour with Wet Set MTL. NAVI creates unforgettable experiences for teams on kayaks, SUP, e-bikes or e-fatbikes, and KSF is a unique nautical centre where you can book half or full-day for one or a combo of these activities: SUP, river surfing, recreational kayaking, white-water kayaking, SUP Yoga and SUP Fitness team activities. H2O Adventures will enable your whole team to soak up the beauty of the Lachine Canal from the water on an aquatic cruise by swan pedal boat, canoe, kayak, electric boat or SUP.
Unite your team aboard the comfortable AML Cavalier Maxim by AML Cruises, where a spectacular view of the metropolis from the St. Lawrence River comes complete with a restaurant, entertainment, decorating services and more. Other unique floating experiences along the river include Bateau-Mouche cruises, Navark and Le Petit Navire, a small fleet of ultra-quiet, zero-pollution electric propulsion boats offering 45-minute or 2-hour guided cruises along the Old Port or the Lachine Canal.
To get the thrill of water sports all year round, Oasis Surf offers an indoor two-foot wave where team members can learn to surf under pro tutelage, plus there a beachy restaurant and a bar onsite.
Setting off into the wild
For some fresh air team fun, explore the skies above within the very city with a Plateau Astro workshop, designed to bring astronomy into everyone’s lives. Gather in a central-Montréal park at sundown and amaze at the sun surface, the moon’s craters and the space station.
Only 90 minutes from Montréal, Centre de villégiature Tremblant hosts entertainment, events, and high-profile concerts — plus the site also has 96 ski trails, two golf courses and a Golf Academy. Speaking of golf, Club de Golf Saint-Raphaël in the heart of Île Bizard and Golf Chateau-Bromont in the Eastern Townships both offer a variety of team activities.
Itching to get your team outdoors, but don’t have the right equipment? Écorécréo and LOCAPAQ have you covered with their array of recreational gear and vehicles.
Quirky and eclectic fun
Thinking out of the box is a skill any team needs, and Montréal specializes in the creative and unexpected. For sporty good times, book a day at the Ministry of Cricket and other Homeless Sports, where they specialize in lesser loved sports but also offer soccer, baseball and flag football games. Make sure your group’s aim is true with an activity that’s both fun and precise at Rage Axe Throwing Centre, where your team will master the art of Viking axe-throwing.
For something off the beaten path, set your team a-clicking at Le Saint Motel, a multisensory photography studio featuring 13 themed rooms ranging from an interior garden to a pink pool with Montréal as the backdrop. At the Montréal Museum of Illusions, your group will be immersed in over 70 mind-bending visual and educational exhibits including holograms, stereograms, optical illusions and fully immersive rooms designed to trick the mind.
The tastiest side of teamwork
Tapping into Montréal reputation as a world-class gourmet city, these team activities offer tours, tastings, cooking classes and more sure to cement that sense of togetherness. With Local Montréal Food Tours, your team will experience the city’s food scene from the inside out, with the guidance of local experts armed with loads of interesting tidbits, stories and connections. Beer lovers will relish this tour by City Brew Tours Montréal, introducing the group to the city’s best breweries, complete with backstage VIP access, food pairings and more. Distillerie de Montréal offers a tour of its spirits distillery that combines expertise, passion and lots of mouth-watering drinks, offering tastings and insider details on exceptional products created with Québec’s terroir in mind. With locations dotted around Montréal, Ateliers & Saveurs cooking school can cater to any team looking to create (and taste!) exciting new food and drink possibilities and pairings. And for dessert, educate your team about flavour, texture, origin and history with one of État de choc’s fun chocolate-making workshops — everyone will leave with a sugar high and a full heart!
Transport & event management
Finally, Montréal offers lots of help for team event organization, whether it’s transportation solutions (Coach Canada, Autocar Excellence), concierge services (TraveL.I.C.E events agency, VDM Global DMC), turnkey planning (Cantrav Services, Groupe Voyages Québec, JPdL Montréal) or more. And, of course, we at Business Events Montréal are always here to help.
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