Housing for seniors a growing niche in Quebec real estate

Quebec’s aging population is creating business opportunities, and some companies are investing accordingly. Réseau Sélection, owner of 26 residential complexes for seniors in Quebec, unveiled an ambitious $2-billion expansion plan Friday that foresees it more than doubling in size in five years.

The company plans to develop 30 new projects, eight of them on the Island of Montreal and 25 in the Greater Montreal area. Foremost among them is the $250-million Rosemont-les-Quartiers development, with partners Claridge and Centria. It is being built on the site of the former Norampac plant in Rosemont-la-Petite-Patrie borough and will include 1,400 housing units, 1,000 of them for seniors.

There will be a walkway, courtyard, public squares, stores, bike paths and Bixi stations. An estimated 2,000 people eventually will live there.

“We’re proud to develop this innovative project that will encourage social and functional diversity and create a dynamic, intergenerational environment,” Réseau Sélection chief executive Réal Bouclin said in a statement.

Bouclin said the company’s fiveyear plan “responds to an expanding market and will make it possible to meet growing demand from seniors, who will represent one quarter of Quebec’s population in 15 years’ time.”

Worldwide, Japan “is the only country where the population will age faster than in Quebec,” he said.