Montreal getting tougher on irresponsible landlords
Posted May 11, 2023 3:09 pm.
Last Updated May 11, 2023 3:36 pm.
Montreal announces a new, tougher bylaw regulating the maintenance and occupation of buildings in the city – focusing on vacant and heritage buildings.
Citing concerns over resident safety, as well as Montreal’s overall image, the city is adopting more robust regulations, adding hefty fines, and more tools for city inspectors to help them with their work on the ground.
During a press conference Thursday, members of the city’s administration outlined the new regulation.
“The message we want to send to landlords is to be part of making sure the city is beautiful,” said councillor Ericka Alneus, on the city’s executive committee. “That everybody has to take care of it and you should part of it.”
A bylaw with more teeth
The goal is to prevent irresponsible and unscrupulous owners from failing to properly maintain their buildings.
“When we ask them to invest in a vacant building, the building is going to be in good condition for a longer time so we can reuse it, and maybe it’s an incentive to rent it to someone,” said Robert Beaudry, in charge of urban planning on the executive committee of the city of Montreal,
According to the new bylaw, vacant buildings will have to be registered in the city register.
The new regulations also provide for increased fines in the event of non-compliance, which may reach $250,000 in the case of a heritage building.
“The bylaw is really a tool where we ask for accountability from the landlord,” said Alneus. “It’s not just the responsibility of the city or the borough to take care of it. Now, you have a building, you have to take care of it.”
The city’s new by-law will also improve the standards and the protection and surveillance measures relating to vacant buildings and will allow inspectors to intervene more quickly.
