Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal
Habitations Louis-Laberge

2500 Social Housing Units for Montreal
Institute for Public Affairs 1 December 2003  

The Institute has convinced private investors and union funds to finance the construction of some 1250 social and affordable housing units in each of Cote des Neiges and Hochelaga-Maissoneuve to be called Habitations Louis-Laberge I and Habitations Louis-Laberge II. There will also be a significant governmental participation from both the Municipal and Provincial levels. We are proud to report that this is the first time that there has been such a broad agreement on a building project of social worth where all the investing parties have agreed to take minimal returns for the use of their money. We are now in the final negotiations on government approvals and we will be sending out a full report to our Institute members prior to a press conference. This will be the biggest non-transport infrastructure project in Montreal in many years, and the only project to attack the problem of affordable housing on such a scale anywhere in the country. We will soon be meeting with Ontario Public Works Minister David Caplan to begin examing the possibility of doing the same initiative in Toronto.