Many of you may have heard talk of the PMAD. It is actually an acronym for the “Plan Métropolitain d’Aménagement et de Développement”. In English, this translates into the “Metropolitan Land Use and Development Plan.” But you’ll hear the same PMAD acronym used in both the languages of Shakespeare and of Molière. Mandated by provincial law, it establishes the framework for all planning programs and all by-laws of all the towns and cities that lie within and around the island of Montréal - which includes us here in Pointe-Claire. 

What does that mean? It means our planning program and all of our planning by-laws, including zoning, must conform to the objectives, guidelines, and specifications detailed within the PMAD. The PMAD itself is the creation of the Montréal Metropolitan Community (CMM) which is under the thumb of Valerie Plante, la Mairesse de Montréal.  When the first PMAD came into force in 2012, the law required that Pointe-Claire modify its planning program and by-laws in order to bring them into conformity. If we hadn’t done this by the deadline established in law, Montreal was to do it for us, and it is Montréal that continues to decide if any zoning changes the Pointe-Claire Council approves are, or are not, in conformity – the same Montréal (read: Mairesse Plante) that dominates the Agglomeration Council. If Montreal decides a zoning change does not conform to the PMAD it is disallowed, no matter what the citizens of Pointe-Claire and their ignored voice on the Agglo Council might feel about it. 

The same law applies now as the first PMAD is being revised in order to respond to population growth, global warming, and threats to biodiversity. The principal objective of the second PMAD is, through properly considered densification, to promote the construction on its territory of 461,000 new residences by 2041, including a mix of affordable and social housing. In doing this, it must conserve the green belt around the island of Montreal and focus on meeting minimum densification specifications through the more sustainable approach of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). The second PMAD is to come into force by the end of 2025.

High density housing in areas within walking distance of bus terminals, REM, metro, and train stations will be stipulated by the new PMAD through densification minimums. The aim is to make the 15-minute city a reality. This means most of life’s daily necessities and services, such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure, are to be easily reached by a 15-minute walk, bike ride, or public transit ride from any of the high-density TOD nodes that are to be established within the boundaries of the Montreal Metropolitan Community, and most of that new development will be on-island. 

That is what the new PMAD, with the authority of law, will be mandating Pointe-Claire to achieve over the next twenty years. It will be up to us to figure out how we can do this while also preserving the quality of life that makes Pointe-Claire so special. So we can determine our own path forward PROVIDED Montreal is satisfied that what the citizens of Pointe-Claire say they want aligns with what the revised PMAD will require.

Not a single representative of the demerged cities was appointed to the Agglo Committee charged with contributing to the PMAD revision process…