The Ville-Marie borough has recently been approving significant height and density increases for specific projects and sectors to address the housing crisis.
In early 2026, the City of Montreal, including the borough of Ville-Marie, implemented significant changes to its urban planning and inclusionary zoning regulations to address the housing crisis by encouraging high density, accelerating mixed-use construction, and easing rules for developers, particularly in the downtown core and surrounding areas.
Last week, during a press conference, Montreal’s new administration announced many of these new changes, with mayor Martinez Ferrada also presenting a map of municipal land available for new housing projects. The city has also implemented a 120-day limit for delivering permits to speed up construction.
Some of the key zoning and development changes this year that focus on increasing the number of available housing units in response to low vacancy rates and high demand, are the following:
A project proposed in 2025 to redevelop the area between Rue Sainte-Catherine Est, Rue De Champlain, Rue Alexandre-DeSève and Boulevard De Maisonneuve, creating 600 residential and commercial units while departing from existing bylaws on height and density.
To increase housing stock, downtown office conversions are being encouraged, with exemptions from certain strict “diverse metropolis” bylaws applied until December 31, 2026, for such projects.
Ville-Marie and adjacent areas are also prioritizing high-density development, such as the Bridge-Bonaventure project, which transforms former industrial sites into mixed-use, high-density residential areas to boost housing supply.
Height restrictions temporarily changed to encourage new construction
Until the end of 2026, the threshold for requiring social/affordable housing in new projects is temporarily raised to 1,800 m², favoring, for instance, larger developers who can build more units rapidly.
Anyone who is developing a project that involves adding at least one dwelling with a residential area exceeding the threshold set in the by-law must sign an agreement with the city to contribute to its supply of social, affordable, and family housing. The project can be a new building, an expansion, or a conversion.
The threshold set in the by-law is 450 m² of added residential surface area (equivalent to about 5 dwelling units). However, until Dec. 31, the threshold is temporarily raised to 1800 m² (equivalent to about 20 dwelling units). After this period, the regulatory threshold will be restored to 450 m².
Certain exemptions are provided for in the by-law, particularly for social and affordable housing projects. In addition, until Dec. 31, 2026, any conversion of office use to dwelling units in area 1 of the by-law (corresponding approximately to the downtown) will also be exempted.
