For the International Day of seniors which represent a large part of Park Extension, the City of Montreal salutes the work of the boroughs that have adopted changes to their zoning bylaws to protect residences for seniors on their territory: Sud-Ouest, Lachine, Verdun, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Côte-des-Neiges– Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Ville-Marie. These new regulations prohibit conversions of RPAs into another type of dwelling, which will directly protect seniors.
The boroughs of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie and Ahuntsic-Cartierville are also committed to adopting local regulations to this effect during the fall.
According to the city, the result of a call to action from the central city, these concrete actions add additional protection that help preserve the supply of residences for seniors in the city and the health care offered there.
“We were all shocked to see seniors threatened with being deprived of health services in their place of residence. Even though seniors’ residences fall under the Quebec government, it was essential for our administration to develop new tools to protect these living environments. What makes our neighborhoods strong is their diversity, to which seniors contribute directly. By prohibiting the conversion of these buildings, we want to provide seniors with the local health care, stability and neighborhood life to which they aspire. No borough should deprive itself of this new tool. The quality of seniors everywhere in Montreal depends on it,” said the Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante.
“Having the well-being of seniors at heart, Montreal wants to make sure to contribute to it by protecting their living environment. We are proud that several boroughs are committed to protecting residences for seniors and prohibiting their conversion. This new by-law supports the other initiatives taken by our administration to protect the rental stock and protect its affordability for the entire population,” added Robert Beaudry, responsible for urban planning, citizen participation and democracy within the executive committee of the City of Montreal.
In the continuity of the actions deployed by Montreal to protect residences for the elderly, the municipal council also adopted a motion last August, asking the Government of Quebec to decree a one-year moratorium on the decertification and the change of allocation of private residences for seniors on the territory of Montreal.
