In 2026, at the corner of Saint-Laurent Boulevard and Ontario Street in downtown Montreal, 167 affordable student units will replace Les Katacombes building, once the meeting place for metal music fans.

Promoter UTILE will rent these units 20 to 30 per cent under market prices. Le Méridien is this non-profit’s third student housing project in Montreal and its fourth in Quebec.

UTILE received preferential treatment from the City of Montreal for this project, obtaining a waiver to allow greater density. By adding extra floors, UTILE will see land value increase by $5.6 million. This sum will add leverage to finance the next affordable student housing project. UTILE plans to build and operate 3,000 affordable student housing units by 2027.

Montreal also created a fast track for project processing; Le Méridien saved a year. In the current inflationary context, that’s huge; savings should reach five per cent, says Laurent Levesque, UTILE cofounder.

The facilitating measures amount to $7 million, almost as much as the municipal subsidy. These are at zero cost to the city of Montreal..

Project Le Méridien should not be an exception, it should be the rule, says Laboratoire pour l’abordabilité du bâti (LAB), a new Quebec think tank. 

A new think tank on housing affordability

LAB aims to provide mayors, MPs and the provincial government with solutions to facilitate and accelerate non-profit housing on their territory – at no or little cost. 

“There’s only one way to create and maintain housing affordability, and that’s for there to be constantly more places available than people looking for a place to live,” says Adam Mongrain, Director of Housing at Vivre en Ville, one of LAB’s founding members.

“Given the extreme shortage, we need to favour the players whose core business generates units, not profits. We must grant normative, not discretionary, advantages to non-profit real estate developers,” says Mongrain.

Vivre en Ville is a public interest organization working on sustainable community development. The other LAB cofounders are Arpent, an urban and regional planning collective enterprise and promoter UTILE. 

“Our complementary expertise enables us to develop robust solutions,” says Mathieu Lemay, project coordinator for Arpent. “We contribute with our expertise in technical and regulatory levers. Vivre en Ville has a 360-degree vision of housing, mobility, and land use planning. And UTILE is our proof-of-concept that non-profit real estate promoters deliver,” says Lemay

LAB’s solutions to create affordable housing quickly fit into four categories: adapt the legislation, speed the process, change the financing, and educate. 

A one-pager has been created for each solution. It explains how to deploy the measure, the objectives and expected results, the eligible projects and the rationale for the action.

Solutions will be added as LAB members monitor the best practices in other geography. 

LAB’s seven solutions include:

1. Implement differentiated zoning

“We suggest that the Quebec government amends the Land Use Planning and Development Act so municipalities can apply differentiated zoning depending on the legal status of the project developer,” says Lemay. 

This would allow  a municipality to  authorize a higher density building (floor area ratio, permitted height, number of storeys, maximum number of dwellings) for eligible projects.

This could encourage landowners to sell their land for affordable housing, and potentially accelerate and encourage the development of non-profit housing projects and the number of units each project delivers. 

2. Finance by density

This measure is complementary to and distinct from differentiated zoning. “Differentiated zoning is a normative measure; it facilitates access to land for non-profit promoters by making purchasing land on the private market easier. A density exemption is a discretionary measure; it aims to increase the value of land already purchased,” says  Florence Clermont, project manager at l’Arpent.

3. Overcome NIMBYs

In Quebec, specific structuring projects, community facilities, heritage buildings, and housing projects intended for persons requiring assistance, protection, care, or lodging are exempt from approval by those eligible to vote. 

LAB partners suggest the provincial government extend this power to all projects composed of 100 per cent of units offering sustainable affordability.

Affordable housing projects would still require a public consultation to inform the population and gather comments. But those consultations would not be followed by a referendum and a vote. Following comments from the consultation, municipalities could ask the non-profit promoter for adjustments, and they would have the final say on approval. 

4. Create a fast-track

In June 2022, Sherbrooke City Council approved a new grid for analyzing construction projects. Specific criteria will automatically guarantee more points, allowing the file to move to the top of the pile. 

Affordable housing is one of these criteria. When elected, Sherbrooke’s Mayor, Evelyne Beaudoin, stated her intention to rebalance the real estate market by encouraging the non-profit sector to occupy a larger market share.

Such a fast track is part of LAB solutions.

5. Advance initial financing

Municipalities have budgets to help finance affordable housing. To access these funds, developers must complete their initial financing package. Advancing this disbursement could increase the chances of these projects seeing the light of day. 

It’s not a question of increasing the sums disbursed by municipalities, simply of reviewing the timetable for financing the start-up phase of these projects, says Mongrain.

“Municipalities could agree to make some of the money earmarked for affordable housing available to developers before the project is eligible for a provincial subsidy,” says Mongrain.

This would make it possible to purchase land before the price becomes prohibitive.

6. Add dedicated project managers for affordable housing

“More and more municipalities have created green transition project manager positions to mark the importance of the climate issue,” says Clermont. “The housing crisis calls for the creation of project managers for affordable housing.” 

This solution would have managers accompany non-profit developers to break down barriers and deliver units as quickly as possible.

7. Educate urban planning advisory committees about the specificities of non-profit housing

Every Quebec town has urban planning advisory committee (CCU). This working group include at least one member of the municipal council and residents, guiding, orienting and supporting its action in urban planning matters.

The creation of a CCU brings citizens closer to urban planning issues, says LAB. Citizens bear their experience living in the municipality and concerns for developing their territory to the table. 

In some cases, elected officials and citizens provide specific expertise or reflect the interests of certain socio-economic groups concerned with commercial development, environmental protection, heritage conservation, etc.

“CCU members have values,” says Clermont. “And that could translate into bias. For example, asking for specific materials for aesthetic reasons raises costs. A non-profit creating affordable units cannot raise the rent to compensate for higher costs, as a private promoter could. It would derail the purpose.” 

“Educating citizens members of CCU on the impact of their demands on non-profit promoters might facilitate the delivery of affordable housing by these developers.”

What about private developers?

One could expect private developers to see these solutions as unfair competition, says Mongrain.

“But there are three things to consider. First, our group also lobbies to simplify Quebec construction rules. That would benefit all promoters. Second, private promoters do not prioritize affordable housing, especially in an inflationary context.”

“And third, all solutions target the use of the building. A private promoter could benefit from all the advantages if [they are] commissioned by a non-profit and all the units are affordable.”

Since its launch in May 2023, LAB has done a webinar and a few presentations. “For now, we respond to demand and meet with municipalities who reach us,” says Mongrain.

What would it take for these solutions to become mainstream? According to Mongrain, “Citizens and governments need to agree on the four problems related to real estate.” 

“First, when there aren’t enough places to live, people won’t show solidarity. It’s up to the authorities to force affordability. Second, you can’t have houses that allow you to save and at the same time guarantee that everyone will be able to live where they want in a unit that suits their needs.” 

“Third, the private market will never overproduce. Fourth, how we produce prevents us from achieving the velocity required to rebalance supply and demand.”

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