Montreal’s vacant building bylaw was created to hold owners accountable. But is it working?

2 and a half years after the metropolis of Montreal passed a bylaw aimed at holding belongings owners of vacant buildings sir thomas more accountable, to a lesser extent than 20 per cent of these properties are registered with the city.

If a property has sat empty for more than a year, owners must register their building on a mandatory, centralized list and share information about the building’s condition. 

The registry was intended to prevent neglect and encourage redevelopment. It also clarifies who the landlord is, especially if it’s a numbered company or the owner lives overseas. 

In Montreal’s downtown core alone, there are about 100 vacant buildings, according to lists kept by the Ville-Marie borough. But fewer than 20 properties are listed on the city’s vacant building registry.

When asked about the slow uptake, city spokesperson Hugo Bourgoin said the city always planned to delay the registry’s rollout to give boroughs time to set up a way to manage applications and align it with existing programs.

The registry is “constantly evolving” as buildings are added on a weekly basis, he added.

Courtesy letters were sent to property owners reminding them at the beginning of the year to register their buildings. If they don’t comply, inspectors can issue fines ranging from $500 to $4,000, said Bourgoin.

To prevent neglect, owners are also obligated to keep their building in good repair or face fines, up to $250,000 for a heritage property.

Although the bylaw was passed in the fall of 2023, the mandatory registry did not take effect until Jan. 1, 2026.

Montreal is pushing owners to take better care of vacant buildings. Is it making a difference?

Vacant buildings are a long-standing problem in Montreal. If they aren’t secured properly, they can attract crime, vandalism and squatters. 

These boarded up, empty spaces can make an area appear rundown, which can be damaging to nearby businesses and homeowners.

They are also at a greater risk of catching fire.

The situation hasn’t improved since the bylaw was passed in the fall of 2023. The proportion of fires in vacant buildings has stayed constant. 

But the severity of fires has gotten worse since 2023. Of 11 vacant building fires between 2024 and the end of March 2026, nearly three-quarters were four or five-alarm fires — the most severe.

These fires come at a huge expense to taxpayers. Four and five-alarm fires trigger a massive deployment of firefighters and trucks from multiple stations as well as police to close off roads and maintain a security perimeter.

The head of the union representing Montreal firefighters urged caution when interpreting an increase in serious fires based on alarm codes. Chris Ross, president of the Montreal firefighters association, says these codes don’t always give an accurate picture of how resource-intensive a particular fire is.

But he says fires in vacant buildings are more likely to become serious fires before anyone notices and calls 911.

“You add into that renovations and changes to the building that permit the fire to spread a lot rapidly: doors missing, windows missing, holes in the floor, holes in the walls, no gyprock on the building,” Ross said. 

“I don't think I know of one fire in a vacant building that doesn't become dramatic.”

Vacant buildings also present greater risks for firefighters because the structures can be more prone to collapse, Ross says. That’s why it’s crucial for firefighters to have quick access to a complete and up-to-date registry of vacant buildings, he added.

But he says more enforcement is also needed, to ensure property owners are maintaining their buildings and complying with the registry.

A striking example of a resource-intensive fire was in January, when a major fire tore through the former Barsalou soap factory at 1600 De Lorimier Ave. The building was vacant at the time.

The Jacques-Cartier Bridge was closed to traffic due to fears the building or debris from rooftop billboards might fall onto the roadway.

It took more than a day and a total of 378 firefighters to bring the fire under control, said Guy Lapointe, a spokesperson for the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM). 

The historic building had to be demolished.

Under the vacant building bylaw, city inspectors have been able to fine property owners for poor maintenance since the fall of 2023.

In addition to basic upkeep, owners are required to heat their property to a minimum temperature of 10 C and make sure entry points are properly boarded up.

Despite numerous cases of neglect, only 108 fines have been issued since the maintenance obligations came into force. 

The city would not disclose what the fines were for, but said they total $268,000 and involve 68 defendants.

Heritage Montreal was surprised it was that many, considering how long it can take for changes to trickle through the borough system and be adopted by inspectors on the ground. 

“Hopefully this will catch up in speed now that the whole thing is in motion,” said Dinu Bumbaru, the policy director at Heritage Montreal.

Strict enforcement is needed, but he cautions that the city needs to think outside the box about what else it can do to encourage owners to repair or repurpose their buildings more quickly. 

“Fines will not revitalize a building,” he said. €œIt might help sort of wake up the owner, but sometimes we’ve seen owners who couldn’t care less. For them, $10,000 is not much.”

Bumbaru says some property owners feel entitled to do whatever they want with their building.

“In the end, some people are just not good enough owners to be owners in Montreal and that’s it,” he said.

If cases of neglect continue, he said the city may need to have a wider conversation with Montrealers about removing the privilege of ownership if the building isn’t cared for properly. 

The city says property owners are still learning about the new rules. By the end of the year, it expects there will be more conformity with the new registry, said Caroline Braun, the city’s executive committee member in charge of housing.

Once the list is more complete, Braun said the city can talk to owners about why the building is vacant. In the midst of a housing crisis, she says the city wants to increase the housing supply and discourage speculation.

“Is it a question of money? Is it because the fines are not convincing you to do this stuff? Is it because it’s a very old building and it’s impossible for you to improve it because the regulations are too severe?” asked Braun. 

That could give the city more information about what other bylaws or tools are needed to help owners repair or repurpose their vacant buildings, she said. 

Journalist

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