A TRULY FULL
AGENDA!
Business Coalition for Montreal's Economic Development
With the underfunding that public transport is having to face
in Quebec, the idea of a new tax on parking has long been conveyed
as an efficient solution to this underfunding problem. For UDI
Quebec, it’s totally the opposite! Since 2000 and even
long before then, the UDI Quebec has been trying to convince
municipal and governmental authorities, successfully up to now,
that a tax on parking spaces that are not on the street and
non-residential would be an inefficient measure to reduce car
traveling and unfair for property owners and their tenants.
The UDI Quebec has set up a Coalition for Montreal’s Economic
Development regrouping the main business associations of Quebec
affected by this major issue for real estate and Quebec’s
economy as a whole.
Municipal Taxation Committee
Mission
Raise the awareness of government bodies (municipal, provincial
and federal) in regards to the great concern of real estate
owners and developers in regards to the increase of values contained
in the assessment roll pertaining to Quebec municipalities.
The exponential values on the tax accounts as well as the dramatic
values on commercial real estate:
Main objective
To ensure a follow-up on the non residential taxation of the
Ville du Québec in an ultimate objective of reducing,
or at least containing, the non residential tax burden.
Specific objectives
Within the context of a new triennial real estate assessment
roll and the anticipated increase of non residential real property
values, make the necessary representations, within the scope
of the Ville de Montréal’s budgetary process in
order to reduce, or at least contain, the global tax burden
of the non residential taxpaying population.
Real Estate Brokerage Act Committee
ACAIQ
- Precision on the new Real estate brokerage act Bill 73
Mission
To recommend the ACAIQ a training more adapted to the commercial
sector and to identify the assessment targets. The second step
consists in working with the ACAIQ so it forwards to the Ministère
des Finances the fruit of its reflective thinking in regards
to the content of the training program for future agents.
Urban Planning Committee
Mission
To work with the Ville de Montréal in order to smooth
out the difficulties promoters encounter to complete their real
estate projects. To exert a positive influence on the Ville
de Montréal in order to improve the prevailing development
conditions.
Specific objectives:
- To monitor and get involved in the drafting of new urban
planning by-laws and other urban planning tools;
- Continue the awareness process with the Ville de Montréal
in order to significantly reduce the real estate projects
approval times;
- Make sure the urban planning is attuned to the economic
development strategies;
- To consolidate the existing poles of activity;
- To maintain a good balance between the various urban functions;
- To ensure the reduction of development costs (reducing the
financial and procedural constraints);
- To promote the real estate aesthetics as the outcome of
the development process as opposed to an objective at all
costs;
- To establish site development criteria (density, height,
etc.) that are adapted to the various types of real estate
development and more attuned to the market conditions;
- Administrative and regulatory monitoring structure that
is flexible, open, clear, concise and objective.
Environment Committee (Contaminated soil and wetlands)
Mission
To work with elected officials on the rehabilitation potential,
and favorable regulatory and legal provisions. To create a self-sufficient
assistance program, funded by the three levels of government,
as well as subsidy programs for the development of sustainable
solutions that promote sustainable development.
Public-Private Partnership Committee of Quebec
Institut
pour le Partenariat Public-Privé
MERX Canadian Public Tenders
Mission
To monitor the status of Quebec public-private partnerships
(PPP). To inform our members about any issue pertaining to PPPs,
such as the priority of performance of projects, the concept
public management in order to promote Public-private partnerships.
Quebec Construction Commission Committee (CCQ)
Mission
To exchange views with the Commission de la construction du
Québec and present our positions in regards to certain
problems with the Labour Relations Act, vocational training
and manpower management within the construction industry. We
believe that the Act should be modernized in regards to the
industry’s evolution, and that it would be important for
the real estate industry to have the opportunity to mandate
a representative appointed to the Board of Directors of the
Commission de la construction du Québec so its concerns
and propositions are put forward.
Position of the Quebec area in the market research
carried out by national real estate brokerage firms
Quebec is the seventh most important urban population cluster
in Canada, right after Edmonton and before Winnipeg. If its
tourist points of attraction are well known, its economic vigor
and real estate market would gain to be better known. However,
we unfortunately observe that the metropolitan area of Quebec
is almost totally missing from market surveys carried out by
national real estate brokerage firms. The UDI Québec
is seriously seeking to correct this situation and to convince
the national brokerage firms to position the Quebec area within
their respective surveys.
Project Approval Procedures in Quebec
Ever since the creation of the new Ville de Québec in
2002, the real estate project approbation has been greatly slowed
down and made to be complex in Québec. The IDU Québec
is trying to raise this problem with the municipal administration
in order to reduce the approval times by half and hopes that
a series of realistic measures, such as determining project
holders, using the board’s discretionary authority and
increasing the human resources assigned to the analysis of files,
will be set up. |