By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
If you’re struggling to find an affordable place to live in Bromont, you’re not alone, a new report suggests.
Earlier this year, the municipality commissioned a consulting firm to produce an assessment of its housing market. The report, tabled Aug. 5, found that access to property, access to affordable rental housing and population growth were major concerns.
The report cited data from the Institut de la statistique de Québec, indicating that the city’s population was expected to grow 57 per cent by 2041 – an increase of more than 2,900 people – putting further pressure on housing stock. Between 2014 and 2024, the city added an average of 196 housing units – homes or apartments – per year; 2021 was a banner year with 374 new units, although construction dropped off in 2022 and 2023.
The report’s authors predict that access to property will continue to be a struggle for young families, as house prices continue to rise – the average price of a single-family home rose more than eight per cent between 2021 and 2024 alone, from $580,500 to $731,250. For co-owned properties, the rise was five per cent. The report states that the median combined income of Bromont households in 2020 was $100,000, but a household would now have to earn a combined $130,262 to reach the recommended threshold for being able to buy a single-family home; to buy a property as co-owners, a household would have to earn $112,596.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the cost of buying a home, the report showed that home ownership decreased by five per cent between 2011 and 2021, even before the post-pandemic price spike.
“Due to rising property prices in Bromont, households tend to stay in the rental market longer, increasing demand for rental housing,” the report’s authors observed. About one in four households in Bromont rented in 2021, compared to just under one in five in 2011. Of those who were renting, one in five spent more than 30 per cent of their income on rent, and about one in 25 was living in a unit that was too small or too costly for their needs. The rental market in Bromont is overwhelmingly made up of privately owned units – only one per cent, or 71 units, were owned by a public housing authority, housing trust or co-op; the provincial average is 3.5 per cent.
Buying a home, the authors observed, does not necessarily mean a family is more financially secure; ten per cent of homeowners spend more than 30 per cent of their income to stay in their homes.
The report suggests high rents and housing prices are a disincentive for job seekers looking for work in the city. “The few housing units that are advertised are offered at prices that are too high for the majority of workers in Bromont’s businesses, services, and companies,” the authors write. More than three-quarters of workers in Bromont live outside of town.
Bromont began reviewing its urban plan at the end of 2022. At the time, city council identified housing as one of the five major themes of this review. To help clarify the affordable housing objectives for the urban plan and address the housing crisis, the city of Bromont created an ad hoc committee on affordable housing in 2023, made up of representatives from a variety of economic sectors. The committee identified a need for affordable housing for families aspiring to homeownership, seniors and low- and middle-income workers.
When the report was tabled, Bromont mayor Tatiana Contreras told reporters a public consultation on housing was planned for Sept. 20. “We know that, in our deepest values, we want an inclusive Bromont. So, in the spirit of the public consultation, we are meeting on September 20 at the community centre for a day of exchange and reflection to put ourselves in solution mode.” Contreras was not available for a follow-up interview.