The largest real estate project in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve will begin welcoming residents next year, its promoter confirmed Thursday alongside the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, Chrystia Freeland. The majority of the Canoe Project’s housing is condos which do not reflect the neighborhood’s needs for social and affordable housing, however, denounces an organization.
“Ultimately, the project will include nearly 1,000 new homes, including 210 affordable rental housing units and 150 cooperative-type social housing units,” explained Mélanie Robitaille, vice-president and general manager of Rachel Julien, the Montreal developer behind the project. .
“Our government is really proud to support this project,” added Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, in front of the construction site for the future 1400 rue Hochelaga, part of which was financed by Ottawa.
Far from being impressed by the project, Louis Beaudin-Marcoux, community organizer of the Steering Committee for Action and Information on Social Housing (Comité BAILS), sees it rather as “yet another condo construction project.”
“It always accentuates the problem of gentrification of the neighborhood, which pushes the eviction of residents from the neighborhood, which pushes people onto the street, which pushes up rents,” laments the organizer.
Louis Beaudin-Marcoux fears that “rents or purchase prices [are] completely beyond the reach of ordinary people.”
The Canoe Project homes will be available on July 1, 2025 and the project is expected to be completed by 2031.
