New social housing project aims to transform Montreal's Outremont borough

Ground has been broken on a new $19.9 million social housing project in Outremont.

The six-storey Coop du milieu de l'île (Coop MIL) building will include 91 units and is part of Campus MIL, a redevelopment project of the Outremont rail yard.

Executive committee vice-president and member in charge of housing Benoit Dorais made the announcement Monday alongside provincial minister responsible for Montreal Chantal Rouleau.

"This project comes from the community and...responds to important needs in terms of social housing for families in a neighbourhood undergoing major transformation," said Dorais. "This project, located on the MIL Campus, will allow dozens of young families and single people to settle or remain in the city. It is a great example of our vision for mixed-use, more inclusive neighbourhoods."

The apartments, which are part of the city's 12,000-unit social and affordable housing development strategy, will house families and single people at a price of 25 per cent of their income.

Coop Mil artist rendering

"Since 2017, the founding members of the MIL Coop have been working hard to establish a multigenerational housing cooperative," said André Waquant, a spokesperson for the coop. "We see our coop as a friendly living environment that will ensure a sense of belonging to the neighbourhood. We want our community to be a vector of social cohesion that will contribute, in its own way, to the enrichment of the Outremont borough."

The project is expected to include 20 three- and four-bedroom units, 27 two-bedroom units and 44 one-bedroom units.

The building will also have an underground parking lot with 28 spaces, including a spot reserved for car-sharing and more than 100 spaces for bicycles.

Coop Mil artist rendering

"The metropolis is facing particular challenges in terms of housing," Rouleau said. "The fact that we are inaugurating the construction of the Coop MIL today is a sign that our government, together with the ity and the community, is resolutely committed to meeting these challenges in order to offer Montrealers dynamic living environments where everyone can live together."

The project is a collaborative effort by city officials, the Société d'habitation du Québec (SHQ) and the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM).

But housing advocate Amy Darwish says while any new community housing in the city is good news, the Outremont development does little to address the housing crisis in Park-Extension, the neighbourhood on the other side of the new Universite de Montreal campus.

“There's absolutely no guarantee that this project is going to accommodate Park Extension tenants who are possibly facing displacements from the neighbourhood either because of rising rents or because of evictions that are happening as a result of the arrival of the campus,” said Darwish, of the Parc-Extension Action Committee.

In its social and affordable housing development strategy, the Plante administration has promised 12,000 new units.

But Darwish says more needs to be done, and quickly, amid rising rents and skyrocketing housing prices.

At a protest outside the premier's office this weekend, advocates said too much demand and too little supply have made finding an affordable place to live impossible for many.

“In particular this year we're seeing a lot of older tenants who are facing repossession,” said Darwish. “Many of whom have lived in the neighbourhood sometimes for decades.”

While the province recently announced a $200-million program to help build social housing units, it has so far refused to set up a rent registry program, saying it would be too expensive to run. 

Construction on the building is expected to be done by May 2023. 

Coop Mil artist rendering