Frequently asked questions to the OdM regarding various municipal
issues
Notice: The following information is not a legal opinion. In case of
conflict, the provisions of the applicable law or policies shall
prevail.
Q. What is a public
consultation?
A. A public consultation is a process which allows citizens
and project developers (public or private) and/or City representatives to
exchange information on a specific project and explain their needs and
expectations, their constraints and their concerns related thereto.
Public consultations normally increase the level of understanding and
communication between all those concerned, which often leads to the improvement
of the initial project.
As a general rule, public consultations are neither mandatory nor binding and
the elected officials remain responsible to decide whether or not a public
consultation should take place prior to make the final decision.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, public consultations are mandatory in some
instances such as urban planning, zoning changes and loan subscriptions by a
borough.
Q. What is the role of the Office de consultation
publique de Montréal?
A. The main role of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) is to
organize and conduct public consultations requested by Ville de Montréal with
regard to major projects, including Urban Planning and Zoning changes.
The OCPM may also conduct public consultations on specific projects, at the
request of the City Council or the Executive Committee.
All public consultations held in Montréal are not necessarily conducted by
the OCPM: the boroughs are not required to use this office and they have the
right to proceed differently, with or without the help of another entity, to
conduct their public consultations.
The OCPM elaborates and recommends public consultation rules and guidelines
which should apply to all municipal consultations, in Montréal, so as to make
them efficient and credible.
Q. What is the role of the OdM with regard to
public consultations?
A. In the Montréal Charter of Rights and
Responsibilities, Ville de Montréal undertook to ensure the credible,
transparent and efficient nature of all public consultations held by Ville de
Montréal and to adopt procedures in that regard. These commitments are also
binding on the boroughs.
As guardian of this Charter, the OdM can intervene/investigate any
public consultation process to make sure that it satisfies these
requirements.
Q. What is the role of an Urban Planning Advisory
Committee?
A. Each borough has an Urban Planning Advisory Committee
(known as "UPAC") mandated to evaluate the special requests of citizens or
developers, in terms of urban planning and land use, and to issue an
opinion/recommendation to the Borough Council. Its role is only advisory, not
decision-making.
The UPAC is composed of at least one (1) elected
official from the borough and of citizens appointed by the Borough Council
because of their expertise and their interest.
A UPAC opinion/recommendation is required in the following cases:
An
application for minor exemption, the adoption of a Master Plan for Urban
Development for the borough, the adoption of an Architectural Implementation and
Integration plan and an application to authorize a conditional use or a
particular construction project.
Q. Several months ago, I submitted a request
for low rent housing to the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal: why does
it take so long?
A. In Montréal, approximately 24,000
households are waiting for low rent housing (hereafter "HLM") but only
2,000 units become available each year. The waiting period may, therefore, vary
from a few months to several years.
Several HLMs are managed by the Office municipal d'habitation de Montréal (OMHM), a
paramunicipal organization responsible for implementing the selection rules
imposed by the Québec Government with regard to the units under its management
and for the management of the building under its control.
Upon receiving an application, the OMHM first determines if the applicant
meets the eligibility requirements with regard to his/her economic and social
conditions.
The order of priority of the eligible files, on the various waiting lists, is
then assessed mainly on the characteristics of the applicant ( family / spouses
/ single person, retiree, person in a wheelchair), on the areas
requested, on the expected housing category and on the number of rooms
required.
This order of priority is determined according to a scoring system
established by the Québec Government that the OMHM must respect. The OdM cannot,
therefore, intervene to change the scoring system or the order of priority of a
request.
Every time new requests come in, their order of priority is determined and
they are then put on the waiting lists, according to this score: this is not a
"first come, first served" system.
Q. Must I always get a permit from my borough
before making renovations, demolishing a building or building a new
construction?
A. A permit is required for any internal or
external change of a residential building, as well as for construction or
demolition projects.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, some maintenance repairs
or replacement works which have no impact on the safety of people may not
require a permit. To name a few:
- Painting, changing carpets or other flooring;
- Minor surface repairs of the exterior walls (brick joints, etc.), without
replacing the full wall facing;
- Resurfacing of the roof membrane or shingles without touching the
insulation or roof structure;
- Replacing kitchen cabinets or counters, bathroom fixtures or ceiling
mounts, without touching the plumbing;
- Landscaping: trees, hedges, fences, including ground-level unistone that
is not used for vehicle parking.
To ensure the conformity of the work and to ensure a permit is not
required you should, nonetheless, communicate with the Permit department of the Direction de
l'aménagement urbain et des services aux enterprises in the
concerned borough.
For works relating to electricity or to heating systems (electrical or
natural gas), you must consult the Régie du bâtiment du Québec web site or call Services
Québec at 1 800 363-1363.
Q. What should I do if I have
suffered damages which I consider Ville de Montréal responsible
for?
A. The
Bureau des réclamations of Ville de
Montréal is responsible for receiving and handling damages claims from
citizens.
Remember that for a person or entity to be found liable for damages, the
victim must demonstrate: 1) that there has been damages (and the value); 2) that
the person/entity is at fault, and 3) that the damages were caused by this
fault.
Physical damages
If you have suffered physical damages,
for example as a result of a fall on a sidewalk or on a pavement poorly
maintained by Ville de Montréal, you may ask for compensation. The City,
however, is not always responsible. In cases of physical damages, the law does
not require that a formal Notice of claim be sent to the Bureau des
réclamations within a very short delay: it is nonetheless desirable.
Your maximum time limit to file a legal action against Ville
de Montréal, for physical damages is three years from the occurrence of
the event. After that date, you will have no more legal
recourse.
Property damages
If you have suffered
property damages as a result of negligence by Ville de Montréal, you may seek
compensation. The concept of "property damages" includes damage to movable
property (e.g., an automobile) and immovable property (e.g., a house).
A Notice of claim must be sent to Ville de Montréal
within 15 days after the event. If you fail to do so, you will
no longer have a legal right to sue the City.
The maximum time limit to file a legal action for property
damages against Ville de Montréal is six months from the
occurence of the event. After that date, you will have no more legal
recourse.
Notice of claim
The law does not impose the use of a
specific format for your Notice of claim.
An optional Form is, however, available to citizens.
The Notice can also be mailed or faxed to the Bureau des réclamations of Ville
de Montréal:
775, rue Gosford, 3rd floor
Montréal (Québec) H2Y 3B9
- 514 872-2977
- 514 872-6082
Q. What are the responsibilities of Ville
de Montréal with respect to noise problems?
A. In most boroughs, a By-law which defines
the objective maximum noise levels that are acceptable is in force.
Ville de Montréal and the boroughs have also committed themselves, in the
Montréal Charter of Rights and
Responsibilites, to take adequate action to reduce disturbing
noises.
When the source of a disruptive noise is known, you may ask your borough to
take noise measurements and, if appropriate, to request corrective measures
or issue fines.
Noise disturbance arising from human activity (such as a party, loud music in
a home, and so on), as well as noise produced by motor vehicles (motorcycles,
cars, trucks or buses that have left their engine running unnecessarily) are to
be reported to the police.
Anything that is mechanical (heat pump, ventilation, air conditioning, etc.)
or commercial (music from a bar; music broadcast outside by a business;
mechanical workshop) is the responsibility of the Direction de l'aménagement
urbain et des services aux entreprises in your borough.
Q. I have been evicted from my apartment and my personal belongings and
furniture have been impounded: can the OdM help ?
A. When a Montrealer is evicted from his apartment and his
belongings are put on the street, Ville de Montréal will normally pick them
up and store them for two months. This is a service that Ville de
Montréal is not required to offer but has undertaken, to prevent the stealing or
destruction of the said belongings.
This is not a free service in all boroughs, however, and the citizen may
possibly pay transportation and storage fees to retrieve its
belongings.
If, because of your financial and/or your family situation, you are
unable to pay the full amount claimed to retrieve your property or if you need
more time to do so, the OdM may, on humanitarian grounds, intervene and request
a reduction of the amount or a short extension of the 60 days warehousing
period.
There is limited available space, however, for such storage and time
extensions can only be for short periods. The citizen who has not yet found a
new home must, therefore, find another solution for the storing of his or her
property elsewhere, thus ensuring that other citizens may also benefit from the
same privilege.
Q. Is
Ville de Montréal granting Reasonable Accomodations?
A. Ville de Montréal must respect the fundamental rights
protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Québec
Charter of human rights and freedoms..
If necessary for the protection of his/her fundamental rights, a citizen may
ask for certain reasonable accommodations with respect to rules and policies
usually applied by Ville de Montréal.
The duty to provide reasonable accommodations only exists when fundamental
rights are at stake: the goal is to promote integration and avoid ghettoïzation.
The accommodation must, however, be reasonable and should not impose an
excessive burden on Ville de Montréal.
Reasonable accommodation usually involves a bilateral process under which
both sides must be willing to compromise.
If a request for reasonable accommodation is rejected by City
representatives, the citizen may ask the OdM to intervene to try to settle the
matter: the OdM will make a neutral and independent analysis of the file and, if
necessary, intervene with the municipal authorities and the concerned citizen.
The OdM may also decide to proceed with formal mediation with the
parties.
In instances where a fundamental right is not at stake, Ville de
Montréal is not legally obliged to accommodate. Nonetheless, the City may still
wish to provide some special adjustment, so as to promote the integration and
participation of all citizens to the community life of Montréal. Such privileges
are on a voluntary basis only and are not binding on Ville de Montréal for the
future. The OdM may also play a facilitating role with regard to this type of
situations.
