Plateau-Mont-Royal moves to protect affordable rental units with planned bylaw

The Plateau-Mont-Royal borough plans to make it harder to turn duplexes and triplexes into single-family houses or commercial spaces. Plex to cottage conversions are popular in the Plateau area, but they reduce the number of dwellings available for renting.

“We realized that the conversion of duplex in cottages or triplex in duplexes – we lost a lot of units that way,” said says Plateau-Mont-Royal city councillor Marie Plourde. “That’s why we arrived with this revision. […] It’s the modification of the existing bylaw. 

By stopping reductions in the number of units to a building, the borough hopes to protect the rental housing stock that is already out there. 

“If everything goes well, we’re going to see in June it’s going to be official,” said Plourde.

Policies from 2021 allowed these changes. However, the new proposition will require landlords to go through a stricter approval process before asking tenants to leave. Landlords who proceed without the proper permits will be fined, Plourde told CityNews.

“We understand that families may need a place to grow. That’s the reason why we can have those transformations through a special derogation process with strict conditions to minimize the impact on the tenants,” she added.

The bylaw is also designed to prevent renovictions and preserve the diversity of the borough by ensuring a range of types of units for people with different budgets. 

Urban planner and Ordre des Urbanistes du Québec public affairs advisor David Alfaro Clark told CityNews, efforts to preserve existing housing stock are one important step in addressing the current housing crisis, and he urges all boroughs to consider other solutions too.

“In your average suburb where you have single family houses, detached single family houses, well, often the zoning says that you can only build detached single family houses and that’s something that municipalities need to look at,” Alfaro Clark said.

The zoning bylaw amendment (01-277) will go through a public consultation process on April 9 where residents, property owners, and other stakeholders including real estate stakeholders will be able to learn about the law and share their views.