Merchants on this Montreal street call for commercial rent regulation to avoid being priced out
Local officials raise concerns over recent business closures along Monk Boulevard
Fruiterie Shaana, a mom-and-pop grocery store, has been a fixture on Monk Boulevard in Montreal's Ville-Émard neighbourhood for 28 years now.
When Thaaraha Satkunapala and her husband first opened shop, it was just an empty space. Satkunapala said her family has worked hard to build it up to what it is now.
"This is like our family, you know," she said.
But with increasing commercial rents, Fruiterie Shaana and other local businesses are worried about being pushed out of the community.
Local officials are also sounding the alarm following recently announced closures on Monk, including the street's SAQ liquor store.
"If it's one every four years, it doesn't have as much of an impact as three, four, five within a year, so that's why we're really concerned with the situation," said Sud-Ouest borough councillor Anne-Marie Sigouin.
In Fruiterie Shaana's case, the lease is up for renewal after 25 years and a "for rent" sign has gone up in the window. The family previously had a three-year lease. Negotiations with the landlord are ongoing, but without the store, Satkunapala and her family are out of jobs.
Satkunapala said she's also worried about what this could mean for her clients.
"We are really working hard to do the community service," she said. "This is food stuff that we sell, people really need that."
Olga Riazanova is a regular customer at Fruiterie Shaana. She said she's pained by the possibility of the shop closing.
"This is a very comfortable place, a very cozy place where I love to buy," she said.
"Some prices are lower here, and for me, I'm on social assistance. It is very important, but the attitude of people who serve you is equally important."
One block over from the grocery store is Boutique NouLuv, a shop selling preloved and new children's clothing and gear.
Boutique owner Harlie Dover said she's also facing similar concerns.
"I signed a new three-year lease, and there's a question as to whether I can stay," she said.
Commercial rent increases leading to local businesses being pushed out isn't a new phenomenon in Montreal, but Dover said the neighbourhood is being especially hard hit.
As things stand and without more foot traffic, Dover said it's hard for business owners to keep up.
"We just don't have the popularity, we are not a destination neighbourhood," she said. "We're a commercial artery for a community."
Commercial leases, rent hikes not regulated in Quebec
The local business development association, SDC Monk, said vacancy rates in the area have fallen from 20.9 per cent in 2021 to 6.6 per cent in 2024.
That, according to Richard Shearmur, a professor at McGill's school of urban planning, could be a contributing factor leading landlords to increase rents, speculating it will be the next trendy area.
Over the last 10 years, the Sud-Ouest borough has put in place measures to diversify the types of businesses on Monk and make the street safer and more attractive.
Shearmur said that can also contribute to the problem by increasing property values. And while it's legal for landlords to increase rents, it points to a wider issue.
"You have a lively street that is attractive, and thinking that because it's attractive [landlords] can raise the rent … but in a way, we're missing the point that that value is being created by the businesses that are now being kicked out," Shearmur said.
Because of that, Shearmur said there's a "strong agreement between urban economists that there should be some protection for commercial rents."
In Quebec, however, commercial rent hikes aren't regulated by a tribunal making yearly recommendations like they are for residential leases.
Sigouin said regulations would help prevent abuses in the system.
She said that while landlords have their share of obligations and financial burdens, those are often passed on to commercial owners.
"Not only in terms of commercial taxes but in terms of work that needs to be done on the building and different conditions, we see more and more in the renting contracts," she said.
Sigouin and the merchants on Monk are calling on the province to regulate rent increases for commercial leases.
In a written statement, however, a spokesperson for Quebec's Economy Ministry told CBC that commercial leases are governed by the Civil Code.
As such, commercial leases are contract negotiations between two parties with the bargaining strength of each dictating rent prices.
"The Quebec government is therefore not responsible for setting commercial rent prices," wrote spokesperson Jean-Pierre Auteuil.
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