$18 million for 104 new government-subsidized social-housing units

The remaining 60 units will be built in Auteuil, on land adjacent to the Villa des Tilleuls Residence, at the extreme north of des Laurentides Blvd, corner of Prud'homme.

"It's a dream come true," exclaimed Claire Lachance at the press conference held at the sod-turning ceremony. Chairperson of the Board of Directors of la Coopérative de solidarité intergénérationnelle lavalloise, a housing cooperative which has had the project on the books since 2006, Mrs. Lachance noted that the cooperative movement was returning to Laval in force to respond to the needs of people of low and modest income.

This subsidy, aimed at assisting economically-disadvantaged households, represents sizeable financial aid, so far pegged at $702,000 to cover the first five years of the leases. The aid guarantees that no tenant will have top pay more than 25% of their income for housing.

Mrs. Lachance cited as a case in point, a single mother with three teenage children presently earning $20,000 a year and paying $700 a month in rent. Next year, as a result of the subsidy for which she qualifies, this woman's rent will drop to $417 a month.

To this end, the cooperative has put in place a selection committee to evaluate candidates according to a specific set of norms, notably the needs of the household and the interest shown toward a spirit of cooperative living.

Needing an investment of $18.2 million to complete, the 104 housing units will be open to singles, couples, senior citizens and families.

In fact, the complex foreseen for Auteuil will have no less than 20 four-bedroom units, all with two bathrooms, said Mr. McNeil. As for the Pont-Viau building, four such units are in the plans.

"Between now and 2013, we will need 230 additional social housing units a year (to catch-up)," she specified, adding that of the current 44,535 rental units in Laval, only 1120 are considered of modest cost, a figure representing only 2.5% of the available supply.

Laval MNA Alain Paquet welcomed this "initiative from the local community", and gave full credit for its accomplishment to Claire Lachance and her team, while noting that the Charest government allocated $200 million in the last budget for the creation of 3000 new social housing units. "Since 2003, more than 600 new units have been built or are in the process of being put up in Laval, representing investments of close to $76 million," he noted.

As for Mr. Paquet's Laval caucus colleague, Vincent Auclair admitted having been critical of the Vaillancourt administration, regarding the city's approach to affordable housing. "In the past, I have not been shy about criticizing the city on this issue," the Vimont MNA stated, before acknowledging Ville de Laval's important contribution to the new project.

Ville de Laval will kick in $2.2 million to the AccèsLogis Québec program in addition to investing $300,000 in the Rénovation Québec program and pumping $72,000 into the Rent Subsidy Fund.

(With John Fasciano)