Soraya Martinez Ferrada Wants to Innovate to Accelerate the Construction of Affordable and Social Housing

The leader of Ensemble Montréal and candidate for Mayor of Montreal, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, announced Wednesday a new financing strategy to respond to the housing crisis.

This approach is based on a strong partnership between the City of Montreal, the private sector, and non-profit organizations (NPOs), notably by leveraging the City’s land assets as a development tool.

A Fund for Affordability: Moving Toward Self-Financing

Ensemble Montréal is announcing the creation of an Affordability Fund, financed by the enhanced value of municipal land and contributions from partnerships. The funds collected will directly support the construction or acquisition of non-market housing, with the objective of ensuring that 20% of housing in Montreal is affordable and social.

Full transparency and accountability will be provided through continuous public reporting, making it easy to follow the progress of these efforts.

Other cities have adopted similar mechanisms: Vancouver with its Affordable Housing Endowment Fund, and Longueuil with incentive zoning paired with financial contributions.

Relying on the Strength of Partnerships

Rather than depending solely on government subsidies, Ensemble Montréal aims to establish an innovative model where the City contributes its land and buildings, in partnership with private developers and NPOs, to build social and affordable housing more quickly.

Concrete Incentives to Reduce Costs

To stimulate construction, an administration led by Ensemble Montréal will implement clear and effective financial incentives, including:

• Property tax credits for affordable and social housing projects;
• Creation of a dedicated entry point for non-market housing through a specialized team that will provide personalized support and simplify administrative processes;
• Use of 70-year emphyteutic leases on City-owned land to reduce the cost of building non-market housing;
• Exempting non-market housing projects from municipal fees, including permit and public domain occupancy fees;
• Accelerating the development of City-owned lands and buildings for non-market housing;
• Adoption of appropriate densification measures (incentive zoning) to reduce construction costs and increase the supply of housing more rapidly.

A Commitment From Day One

Within the first 100 days of her mandate, Soraya Martinez Ferrada will bring together the key players—NPOs, private developers, and financial institutions—to launch a common plan and accelerate the delivery of concrete projects.

Finally, an administration led by Ensemble Montréal intends to revise certain criteria of the Metropolitan Social Housing Fund in order to help achieve the 20% non-market housing target established under the new Metropolitan Land Use and Development Plan of Greater Montreal, in collaboration with municipalities of the Montreal Metropolitan Community.