News
Support for Non-Market Housing Sud-Ouest
Jean Giguère
Author :
WikiResidence
Source :
10/21/26
The Sud-Ouest borough is exempting non-profit organizations from street-occupation permit fees on their non-market housing construction sites. A simple, concrete lever: the money saved stays in the projects, serving the homes. A look at two sites benefiting from it, in Pointe-Saint-Charles and Côte-Saint-Paul.
When a construction site occupies part of a street or sidewalk, the borough charges permit fees, paid for the entire duration of the work. For a non-profit building non-market housing, those fees can weigh heavily on a tight budget.
The Sud-Ouest borough chose to exempt four organizations, covering some 745 units in total — the equivalent of a little over $4 million per year on average. Here are the two projects not yet featured here.
651 Bridge Street, Pointe-Saint-Charles
This is the first housing project in the Bridge-Bonaventure sector, in Pointe-Saint-Charles's Northern Triangle, at the corner of Bridge, Wellington and Saint-Patrick streets.
Developed by the non-profit housing organization Point commun, with Bâtir son quartier and Broccolini as project lead, its first phase is a 20-storey tower of 376 non-market homes — studios and 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom units — with community and commercial space on the ground floor.
The construction budget is $130 million. Financing combines $11.6 million from the Government of Canada, $25.3 million from the Government of Quebec (a grant and a patient loan, through the SHQ's PHAQ and PFH programs) and $12.06 million from the City of Montreal, under the Canada-Quebec agreement to accelerate housing construction.
Work began in the summer of 2026, with delivery expected in the fall of 2028.
For this project alone, the borough is waiving $4,449,633 in occupation fees over three years — money that stays in the project's viability.
Old Brewery Mission — 1685-1693 De l'Église Avenue, Côte-Saint-Paul
On a much smaller scale, the Old Brewery Mission is building 13 permanent homes with support services for people exiting homelessness. It is one of its first two projects in the Sud-Ouest, alongside Pavillon Monk (18 homes), which opened in June 2026 near Monk metro station.
Both projects were made possible by the participation of the governments of Canada and Quebec, through the Fonds de solidarité FTQ-Quebec partnership, and the City of Montreal.
Here, the borough's exemption amounts to $445,577, calculated over 26 months of site occupation.
Two projects, two scales, one principle: every dollar a borough forgoes on a non-market construction site is a dollar that goes directly to housing Montrealers. A simple administrative mechanism whose effects will be measured in homes delivered over the coming years.