Montreal opposition criticizes city for stalled social housing projects

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Ahead of Quebec’s annual moving day, the city’s opposition blames Mayor Valérie Plante’s administration for three stalled social housing projects in vulnerable areas of the city.

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But the mayor’s office said it has done everything it can to move the projects forward and blamed insufficient provincial funding for why those units haven’t been built.

Since the housing crisis began, July 1 has become a horror show for dozens of Montrealers unable to find affordable housing. Last year, more than 100 households were left without a place to sleep after the traditional termination of many apartment leases.

The opposition said Plante’s government has shown it is unable to deliver on its promises to build social housing.

While ruling Projet Montréal has promised 6,000 new units a year for a decade, it hasn’t even built the 4,750 units promised since its last term, said Sonny Moroz, the housing critic for the opposition Ensemble Montréal.

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“If we can’t build these projects in the most vulnerable areas,” Moroz said, “how are we going to get to the promised 60,000 units?”

Moroz highlighted three projects totaling 180 units: at the former Armstrong factory near the Namur metro, and at Bates Rd., both in Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. A third project is located on avenue de l’Épée in the Parc-Extension district.

They have all gone through the processes within the city to be built, but are awaiting funding from the Accès-Logis program (which is mostly financed by the province) to proceed.

The Bates Rd. project was announced with great fanfare the year after the city ​​sold land to Les Habitations populaires Parc-Extension (Hapopex) for the construction of 31 studios and one-bedroom apartments.

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“It’s an early warning signal, when Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce has more than 2,400 people waiting for social and affordable housing, and those numbers haven’t gone down in seven or eight years,” Moroz said.

“We already voted on these projects at the council level, and they are being deprioritized. We want an explanation on how these projects will be developed and when.”

Marikym Gaudreault, a spokeswoman for the city’s executive committee, said Montreal has been woefully let down by the province. The city requested $265 million over the next five years to fund its backlogged housing projects, but received only $30 million, she said. So certain choices had to be made.

Moroz wants to know why those specific projects were delayed.

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“We don’t have a schedule. If we get another $30 million, will we be on that list?

Park-Extension councilor Mary Deros said she is frustrated with the lack of progress on the avenue de l’Épée project, especially since the city council approved a demolition permit in March so construction can begin.

“I am extremely disappointed,” Deros said. “Day after day, I get calls from people who can no longer afford rent increases. Everyone has been waiting patiently and hopefully for social housing in de l’Épée. A lot of people were hopeful and we’ve all been disappointed.”

Spokespeople for ROMEL, Hapopex and Brique-par-Brique, the organizations spearheading the social housing projects in question, were not available for comment Thursday.

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The property lobby Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) is blaming Prime Minister François Legault’s government squarely.

“How can the Legault government so grossly ignore the housing crisis? How can you abandon thousands of desperate renter homes like this?” FRAPRU spokeswoman Véronique Laflamme said in a statement.

The latest provincial budget does not announce additional social housing units, while “the rental housing shortage affects almost all of Quebec, taking dramatic proportions in several places, and while rents continue to skyrocket, making the situation of renters low and modest income unsustainable,” Laflamme said.

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