Legal context

The Act respecting Land Use Planning and Urban Development

Section 83 of the Loi sur l’aménagement et l’urbanisme (Act respecting Land Use Planning and Urban Development, R.S.Q., c. A-19.1) establishes the mandatory and optional contents of the Master Plan, which sets forth orientations regarding development in the territory and presents the regulatory parameters for land use and building density.

Under the conformity rule established by the Act, urban planning by-laws must conform to the Master Plan.

The Charter of the Ville de Montréal

The Charte de la Ville de Montréal (Charter of the Ville de Montréal, R.S.Q., c. C-11.4) stipulates that the Master Plan must include a complementary document, which contains the rules and criteria that urban planning by-laws must take into account:

88. The City’s planning progam must include, in addition to the elements mentioned in section 83 of the Act respecting Land Use Planning and Urban Development (R.S.Q., chapter A-19.1), a document establishing the rules and criteria to be taken into account, in any by-law referred to in section 131, by the borough councils and requiring the borough councils to include, in such a by-law rules that are at least as restrictive as those established in the complementary document.

The complementary document may include, in addition to the elements mentioned in the Act respecting Land Use Planning and Urban Development, in relation to the whole or part of the City’s territory, rules to ensure harmonization with any by-laws that may be adopted by a borough council under section 131 or to ensure consistency with the development of the City.

(L.Q., 2000, c. 56, Sch. I, s. 88; 2001, c. 25, s. 265)

The City and its boroughs share jurisdiction over urban planning, as follows:

• City Council is responsible for adopting a Master Plan, along with a complementary document. This plan applies to the entire territory of Montréal (sections 87 and 88);
• Borough councils have responsibility for urban planning by-laws (section 131) and the following urban planning by-laws, applicable to each borough’s territory, must incorporate the rules and criteria in the complementary document:
  • Zoning by-laws;
  • Subdivision by-laws;
  • Minor exemptions;
  • Comprehensive Development Programs (CDP);
  • Site Planning and Architectural Integration Programs (SPAIP);
  • Conditional uses;
  • Specific Construction, Alteration or Occupancy Projects for Buildings (SCAOPB).

The complementary document of the Ville de Montréal Master Plan must not be confused with the complementary document of the Metropolitan Land Use and Development Plan of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM), as specified in the Loi sur la Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (Act respecting the Montréal Metropolitan Community) (L.Q. 200, c. 34).

Until the Metropolitan Plan comes into effect, the Land Use Planning and Development Plan of the former Communauté urbaine de Montréal (CUM) along with its complementary document remain in force, under the responsibility of the Ville de Montréal.