For residents of Parc-Extension, where housing pressure is felt daily in overcrowded apartments, rising rents, and aging buildings, the City of Montreal’s proposed changes to its inclusionary housing rules may have consequences that go well beyond City Hall.
The Ville de Montréal has launched a public consultation process to amend the Règlement pour une métropole mixte, the city’s main tool for requiring social and affordable housing in new residential developments. The consultation will take place on February 26 at Montreal City Hall.
While the proposed changes are presented as technical adjustments, they touch directly on how, where, and under what conditions new housing could be built in neighbourhoods like Parc-Extension.
Fewer projects subject to the rules
One of the key changes under consideration is raising the size threshold at which the regulation applies. If adopted, only residential projects larger than 18,000 square metres would be subject to the RMM.
In practical terms, this could mean that a greater number of mid-sized developments would no longer be required to include social or non-market housing. In dense neighbourhoods such as Parc-Extension, where large parcels of land are scarce and projects are often built lot by lot, this shift could significantly reduce the number of developments falling under the bylaw.
A single 20 percent requirement
The city is also proposing to simplify its housing obligations by replacing multiple requirements with a single rule: 20 percent non-market housing. This category would include both social housing and non-market affordable housing.
Under the current framework, developers face distinct obligations for social housing and additional affordable housing. The proposed change would remove those layered requirements and merge them into one.
City officials argue this approach would make projects easier to finance and deliver. For residents and housing advocates in Parc-Extension, the question will be whether this simplification leads to more housing being built overall, or fewer deeply affordable units in areas already under strain.
Rolling back financial contributions
Another proposed measure would cancel the increase in financial contributions that came into effect on January 1, 2026, and freeze future indexation at 2025 levels.
These contributions are often used by the city to support off-site social and non-market housing projects. A rollback could reduce short-term costs for developers, but it may also affect the city’s capacity to fund new housing initiatives elsewhere, including in central neighbourhoods like Parc-Extension.
Why the city is changing course
Montreal says the proposed amendments are intended as short-term relief measures. With construction costs high and housing starts slowing across the city, the administration is seeking to create conditions it believes will restart residential development and encourage partnerships between private developers and non-profit housing providers.
The city has made clear that this is not meant to be a permanent solution. A second phase is planned, during which Montreal will work with stakeholders to design a new incentive-based approach that would eventually replace the current RMM framework.
Residents invited to weigh in
Before any changes can be adopted, the city is required to hold a public consultation under Quebec’s land-use planning legislation.
That consultation will take place on February 26, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the Salle des Armoiries at Montreal City Hall, located at 275 Notre-Dame Street East, near the Champ-de-Mars metro station. City representatives will explain the proposed regulation and answer questions from the public.
For Parc-Extension residents, where housing affordability is not an abstract policy debate but a daily reality, the consultation offers a rare opportunity to question how these changes could shape the future of their neighbourhood.
Written comments can also be submitted through the city’s official consultation form.
