Nearly one-third of Quebec homes now sit in flood-risk zones, according to the province’s latest mapping update – a revelation that has many Montrealers questioning their property’s future and insurance options.
The Quebec government recently expanded its flood risk designation to include thousands of additional properties across the island of Montreal and surrounding regions. This dramatic increase has caught many homeowners by surprise, particularly in boroughs like Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Pierrefonds-Roxboro, and Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève.
As I walked through Pierrefonds yesterday morning, speaking with residents along Boulevard Gouin, the mixture of confusion and concern was palpable. Marie Tremblay, whose family has owned their riverfront property for three generations, expressed what many are feeling: “We’ve never had water in our basement, not even during the bad floods in 2017 and 2019. Now suddenly we’re high-risk? It makes no sense.”
The expanded flood zone designations stem from new climate change projections and improved hydrological modeling techniques, according to Sarah Dorner, water management professor at Polytechnique Montréal. “What we’re seeing is not just about past flooding events but anticipating how changing precipitation patterns will affect water levels over the next 20 to 50 years,” she explained during our interview at her campus office.
For many homeowners, the immediate concern is financial. Property values could drop by 15-25% in newly designated high-risk areas, according to the Quebec Association of Real Estate Appraisers. Insurance premiums are already rising, with some residents reporting increases of up to 40% upon renewal.
“We received letters from both the city and our insurance company within days of each other,” said Jean-Philippe Marcoux, a Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue resident whose home now falls within the new flood zone despite being 200 meters from the shoreline. “Our annual premium jumped from $1,200 to nearly $1,700 overnight.”
The Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM) has established a task force to help affected residents navigate these changes. The group will host information sessions beginning next week at various community centers throughout the island. Registration details are available through local borough offices.
Urban planning experts suggest this reassessment was long overdue. “Montreal developed many residential areas in what we now understand are natural floodplains,” noted Robert Lacroix, urban planning consultant and former city planner. “Climate change is forcing us to reckon with decisions made decades ago when we didn’t have today’s environmental understanding.”
Québec’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change defends the new mapping as necessary preventative action. “Better to act now than wait for disaster,” said ministry spokesperson Véronique Déry. “These designations help us better prepare communities and infrastructure for increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.”
For those living in newly designated zones, practical questions abound. Renovation permits may become more difficult to obtain. Property sales could face additional hurdles. Some owners worry about disclosure requirements when selling.
“I was planning to list my home next spring,” shared Monique Leblanc from Île-Bizard. “Now I don’t know if I should wait or accept that I might get significantly less than I had hoped. There’s no clear guidance for people in my situation.”
Mayor Valérie Plante addressed these concerns during yesterday’s executive committee meeting, promising to advocate for affected homeowners while acknowledging the city’s responsibility to adapt to climate realities. “We’re working to balance property rights with public safety,” she stated. “This will require difficult conversations and compromises.”
The province has allocated $45 million toward flood mitigation infrastructure in Montreal over the next five years, but critics argue this falls far short of what’s needed. Some community groups have begun organizing to challenge certain zone designations they believe are based on flawed data.
As I reflect on my conversations with affected homeowners, what strikes me most is the emotional toll of this uncertainty. Many Montrealers have built their lives and futures around homes that now carry an official designation of risk – one that may never materialize but nonetheless affects their present reality.
The flood zone expansion represents a broader reckoning happening across Quebec as climate change forces us to reassess our relationship with waterways that have always been central to our identity. For now, residents are left navigating a complex landscape of property values, insurance policies, and personal risk assessments – all while wondering if the water will ever actually rise.
