A city report is calling for the development of 60,000 new affordable housing units in Montreal over the next 10 years.

The report says that the city should provide $3 million in seed money as part of the expansion effort.

Mayor Valérie Plante indicated that the city will provide the $3 million. Some critics said the city’s contribution is not nearly enough, according to reports.

But Edith Cyr, director of the non-profit Bâtir son quartier, welcomed the seed funding plan. She told the Montreal Gazette that her group has many projects in the pipeline, but often has to wait for funding in order to get them off the ground.

“We have 40 projects with 3,000 units that received their first financing, but the challenge is to go quickly and finalize the financial frameworks,” Cyr told the Gazette.

She is also the co-president of Chantier Montréal abordable, the city’s task force on affordable housing.

Plante admitted that, with just 3,000 social and affordable housing units built or in the pipeline since she was re-elected in 2021, Montreal is far off the pace required to get 60,000 new units built in 10 years, the Gazette reported.

She said during a news conference that the city will impose a 120-day deadline for boroughs to issue building permits. The mayor is frustrated by lengthy waiting times for development application approvals.

La Presse reported recently that developer face “endless delays” for approvals and waiting periods have more than doubled over the past four years in downtown Montreal and the city’s other boroughs.

Pictured: Old Brewery Mission’s future Pie-IX project in Montreal

Rendering: Agora Montreal