COTÉ Habitat – A New Partnership to Improve the Climate Resilience of Our Living Environments

Montreal, May 30, 2025 – The Ecological Transition in Housing Operations Center project, or CÔTÉ Habitat, is a collaborative network of stakeholders aimed at aligning existing expertise and support services for homeowners and tenants. A single point of contact to help them plan their projects by considering all opportunities for environmental improvements (technical, social, urban planning, and financial), such as a building’s energy and technical performance, sustainable mobility options, waste management, greening of perimeters and rooftops, citizen participation, the building’s social and landscape integration with its surroundings (streets, alleys, neighboring lots, parks), embodied carbon, water management, resilience to heat waves, etc.

“ The combined climate and housing crises call for urgent action. Although programs and resources exist to support housing adaptation and resilience projects, they remain fragmented and difficult for citizens, homeowners, and renters to access. This fragmentation limits our ability to fully engage collectively and navigate the available options with agility, particularly in underserved neighborhoods and among nonprofit housing organizations. “, said Sébastien Parent-Durand, executive director of the Alliance of Affordable Housing Corporations of Quebec (ACHAT).

“ Furthermore, it can be difficult for a motivated citizen to envision a concrete role for themselves in a socio-ecological transition project, which results in many missed opportunities. These opportunities could be realized if mobilization and support efforts were provided on a more sustained basis. Existing support programs tend to address isolated aspects (such as energy efficiency) in order to disburse grant funds, neglecting a more holistic approach that would incorporate complementary measures such as green infrastructure and shared mobility, to name just a few. “, “For his part,” added Bertrand Fouss, co-general coordinator of Transition en Commun (TeC).

“ With this project, we aim to break down silos to pool resources and knowledge, thereby fostering an integrated approach that will raise the profile of existing initiatives by amplifying their impact—increasing both the number and quality of projects aligned with climate adaptation and resilience efforts. In short, we will facilitate socio-ecological action for homeowners and renters by offering personalized support, guided by principles of equity in the use of resources ” added Oriol Gavaldà, a researcher specializing in zero-carbon communities at the Next-Generation Cities Institute at Concordia University.

“As regional energy advisors for the province of Quebec, we are pleased to join forces with the founding group of CÔTÉ Habitat to amplify the impact and cross-cutting nature of our work,” concluded Kathrine Lapalme, regional energy advisor for the Centre for Community Housing Transformation in Quebec.

In the Face of the Climate Crisis:

• Canada has adopted the Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40 to 45 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Nationwide, 13% of GHG emissions are related to buildings. According to the Sustainable Building Council of Canada, this figure could even be closer to 30% if building materials and construction methods are taken into account.

• Quebec has adopted the 2030 Green Economy Plan which commits the province to reducing its GHG emissions by 37.5% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. According to this plan, approximately 10% of the province’s total emissions come from buildings, and 40.5% of those buildings are residential.

• The City of Montreal has adopted the 2020–2030 Climate Plan , which commits it to reducing its GHG emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels (by December 2022, the city had achieved a 26% reduction) and to aim for carbon neutrality by 2050—and even 2040 for the building sector. According to this plan, buildings account for 28% of the city’s GHG emissions.

In Response to the Housing Crisis:

• Canada is rolling out the Canada’s Housing Plan , which aims, among other things, to increase the supply of affordable and community-based housing by promoting its construction and renovation.

• Quebec has adopted the Quebec Housing Strategy , which aims, among other things, to accelerate residential development—particularly the construction of social and affordable housing—to preserve the non-market housing stock and encourage its growth, to renovate low-rent housing, and to strengthen the sustainable management of drinking water

• The City of Montreal is presenting its draft 2050 Urban Planning and Mobility Plan, which aims, among other things, to create 200,000 new housing units, 20% of which will be off-market.

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About Our Partners

Leader Habitation – Alliance of Affordable Housing Corporations in the Province of Quebec (PURCHASE)
The Alliance of Affordable Housing Corporations of Quebec is a unique consortium of collective real estate enterprises (nonprofit owners, operators, and developers; cooperatives; and quasi-public corporations) within the national social economy network. To date, ACHAT has 25 member organizations that collectively manage 10,400 housing units with an assessed property value of over $2 billion, 7,352 of which are currently under development. This network comprises numerous teams that collectively bring decades of expertise in real estate management, community engagement, and social entrepreneurship—skills that will guide and support the implementation of the CÔTÉ Habitat project.

Socio-Ecological Transition Leader – Transition en Commun (TeC)
Transition en Commun is an alliance organized around governing bodies, committees, and thematic working groups that share the common characteristics of bringing together a diverse range of representatives (institutions, civil society organizations, neighborhood groups, citizens, and researchers) and taking on the challenge of co-creation. Their expertise centers on citizen mobilization, the socio-ecological transition, and social entrepreneurship. The TeC team currently consists of half a dozen professionals (coordination, communications, mobilization, partnerships, etc.), supplemented by contributions from several dozen members.

Principal Investigator – Concordia University (CU)
Concordia University is a leading academic institution in Montreal, recognized for its innovative approach to research and education. With an emphasis on interdisciplinarity and collaboration, Concordia stands out for its initiatives in sustainable development, ecological transition, and urban resilience. It is home to many researchers engaged in applied research projects, particularly through initiatives such as the École de Ville, which aims to connect academic research with the needs of civil society and local communities. Concordia will be able to play a key role for CÔTÉ Habitat in integrating innovative measures into projects and in developing monitoring tools and indicators to assess the actual impact of the actions implemented, thereby ensuring the reliability and transparency of the results.

Community Leader – Community Housing Transformation Center (CTLC)
The Community Housing Transformation Center (CTLC) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2018 by a network of organizations in the community housing sector. The Center aims to make the community housing sector one of the key drivers capable of changing the course of its own history and that of the country’s entire housing system. The Center also operates the Regional Energy Advisors (ARÉ) program in Quebec and Ontario, a free service that helps community housing providers (housing nonprofits and housing cooperatives) launch, build, and operate projects that reduce their environmental footprint.

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Source: The Alliance of Affordable Housing Corporations of Quebec (ACHAT)

For more information:
Martin Simoneau
msimoneau@achat-habitation.org