The City of Vaudreuil-Dorion has been selected as one of the 20 finalists in the 2024 Ovation Municipale competition in the category of Habitat, Logement, Équité et Diversité. The city's project, La Genèse, un toit pour toi, will be presented at the Pavillon mérite Ovation municipale during the annual conference of the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ), to be held on May 23rd and 24th at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. The competition received 110 submissions from municipalities, out of which 20 projects were selected by the jury across eight categories.
The projects were evaluated on various parameters such as innovation, results, mobilization of resources, impact on the municipal organization, territory, and community, and their impact on fighting climate change. Vaudreuil-Dorion's project, La Genèse, un toit pour toi, aims to provide affordable housing to low-income individuals by creating a dedicated fund, a non-profit organization in collaboration with the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional Housing Bureau, acquiring land, and carrying out concrete projects. The city plans to host its first construction project in 2024 on the land acquired by the city and the land donated by the Sisters of Sainte-Anne for social purposes on Rue Saint-Michel.
The project will be for 12 affordable housing units for families, and the city plans to submit the project for the conditional use process in the coming months. The city also donated a second piece of land to the non-profit organization, Toit d’Abord Habitations abordables Vaudreuil-Soulanges, which was acquired for the amount shown on the 2021 assessment and located in the same area as the first project. The land will accommodate 18 affordable housing units for families, expected to be constructed in 2024 or 2025. Mayor Guy Pilon expressed his happiness on the city's selection and said that the shortage of affordable housing is a common problem throughout Quebec.
The city has taken bold actions to reduce the obstacles to creating affordable housing, and the mayor encouraged other municipalities to follow suit. The Ovation Municipale competition recognizes the innovative projects of Quebec municipalities that meet the needs of their population. The winners of the competition will be announced at the gala evening on May 24th, 2024.
