Montreal social housing complex to reopen next summer after years of neglect, $400M renovation push

A long-vacant 54-unit Montreal social housing complex is being rebuilt after years of disrepair. (Source: Noovo Info)

Thousands of social housing units from the Montreal Municipal Housing Office (OMHM) were abandoned because they were in a state of disrepair, but thanks to new funding, some units are now being renovated.

Among them is a 54-dwelling social housing complex called Habitation Terasse Coursol, which had been empty since 2018.

Noovo Info was recently invited to tour the building while the construction work is underway.

“It’s a major renovation project, where we’re going to completely rebuild the building’s exterior and refurbish the entire interior to bring it up to standard,” said OMHM spokesperson Isabelle Breault.

Breault explained that tenants were relocated because the organization was “confident” the work would be completed within a few years, but they ended up not having enough money.

She told Noovo Info that the organization finally received $400 million to carry out major work over the last three years.

During a tour of the site, Breault explained that the ceilings and plaster in the gypsum contained asbestos and that they had to have the premises decontaminated.

The 54 units are expected to be delivered next summer, and tenants who have been relocated will be able to return.

“Everyone has the right to return; it’s the law. So, they have the right to come back, although most of them often decide to stay where they’ve been relocated. They’ve been away for almost 10 years now; they’ve built lives elsewhere. But they can all come back,” Breault said.

Years without funding

According to Noovo Info, the last few years have been rather difficult for social housing in Montreal, but also across the province, due to low government investment.

“We could barely do the maintenance work that was required. [...] So we have all this catching up to do from the last few years, which requires a lot of work,” said Breault, who pointed out that one in three doors in the Little Burgundy neighbourhood is a social housing unit.

“Of course, this poses significant challenges when renovating, because we’re changing the image of the neighbourhood, especially here where there are so many social housing units.”