The Plante administration says it takes note of the historic low in residential construction starts in Montreal and attributes the responsibility to the real estate specificities of the metropolis.

“It’s certain that it’s specific to our market, which is different,” said Benoit Dorais, head of Housing, at the executive committee on Wednesday morning.

Last Thursday, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) revealed that Montreal experienced the worst decline in residential starts in early 2023. In Montreal, a 58% decline in starts was observed compared to the first half of 2022, while Toronto and Vancouver saw gains of 32% and 49% respectively.

Reacting for the first time to this data, Mr. Dorais explained that new real estate projects in Montreal were geared more towards the rental market, which may explain the gap with other large Canadian cities.

“For quite a while, we have been seeing construction starts in Montreal tend towards rental,” he said, explaining that financing was more difficult to obtain at the moment for this type of project.

He argued that the Plante administration was increasing initiatives to promote housing construction.