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Community-Led Affordable Housing in Montréal .pdf

This presentation examines community-led affordable housing in Montréal through the cases of Benny Farm and the Rosemont Housing Project. It explores the role of housing cooperatives, non-profit organizations, technical resource groups, public institutions, resident participation and integrated design processes in producing socially, environmentally and economically sustainable housing.

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Community-Led Affordable Housing in Montréal Manal Hilali PhD student, Université de Montréal Under the supervision of Dr. Georgia Cardosi ARCHITECTURES FOR SUSTAINABLE URBANIZATION - GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES ON LOW-COST, VERNACULAR, AND INFORMAL HOUSING DESIGN VENICE, ITALY / FEBRUARY 28 – MARCH 7, 2026
Presentation plan 1. Context: Affordable housing and the housing continuum in Canada and Montréal 2. Institutional and community actors involved in non-market housing production 3. Case Study 1: Benny Farm, community-led sustainable redevelopment 4. Case Study 2: Rosemont , cooperative housing and integrated design process 5. Key lessons on governance, participation, and long-term sustainability PHOTO : RADIO-CANADA / MARIE-JOSÉE PAQUETTE-COMEAU
Analysis of administrative and statistical publications concerning rental markets and housing needs. Examination of frameworks defining rent ceilings, eligibility, and subsidy conditions. Methodology Review of official municipal data and explanatory pages on Montréal's non-market housing stock. Municipal Datasets Administrative Publications Program Normative Frameworks
(Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 2018) The Housing Continuum
Affordability In Canada, housing is deemed "affordable" if it costs less than 30% of a household’s pre-tax income. (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 2018) AffordableHousingTypologies inQuebec PublicHousing Non-ProfitHousing (OSBL) CooperativeHousing AffordableRental Housing Income-linked rents, publicly owned or managed housing stock. built between 1946 and 1993 Housing developed and managed by non- profit organizations, often targeting specific populations. Resident-led, non- profit housing with collective ownership and long-term affordability Rental housing with capped rents below market levels, not necessarily income- linked.
"Housing need" extends beyond mere affordability to encompass three key components as defined by Statistics Canada: (Statistics Canada, 2021) Core Housing Need
The demand for low-cost housing in Montréal is intensified by a tight rental market. Montréal's Rental Market Realities Average 2- Bedroom Rent Year-over-Year Rent Growth These market dynamics underscore the urgency and complexity of providing accessible low-cost housing solutions. 2.9% Vacancy Rate Montréal's purpose- built rental market shows a critically low vacancy rate. $1,346 Average monthly rent for a 2-bedroom unit in Montréal. 7.2% Significant increase in rental costs, exacerbating affordability issues. (Statistics Canada, 2021)
Montréal's urban agglomeration counts 67,885 non-market housing units, with the majority (65,752) within the municipality. Montréal's Non- Market Stock Approximately 33% are operated by non-profit housing groups. 23.2% of units are managed as housing co-ops, fostering community ownership. Nearly 32% of non-market units are low-income public housing. Non-Profit Organizations Housing Co-operatives Public Housing (HLM) (Ville de Montréal, 2025)
3 • Manages 918 buildings and 20,810 low-rent units. • Faces a waitlist of 12,429 households for subsidized housing. • Serves 55,000 Montrealers through managed housing or rent supplement programs. • Rents are income-based, typically 25% of household income for subsidized housing. Key Actors in Montréal's Non-Market Housing Two central organizations drive the administration and development of subsidized and affordable housing in Montréal. • Offers 5,217 affordable housing units. • Defines affordability as average rent below the private market. • Manages various product lines, including social housing. Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal (SHDM) Office municipal d'habitation de Montréal (OMHM)
3 The Role of Civil Society & Technical Organizations Housing Co-operatives The Fédération de l’habitation coopérative du Québec (FHCQ) reports over 50,000 people residing in nearly 1,200 housing co-operatives across Québec, underscoring the provincial dependency of Montréal's pipeline. Non-Profit Housing Networks Réseau québécois des OSBL d’habitation (RQOH) acts as a federation supporting and representing non-profit housing organizations. Technical Resource Groups (GRTs) GRTs play a crucial role as an institutionalized support system for third-sector housing development in Québec. These groups are vital in translating policy into practical, deliverable projects. (AGRTQ, 2026) Non-market housing delivery is significantly supported by civil society infrastructure and specialized technical organizations.
Benny Farm was not conceived as a demolition-and-rebuild project, but as a strategy to green and densify what already existed — working across scales, from the building to the neighborhood, in a socially and economically integrated way. It became one of the first large-scale projects to combine social housing with environmental sustainability, proving that affordability and green design are not opposites, but mutually reinforcing in the long term. The redevelopment of Benny Farm was the world’s first government- subsidized, large-scale, community-driven neighborhood renewal project combining affordability, green building technologies, rehabilitation, and new construction. This urban, landscape, and architectural project is a pioneer of sustainable urban renewal. (Pearl et Wentz, 2014, p.13) Green energy Benny Farm PROJECT (1996 – 2006) (Holcim Foundation, 2026)
The history of Benny Farm (Liang et al., 2020)
• Pioneering integration of community participation, sustainable building systems, and co-ownership within affordable housing • First multi-stakeholder partnership to place long-term sustainability at the core of the project • Building strategy focused on GHG reduction, water efficiency, and material reuse through rehabilitation and retrofitting • High reliance on renewable energy, improving long-term affordability and residents’ quality of life (Holcim Foundation, 2026)
(Holcim Foundation, 2026) Stakeholders
Target groups Intervention Units Project / Organization Chez Soi (OBNL NDG) Seniors New construction, fully accessible 91 Coop ZOO Families 16 new + 30 renovated 46 CHBF Cooperative housing Renovation 24 Maisons transitionnelles Young mothers New construction 29 AHOI I Affordable ownership Renovation 24 AHOI II Affordable ownership 20 new + 30 renovated 50 Organizations and Units
• A shared vision across actors is essential • Integrated Design Process as a driver of change • Sustainability as a gradual, adaptive process • Institutional and financial constraints matter Key Lessons Learned
Rosemont PROJECT (2000 – 2010) Rosemont Housing Project (Montreal) Affordable, community-based housing development in the Rosemont district 155 housing units on a central brownfield site near the Orange subway line Developed by housing cooperatives with L’OEUF as architect Designed as a model for socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable housing (Holcim Foundation, 2026)
• Future residents and housing cooperatives involved from the outset • Project developed through early design workshops (charrettes) • Continuous collaboration between residents, architects, engineers, and consultants • Architectural, social, environmental, and economic decisions addressed simultaneously • Residents contributed to decisions on housing typologies, shared spaces, and the communal courtyard • Sustainability strategies designed to be understandable, maintainable, and upgradeable over time The Integrated design process (Holcim Foundation, 2026)
Coopérative d’habitation Côteau Vert Resident-led housing cooperative Core project initiator and future occupants; 95 affordable housing units Un toit pour tous (Non-profit housing organization) Non-profit housing partner Supported affordability and long-term social objectives; 60 affordable housing units Bâtir son quartier (Technical Resource Group – GRT) Technical and organizational support Project development, financing structure, and implementation; intermediary between community groups and public institutions CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) Federal public funder Financing through federal affordable housing programs City of Montreal Municipal authority Municipal financial contribution and regulatory support Green Municipal Fund (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) Environmental funding body Financial support for innovative environmental strategies Engineers & Environmental Consultants Technical partners Design and integration of energy, water, and environmental systems L’OEUF (Architects) Lead architects Architectural design and coordination of the Integrated Design Process (IDP) Stakeholders Contribution/Scope Stakeholder Role in the Project
Sustainable Water Management (Holcim Foundation, 2026)
• Early resident involvement as a foundation for the project • Integrated design as a lever for sustainability • Designing for evolution rather than completion • Affordable housing as a multidimensional objective Key Lessons Learned
• Affordable housing is not only a question of units and funding, but of process, governance, and time • Benny Farm and Rosemont show that community involvement and integrated design fundamentally shape outcomes • When residents are involved early and institutions are aligned, sustainability becomes socially and economically viable • These projects suggest that the challenge today is scaling processes, not inventing new models Conclusion