New measures to speed up housing construction

The Quebec government is giving municipalities one more tool to accelerate the construction of housing units during a housing crisis.

Bill 79, which aims to enact the Act respecting contracts for municipal bodiesaims to reduce the administrative burden on cities. One of its measures is in addition to the “exceptional” and “temporary” power which had already been granted to municipalities in Bill 31.

The latter allowed cities, under certain conditions in periods of very low vacancy, to override their town planning regulations to allow the rapid construction of housing. Moreover, Quebec used this power for the first time for a 13-story project on Chemin Saint-Louis.

Bill 79 adds one more possibility, that of allowing mixed projects, with commercial and residential vocations. The government explained in a technical briefing Thursday that a city had requested it and that we wanted to allow it to all municipalities, because sometimes a project is more profitable by adding, for example, commercial on the ground floor. The project must, however, contain at least 50% housing, it was specified.

The government wants cities to be “more agile”. This possibility is however temporary for a period of three years, but could be extended by two years.

Collaborative mode and savings

The bill also allows municipalities to have access to the collaborative mode in carrying out large projects, a method which consists of continuously discussing with bidders from the design of a project, and which, according to the government, allows save time and money. The CAQ has also authorized it for major public infrastructure projects in Quebec in Bill 62.

“It will have to be authorized by the minister on a case-by-case basis. There are no specific rules in place at this time,” the government said.

These cases will arise especially in larger cities, where large infrastructure projects are more frequent.

Well received

The Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ) and the Fédération québécoise des municipalities (FQM) welcomed the tabling of the bill.

“We hope that this approach will encourage other ministries to adopt the same desire to simplify administrative processes for municipalities. Administrative procedures are increasingly complex, costly and demanding,” declared Martin Damphousse, president of the UMQ and mayor of Varennes, in a press release.

The president of the FQM speaks of a “step in the right direction”. “We must take the time to carefully analyze the concrete repercussions of these measures in order to ensure that they meet the expectations of our members and that they really simplify the daily lives of municipalities,” added Jacques Demers.