Born and raised in Côte Saint-Luc, Mike Cohen has a long record of involvement in the community as a participant in municipal programming, a volunteer, a journalist and a consultant for city and borough hall. He attended elementary and high school in Côte Saint-Luc and was elected as the city councillor for District 2 on November 6, 2005, taking 92 percent of the vote compared to his competitor. He was elected by acclamation for a second term in the fall of 2009 and for a third term in the fall of 2013. On November 5, 2017 he ran for a fourth term and won 81 percent of the vote.
As an involved resident of Côte Saint-Luc, he spent many years coordinating events for the city and advising municipal staff and elected officials on media relations. He served two terms on the Community Leisure Council, which advised city council on matters related to recreation and culture programs. Twice, he was presented with the Volunteer of the Year Award in the communications category.
Mike coached and officiated in the local baseball, hockey and soccer programs, served on different city committees and continues even today to speak with community and senior citizen groups. During the 11 years he spent as the national director of communications and Israel Affairs for Canadian Jewish Congress (1988 to 1999), he travelled across Canada, the United States, Europe and to Israel. In addition, he has worked very closely with Holocaust survivors. He also played an active role in the community as a volunteer for the Federation of Jewish Community Services (Federation CJA), ProMontreal, Jewish National Fund and as a founder of the Association of Young Jewish Adults. Today he serves as the vice-chair of the annual Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors Foundation Sports Celebrity Breakfast.
Since February 1999 Mike has been the communications and marketing specialist for the English Montreal School Board , Quebec's largest English language public board, where he serves as the official spokesperson, oversees the website and handles all matters related to press relations, advertising, marketing and promotions. He is a graduate of the Concordia University Communications and Journalism Program. While in CEGEP and university he worked full-time for the now defunct Sunday Express Newspaper. He also serves as media consultant to several large companies, including Delmar International, Union Lighting & Decor and JCorp, as well as on a volunteer basis Congregation Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem in Côte Saint-Luc.
As a journalist, Mike contributes columns, features and travel advice to the following publications:
-The Suburban Newspaper is Quebec's largest English language weekly, with a circulation of 145,000 copies.
- The Montrealer is published once a month and focuses a lot of its attention on entertainment and travel.
-The Jewish Standard Magazine has editions in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, London, Hamilton, Windsor and Niagara Falls. The Montreal and Toronto editions are published quarterly.
-The Montreal Jewish Magazine is published twice a year and has a circulation of 95,000 copies.
- Inspirations is a publication focused on the special needs community and distributed twice annually in the Greater Montreal, Laval and South Shore areas. Mike is the founding editor.
-Sandboxworld.com is a website that caters to children of all age and their parents. Traffic is presently averaging 950,000 hits a month and on the rise. Log on to www.sandboxworld.com/travel.
-Canadian World Traveller has a print circulation of 150,000 and is distributed across the country four times a year.
-MtlRestoRap is a website launched in the fall of 2017 which profiles some of Montreal's most interesting restaurants.
This is a report the CBC National News did on me regarding multi-taskers in 2009.
Mike also has his own podcast:
https://soundcloud.com/themikecohenpodcast.
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-mike-cohen-podcast/id1508770681