Property rights: CORPIQ achieves a breakthrough in Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie

The borough of Rosemont-La-Petite Patrie, along with seven other boroughs of the City of Montreal, adopted a by-law on October 5 to prohibit an owner from merging, subdividing, or changing the use of his or her building. Although this does not apply to all types of buildings, it is the first time that municipalities have taken a step toward restricting a historical right: the right of ownership.

However, it was possible to force a referendum in each zone (there are more than 100 in the borough's territory) to determine whether or not the by-law would apply to them.

Throughout the referendum application process, CORPIQ worked to mobilize the borough's homeowners to allow them to remove their zone from the by-law. This tedious work is bearing fruit. Indeed, it successfully forced the borough to hold a referendum in two specific zones. Despite this symbolic gain, the battle is not over yet, as landlords and tenants will now have to decide in a referendum vote. The borough may also prefer to abandon the application of the by-law in these two zones at the next borough council meeting scheduled for early December.

CORPIQ will keep you informed of the developments in this file.