The City of Vaudreuil-Dorion wins the prestigious Joseph-Beaubien Ovation municipale Award
At the gala meeting of the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ), held on Friday May 24 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion was awarded the Joseph-Beaubien prize for its La Genèse, un toit pour toi project. This award is the most prestigious of the Ovation municipale merit awards, and is given to the finalist municipality that, across all categories, has demonstrated mobilizing vision and ingenuity. This important recognition coincides with the official launch of Toit d’Abord Habitations abordables Vaudreuil-Soulanges earlier this week.
With the project La Genèse, un toit pour toi, the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion innovates in terms of affordable housing by implementing a more fitting legal framework, creating a dedicated fund, establishing a non-profit organization in collaboration with the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional Housing Bureau and other community partners, acquiring land, and carrying out concrete projects. In 2024, Vaudreuil-Dorion is expected to host a first construction project on the land acquired by the City that was merged with the land donated by the Sisters of Sainte-Anne in 2020, for social purposes, on Rue Saint-Michel. In the coming months, this project for 12 affordable housing units intended for families will be submitted to the conditional use process. The City also donated a second piece of land to the non-profit organization Toit d’Abord Habitations abordables Vaudreuil-Soulanges, acquired for the amount shown on the 2021 assessment and located in the same area as the first project. In 2024 or 2025, this land could accommodate 18 affordable housing units also intended for families.
“The shortage of affordable housing is a reality in every municipality in Quebec. I am proud of the actions taken in Vaudreuil-Dorion to reduce the obstacles to the creation of such housing, proud to have had the opportunity to present them to our peers at the UMQ and even prouder that our project caught the attention of the jury. I’d like to share this award with the entire staff of the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion and with the members of Toit d’Abord Habitations abordables Vaudreuil-Soulanges. In closing, I would like to point out that all these actions would not have been possible without the great collaboration of Manon Charest, General Manager of the Office régional d’habitation de Vaudreuil-Soulanges, and its Director of Business Development and Customer Service, Marie-Ève Brisson", declared Mayor Guy Pilon.
General Manager Olivier Van Neste encourages municipalities to replicate the Vaudreuil-Dorion model: “We loved presenting our ‘recipe’ for affordable housing development to the dozens of elected officials and other municipal players who came to visit us at our booth. The objective behind all the city’s initiatives is to meet the pressing need for housing for low-income clientele, and thus benefit the community. It’s clear that obstacles to the development of such housing are present throughout Quebec, and we’re very proud to have had the opportunity to share our model with UMQ delegates. We hope that our actions will inspire others to accelerate the construction of housing in their communities!
About Joseph-Beaubien Award
With this award, the UMQ wishes to pay tribute to the greatness of the man and his work, to his sharp sense of innovation and his avant-gardism. The ideas of Joseph Beaubien, co-founder and first president of the UMQ from 1919 to 1938, contributed to the remarkable growth of his city and the deployment of remarkable innovative initiatives. In this sense, the Joseph-Beaubien award is the most prestigious and will be given to the finalist municipality that, among all categories, has demonstrated the greatest mobilizing vision and ingenuity.
Joseph Beaubien, elected alderman in 1899, then mayor of Outremont in 1910, left an exceptional mark on his era during his 40 years as mayor, playing a preponderant role in his city’s development and influence on the municipal scene. A great visionary, committed, a reformer and always in favor of progress, he worked to make his city one of the most attractive and innovative.
