Housing crisis in Montreal: “Smoke comes out of both ears when you hear Valerie Plante”

While the sources of the housing crisis affecting every major city in Canada are numerous, one of the solutions proposed by analysts and politicians is simple: build more housing. However, according to CMHC's latest figures, Montreal is at the bottom of the pack in terms of its number of construction starts.

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“I wish we had had this conversation earlier,” Mayor Valerie Plante said in an interview Wednesday. “The housing crisis, when I was elected in 2017, I was already talking about it. It's a little unfortunate that we're having the same conversation in 2024.”

Montreal's mayor still acknowledges that the crisis is a priority issue and that construction must be accelerated, but his response did not impress guests on La Jude this evening.

“Smoke comes out of both ears when I hear that,” begins Elsie Lefebvre, an immediate former PQ MP.

“He himself said that was his priority when he came to power. She has been here for six years!” he criticizes.

“There are other cities in Canada that are experiencing the same dynamics as us, the same inflation and the same labor shortage, but they manage to keep construction sites running,” he adds.

Montreal saw its number of construction starts drop by 37%, compared to Toronto's 5% increase and Vancouver's 28% increase.

According to the political analyst, the gap between his figures is “inexcusable”.

“We cannot repeat “Long Live Housing” and smile for 6 years, but not achieve any results, and not even be the last in the pack,” he concludes.

“It's like the 12 labors of Asterix.”

Marc-Andre Leclerc, a government relations consultant, said the slowdown in construction starts is causing delays in obtaining building permits.

“When you talk to entrepreneurs in Quebec, they say permits, contracts and authorizations take forever,” he says.

“We get lost in bureaucracy, it's like the 12 labors of Asterix,” he jokes.

“Before the cities complain about the provincial and federal governments, sort this out. Show that you are fast. After that, cities can raise the flag and say Quebec and Ottawa didn't do their job,” he judges.

Cities responsible for building permits

QUB columnist and new TV anchor Yasmin Abdelfadel criticizes the delays caused by municipalities.

“It always requires permits, and we always go to the municipal office to get them. Ms. Plante and her team at the City of Montreal are the ones who make sure construction permits are expedited, especially zoning issues,” he notes.

“We're not going to change zoning in Ottawa or Quebec or quickly issue building permits without getting lost in municipal bureaucracy,” says the political analyst.

He held the position of plant mayor for over 6 years and was largely responsible for the situation.

“What has been done to expedite this? I'm still hungry,” he says.

However, “we will be positive if the construction of cycle paths calculated in the construction starts,” he teases.