Montreal's Peel Basin redevelopment to include thousands of housing units
After years of debate, The City of Montreal unveiled on Wednesday its new plan for the Peel Basin, which includes thousands of new apartments and the possibility of another REM station.
Right now, the area on the banks of the Lachine Canal is mostly industrial or in disrepair. Housing groups say the redevelopment is badly needed.
"The need for social housing in Pointe-St-Charles is skyrocketing. We have more than 50 families per month that come here," said Francis Dolan, an organizer with Regroupment Information Logement in Pointe-St-Charles.
The future of the Bridge-Bonaventure district has long been debated and was once explored as a site for a baseball stadium.
Now, Montreal wants to move forward with a housing project with 7,600 units.
A rendering of Montreal's plan for the Bridge-Bonaventure sector (Source: CNW Group/City of Montreal - Office of the Mayor and the Executive Committee)
At least 1,100 units would be social housing and 1,100 would be affordable housing.
However, one city councillor says that's not enough.
"To make this neighbourhood truly affordable, I think we'd need to hit a target like 40 per cent social housing in just the Peel Basin sector. That would be like 2,000 social units in Peel Basin," said Southwest borough City Coun. Craig Sauvé.
The city also hopes to add another REM station in the development, despite having one in the works less than one kilometre away in Griffintown.
"We think it's necessary because transport is huge. We're going to be building a lot of housing, and we don't want to create a cul-de-sac where people cannot move around," said Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante.
A rendering of Montreal's plan for the Bridge-Bonaventure sector (Source: CNW Group/City of Montreal - Office of the Mayor and the Executive Committee)
But Sauvé says the city should be even more ambitious.
"The opportunity we have is to make Montreal's first car-free area. In fact, it would be Canada's first car-free area," he said.
Housing groups say it's frustrating to see vacant land combined with low vacancy rates for apartments.
"We see some families with three or four children living in a two-bedroom or one-bedroom sometimes. It's really getting impossible for families to stay in the neighbourhood now," said Dolan.
Consultations on the project are expected to start later this year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.