City sets aside $60M for economic relaunch plan
Mayor Valérie Plante's administration is stepping up efforts to help revive Montreal's economy, investing about $60 million next year on 10 key initiatives that include making downtown more attractive.
About $10 million will go toward improving services and the “urban experience” in the central business core, Plante said Thursday at a news conference. Another $12 million will bolster the city's “commercial vitality” through such means as a plan to help local merchants acquire the property they rent, said Plateau-mont-royal borough mayor and executive committee member Luc Rabouin.
The measures unveiled Thursday are part of a 10-year development strategy — dubbed Montreal 2030 — that the Plante administration says will ensure long-term growth. They come on top of the almost $40 million that the city has invested this year in the form of emergency help for businesses.
“We are going to continue to support our economy and our companies as long as it's required,” Plante said.
Montreal's economy was firing on all cylinders when the pandemic hit, with low unemployment, rising foreign investment and a booming real estate market.
That momentum evaporated virtually overnight when Premier François Legault ordered all of Quebec to go into lockdown mode in mid-march to slow COVID-19 infections. While output rebounded after the economy reopened, many businesses remain in precarious financial health.
Almost nine months later, downtown's office towers remain occupied far below capacity, with students and foreign tourists conspicuous by their absence. More than 300,000 people typically worked downtown before the pandemic, while another 100,000 studied in the area.
Investments will aim to make downtown public spaces more accessible and more attractive through improved arrangements, and to create entertainment on commercial streets. Montreal will also finance cleanliness initiatives and an advertising campaign to promote “commercial diversity,” gastronomy and independent restaurateurs.
“Downtown must become a destination both for Montrealers and tourists,” Plante said. “We will spare no effort to help restore its status.”
To combat vacant storefronts and make shopping streets more vibrant, her administration will boost support for the non-profit merchants' associations known by the French acronym SDC (Société de développement commercial). Montreal will also help stimulate local purchasing and activities such as urban delivery, while developing a strategy to help merchants acquire commercial premises.
“It's tough for small businesses right now, and we definitely want to help them,” Plante said.
The measures announced Thursday “will help us weather the storm and give momentum to the recovery,” Billy Walsh, president of the Association des Sociétés de développement commercial de Montréal, said in a statement.
Vacant premises — and bankruptcies — are expected to multiply on Montreal's commercial
arteries starting in January, which makes the city's plan “timely,” Walsh added.
His group includes 20 Montreal SDCS, which together represent about 12,500 businesses.
Other major beneficiaries of the plan include Montreal's cultural and creative industries, which will get $5.6 million.
Initiatives include the future deployment of artistic works across Montreal, one-time financial assistance for businesses not supported by existing programs, as well as a new grant program to help concert halls better soundproof their spaces.
About $8 million will be allocated to measures that help Montreal evolve toward a more “sustainable” economic model — for instance, projects that reduce the carbon footprint of companies.
Montreal also plans to spend $5 million on food autonomy and urban agriculture next year. Efforts will include the creation of a bio-food innovation hub and the accelerated development of public markets to boost the supply of fresh produce.