Quebec shelving plans to transform old Royal Vic site into student housing — for now |

Plans to create student housing on the site of Montreal’s iconic Royal Victoria Hospital are being shelved, at least for now.

Construction on the original hospital began in 1891 on the slope of Mount Royal, just steps from McGill University’s main campus and overlooking the city’s downtown. 

It served as a medical facility until 2015, when it moved to the McGill University Health Centre’s new Glen site — leaving the Royal Vic to tower over Montreal largely unused. 

The proposed project would have seen some of the buildings on the site converted to house a maximum of 1,149 students.

The government commissioned a study on the feasibility of the project, which CDPQ-Infra— a subsidiary of Quebec’s pension fund manager, delivered last week.

What the report found is that all six buildings under study showed advanced signs of deterioration, including four that have heritage value and are at least 100 years old. Because of that status, they cannot currently be demolished under existing municipal regulations.

CDPQ Infra says three of the four structures could be restored and converted to student residences but it would require major and complex renovations to respect their heritage value.

Of the $845 million projected price tag for the proposal, 79 per cent of the costs or $667 million, stem from the work necessary to restore the heritage buildings, as well as demolishing and rebuilding another structure.

Those costs would have fallen on the Quebec government. The remaining 21 per cent needed to build the actual housing would have been financed by CDPQ Infra, in exchange for a return on its investment.

In a news release on Friday, the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI), the Quebec government’s real-estate branch, said it wouldn’t be going ahead with the project as it stands.

The release states that in the current context, the SQI needs to prioritize public infrastructure investments. CDPQ Infra’s proposal was designed to minimize public funding, but the costs associated with the project are just too high.

WATCH | Restoring Royal Vic heritage buildings for future use too expensive, says Quebec:

Why Quebec is shelving a student housing project at the old Royal Vic site

Quebec is putting on hold a proposed plan to modernize the site of the Royal Victoria Hospital. It would have included living quarters for more than 1,100 students. But the Société québécoise des infrastructures, part of the government that manages its real-estate portfolio, says the project would be too costly.

Dinu Bumbaru, with Heritage Montreal said years of neglect led to the current state of the buildings and the high costs associated to refurbish them. Waiting longer will only increase the price tag of future work.

He hopes, however, that the idea of creating more student housing on the site won’t be abandoned altogether.

“We know there’s a housing shortage. So, having a place where students can stay rather than use the dwindling stock of affordable housing in the city and neighborhood is something which is for the greater common good.”

The CDPQ Infra report pointed to a shortage of student housing in the city with needs persisting into the future, with an estimated undersupply of 8,600 beds in the next 10 years.

In an email to CBC, McGill University said it is not involved with the student housing project and that plans to build a research and learning hub at the location is on track to open by 2029.

The SQI meanwhile, said it is consulting with partners, including the City of Montreal, to figure out the next steps.