Montreal scraps social and affordable housing bylaw, will offer city land for housing

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada is following through on a campaign promise to rewrite her predecessor’s signature bylaw on affordable and social housing.

Former mayor Valerie Plante’s bylaw required new housing builds to include fixed percentages of social, affordable and family-sized units.

Developers were forced to set aside 20 per cent of their units for social housing, 20 per cent with at least three bedrooms and, in some cases, 20 per cent for affordable housing — or else pay a financial contribution to the city.

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Martinez Ferrada says the new bylaw will be simplified to require a total of 20 per cent of off-market housing applied to buildings of 18,000 square metres or more. She is also freezing the financial contribution at 2025 levels.

The mayor says the city has also identified 80 city-owned lots suitable for housing, including 40 that are ready for development and will be offered to non-profits to construct mixed and off-market housing.

She says the city will offer some funding and loans to help the non-profits kick-start their projects, and is also considering financial incentives for developers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2026.