The Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal has put forward a proposal for better management of parking space in Montreal: By making all parking space payable by 2035.
It is certain that such a decision will have an impact on businesses that could become less attractive and difficult to reach. But there could also be an impact on the rental housing sector.
For tenants who want to live in Montreal, rental housing with private parking space in the building will have a significant advantage during the rental season. Spending several hundreds of dollars a month to park your car, in addition to the cost of rent, could put tenants in precarious financial situations. Public transport is available in Montreal but is it realistic with children and a family? Or with a job in another borough?
But the biggest impact will probably be an exodus to the suburbs to have parking space related to housing or just parking space on the street. And the exodus has already begun, so it would only make the phenomenon worse.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the number of households on the Island of Montreal who bought a house in the suburbs was 6700 in 2019 and 8700 in 2020. And those who bought a condo in the suburbs was 2850 in 2019 and 4050 in 2020.
With the REM and the commuter train, many tenants will choose to live outside Montreal rather than spend more money to park 24 hours a day near their housing.
All paid parking in Montreal: Leading towards an exodus?
