In Quebec, we can say we are spoiled. Apart from the roads in terrible condition, a faltering healthcare system, and a half-baked political climate, joy of living reigns among people!
Soon we will celebrate our national holiday; holidays will punctuate the calendar, as will «hoorays» and drunken revelries throughout the territory, and we will religiously follow the weather forecasts of a planet in the midst of a climate crisis. All is well, Madame la Marquise! But in this ‘know-it-all Quebec,» we are still lucky: no war (except for road rage, a growing number of femicides, and a few homicides), drinkable water from every tap (unless the wells run dry), houses to shelter us (not counting the homeless), and jobs to afford overconsumption tailor-made for families on a small budget!
On this beloved territory that is searching for itself and sometimes hesitates, after two years of meetings, negotiations, dashed hopes, but consolidating alliances, I ask myself the question:
Would we be become a nation that wallows in self-pity regulatory, to no longer know why some of the crulest were created in the first place ?
I understand the principle Law and Order; But when regulations become a goal in themselves, when they should be tools serving a society seeking meaning and, why not, a zest for life, they become outright hindrances, exasperating and discouraging.
Precisely, let's talk about courage.
Our ancestors had to overcome some challenges (to put it mildly) so that we can enjoy the benefits of our nation today. Take a moment to imagine the explorer Jacques Cartier setting sail from Saint-Malo, France, in the 16the century, crossing the Atlantic without GPS or sophisticated navigation tools, making three voyages to Canada, succeeding in being the first to map the Gulf and the St. Lawrence River, imagine this explorer having to submit to a plethora of regulations dictating how he should navigate? There's a good chance he would have turned back after just one voyage, disgusted at having to report and follow the directives of royal officials, imposing a way of doing things at sea on him, him on the ocean and them from their royal chambers!
Well, friends, if it weren't for this "Jack" who took all those risks, we wouldn't exist—we wouldn't be here discussing a topic as "dull" as regulations.
As of today, very questionable urban planning regulations are hindering our efforts to build a cohabitation. Directives from various land-use plans support the arguments of urban planners who also have to contend with regulations that come from local officials and elected representatives seeking to complicate land occupation that could, let's say, be simplified? Phew. We can breathe... In short, it's called DENSIFICATION.
The buzzword right now is indeed: densification. Seen as the antidote to the land-eating bacteria called urban sprawl, den-si-fi-ca-tion has become a five-syllable obsession that is on everyone's lips, all municipal and provincial officials. The irritating thing is that it's a phenomenon that is applied the same way in the city or in rural areas; hence the inconsistency.
Densification limits urban sprawl by concentrating the population near services and transportation corridors, leading municipalities to amend their regulations to allow for taller buildings. To achieve this, eliminating white zone land becomes the major lever to stop... the bad bacterium. urban sprawl…
A mayor recently told me, and I quote:
« À force to restrict construction outside the urban perimeter where there is space for projects intelligent on a human scale and to increase the density of villages by building high-rise structures there, In twenty years, young people will no longer walk on the ground but through the hallways of apartment buildings. »
It might be an exaggeration, but the fact is that land zoned ‘white’ is becoming increasingly rare. However, these spaces are the most suitable for building a co-housing project (24 to 42 units, a common house or multifunctional center, and a few outbuildings). And when one is found to be available, other regulations must be followed, such as ‘4,000 sq m per unit built,’ which means a 42-unit project would require... 1,680,000 sq m of land. Meanwhile, multi-unit dwellings can be found on areas of less than 100,000 sq m within the so-called "sacrosanct" urban perimeter... which is the inconsistency I mentioned earlier...
The only plausible hypothesis is to engage with a visionary town council that will work to obtain waivers from the RCM, perhaps including one to move forward with a PPCMOI.
What is this thing called ppcmoi?
The PPCMOI, an acronym that sounds like it's from a comic book, stands for:
Pprojects Pjoints of Cconstruction and Mmodification or’Ourban planning regulationsiSME.
PPCMOIs are particularly useful for large-scale and complex projects—such as the Village VITAL project. This procedure is designed to allow, under certain conditions, a project to proceed even if it deviates from urban planning regulations, for example, regarding floor area, building height, the number of units, or zoning, provided that the project complies with the objectives of the municipality’s and its RCM’s urban plan.
As these lines are written, our eyes and hopes are turned toward Saint-Félix-de-Valois, a municipality in the MRC Matawinie where we found not one, but two adjacent lots totaling some 1,600,000 sq ft, an area that makes us eligible in terms of size, at least. But it is almost certain that we will have to go through other regulatory labyrinths, unless a somewhat visionary administration can get us there.
The municipality of Saint-Félix-de-Valois is headed by Audrey Boisjoly, who is also the second vice-president of the executive committee of the Fédération québécoise des Municipalités (FQM) and also presides over the new Planning and Environment Commission (CAE) of the Matawinie RCM. Another woman could intervene in the person of Isabelle Perreault, Prefect of the RCM; the latter had already given her support when we began our efforts.
Let’s hope these two women hear us and show just how ambitious they can be by launching Quebec’s first Cohabitat for seniors: Village VITAL!
Author: Louise Larivière
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June 18, 2026