New project to provide 31 social housing units
Project meant to serve vulnerable population in northeast of borough
A new social housing project to be built in Montreal's most populous borough will help people living on the margins to avoid homelessness.
That's at least the city's hope as the executive committee plans to approve the sale of a plot of land on Wednesday morning for $504,000 to Les Habitations Populaires de Parc Extension (Hapopex).
The land will be used to construct a building of 31 studio and one-bedroom apartments to serve a vulnerable population. The city had bought the land on Bates Rd. near Wilderton Ave., in the northeast of the Côte-des-neiges—notre-dame-deGrâce borough, and is selling it to Hapopex at a significant discount, explained Magda Popeanu, a councillor for the borough and vice-chairperson of the city's executive committee responsible for culture and diversity.
“For me it's important for it to be in the northeast of the borough where the needs are (greatest),” Popeanu said. “This is an area of the borough where there are a lot of social problems, immigrants and people with no status in Canada.”
That area of the city has also been targeted by social groups as particularly vulnerable, because there is a concern the recent opening of the Université de Montréal's MIL campus in the area, and the construction of condo towers around it, will drive up rents for those living on modest means both in Côte-des-neiges and neighbouring Parc-extension.
Residents will pay 25 per cent of their salaries or the revenue that they earn from welfare to the rent, and they will have access to social and community services that will be delivered on-site.
“We're trying to create units for people who would otherwise be living on the streets,” said Mazen Houdeib, the general manager of Regroupement des organismes du Montréal ethnique pour le logement (ROMEL) — a non-profit group that works to provide housing to the vulnerable population — which will take charge of the building 's construction.
Romain Jamin, the director of operations of Hapopex, said it took three years for the project to reach this stage. He explained that it's difficult to develop housing for people with specific needs, because both the city and province need to be on board as well as community groups, and a recurring budget has to be secured. In this case, the local health authority will pay for social workers and other community groups to give services on-site. Hapopex will take possession of the building once it has been constructed and take care of its administration as well as determine what services will be offered.
“It's to help them learn how to pay rent, to manage a budget, to take care of a place, to clean it, do groceries and to live autonomously,” he said. “It's one of the largest projects we have developed to date for this type of clientèle.”
He said with 1,500 people on waiting lists for all types of social housing, there is a great need for more projects like this.
“We're not building quickly enough because the waiting list continues to grow,” he said.
Construction of the building will be funded by Accèslogis Québec, the provincial program to build affordable housing units, and is part of a promise by the Plante administration to build 12,000 social and affordable housing units by 2022.
“To get to this number, you have to go step by step, 31 housing units by 31 housing units,” Popeanu said.
“It's a very complicated business, social housing,” she added. “For this reason, it's taking a very long time. Land is very expensive, so that limits how quickly projects like this can happen. The fact that the city gives the land at a low cost will push the project forward.”