Montreal tenant finally agrees to move after 5-year fight with real estate giant

Montreal tenant Carla White has agreed to move out of her longtime apartment on Ste-Catherine Street after a long battle with one of the city's largest real estate developers that included a $20,000 offer to leave.

White had an apartment in the building which housed the former Da Giovanni restaurant, across the street from Place Émilie Gamelin at the corner of Berri Street at the east end of downtown Montreal. Because she's lived there for so long, her rent was just $400 a month — and that's not something she was willing to give up easily.

She said she received her first eviction notice in 2019, and that's when the fight began. That fight has been nothing short of a nightmare, said White, but now she is relieved and grateful to have finally made a deal.

"Maybe I'll finally have some peace with this, and a safe and comfortable dwelling," she said. "Was that too much to ask?"

David Owen, a senior partner with Mondev, said White was concerned about being able to find a new apartment at a similarly low rate, after living in her place for more than a decade.

"She's a very courageous, strong woman," said Owen. "She was fighting for her rights, which we respect."

Owen said his company made a financial offer that was significantly higher than required by the province's rental board, and offered an apartment in another Mondev building. She refused at first, but with demolition of her current apartment finally approved this spring, she agreed to move into one of Mondev's new buildings nearby.

"It's very low rent as well," said Owen. "I think it's a win-win for everybody."

WATCH | Carla White says housing is too expensive in Montreal:

Montreal tenant Carla White bemoans lack of affordable housing in city

3 months ago

Duration 0:32

Developers want to demolish the building Carla White has lived in for nearly 11 years. She’s worried she won’t find another affordable apartment.

Manuel Johnson, White's lawyer, said he is satisfied that his client was able to be rehoused at a rate she can afford. While she was offered a lump sum of $20,000 to vacate, he said that wasn't enough to cover rent for long given today's housing market.

The negotiations would not have taken so long if the law was clear, said Johnson, and if the law obliged the rehousing of people who are getting evicted for demolition. The law needs to be changed to protect tenants like White, he said.

"She was able to find a lawyer to represent her and to fight back, but that's a rare situation," said Johnson, noting many people end up homeless. "We need to protect all tenants."

The developer said the project includes demolishing the existing buildings and then constructing a 16-storey apartment complex with 176 units in the first phase.

By the last phase, adjacent buildings will be replaced with even more towers, constructing a total of 700 units.

Ten to 20 per cent will be affordable housing, said Owen.

Catherine Lussier, a community organizer with the housing advocacy group, Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FAPRU), said the neighbourhood needs social and low-income housing.

She said 41 per cent of tenants in the area are spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent. Mondev opted to pay Montreal a fee rather than include social housing in the project, as is required under a municipal bylaw that came into effect in 2021.

Lussier said her organization would like to see Montreal make that bylaw even stricter by not allowing developers the option of buying out of the social housing requirement.

"For us, this is the main thing that should be changed right now in Montreal," said Lussier. "They should not have this possibility right now, with the housing crisis. They're going to push people out of the neighbourhood and they have no place to go."