Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada is cancelling a controversial bylaw that required developers to include a social-housing component with new multi-family development projects.

The bylaw required developers to classify 20% of a project’s rental units as social housing with 20% of those priced as affordable housing or pay fines. The bylaw required developers to pay a fine or relinquish land, buildings or individual units to the city if new projects exceeding 4,843 square feet do not contain social-housing components.

Many developers chose to pay the fines or relinquish land, or not develop projects at all, rather than comply with the bylaw, which firms viewed as a barrier to residential development.

Martinez Ferrada is following through on an election promise to scrap the bylaw implemented by former mayor Valerie Plante in 2021. Plante did not seek re-election in fall 2025.

A new bylaw will only require developers to classify 20% of a project’s units as affordable housing if the development comprises at least 18,000 square metres or, approximately, 193,750 sf.

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