MONTRÉAL, Nov. 25, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ – As part of Montréal’s 2016 Budget, the Mayor of Montréal, Denis Coderre, who is also responsible for economic development, presented the highlights of this budget in terms of support to economic development.

“I am pleased to announce that city council tax charges have increased by 0.9%, only, for non-residential properties. This is below the inflation rate and represents only half of the increase for the residential sector. The decision to cap the increase of tax charges for non-residential properties will give a boost to Montréal businesses, improve the city’s competitiveness and promote economic development,” said Mayor Coderre.

Tax measures to help non-residential property owners
All non-residential property owners within Montréal city limits will benefit from this new tax measure. This decision will cost the city $18 M annually. The reduction in growth of the charges in the non-residential sector will be financed by efforts to reduce spending throughout the city.  

“By doing this, Montréal wishes to show the business community that it is ready to go further and prove its commitment to support economic development and change municipal taxation elements to set conditions conducive to creating jobs and help businesses establish themselves in Montréal and remain in the city. This is a first of several significant moves,” said Mayor Coderre.

The Mayor expressed his desire to further explore this avenue by examining the possibility of implementing sectoral tax measures to encourage key areas of the Montréal economy, including major sports and cultural events or local trade.

Creation of a task force to examine opportunities for intervention
The city has several economic development opportunities ahead. Several opportunities require more careful consideration, including changing the taxation of businesses located on commercial arteries that are under repair, the adoption of measures to make industrial parks more appealing and encourage businesses to establish there, implementation of a single window for municipal services to simplify and harmonize the business process in the boroughs. In this regard, Mayor Coderre will soon announce the creation of a special task force to examine various measures, fiscal or other, to improve the potential for economic development in Montréal. This will also take into account the new powers and tools required by the city as part of the Loi sur la métropole, which should be tabled in February 2016.

“The suggestions of the task force, along with the new resources to be introduced by the Loi sur la métropole, will set the table over the year for a series of novel economic development measures, to be defined by June 2016 and which will be included in the 2017 Budget,” added Mayor Denis Coderre.

Budget of the Service du développement économique
The city’s new economic development department was created in January 2014 by Mayor Coderre. The department’s mission is to develop a strategic vision of sustainable economic development, coordinate the presence and city actions with key economic development players, manage city sustainable economic development activities and support large public and private projects in Montréal. In 2016, the Service du développement économique will work with an overall budget of $46 M, up from the 2015 Budget which stood at $44.5 M. The department’s main budget items are as follows (in thousands of $):

Programs or major projects to be financed by the economic development department’s 2016 operating budget:

“Economic development has always been a priority for our administration. Over the past few months, several tools have been put in place, including PME Montréal, our network of six support organizations for entrepreneurs and businesses, as well as PRAM-Commerce and PRAM-Artères en chantier, to give a hand to merchants. Our economic development action plan focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation by supporting the creation of new industrial basins, such as transport electrification and green chemistry. This also includes millions of dollars to upgrade municipal infrastructures, which make the city more attractive to investors, or trade missions to help Montréal promote the many benefits of our city throughout the world,” said Mayor Coderre.

The city administration will continue its efforts to improve Montréal’s competitive edge and accelerate economic development through actions contained in this budget and future initiatives.

This press briefing is available on the YouTube channel of the Mayor of Montréal, Mr. Denis Coderre, at the following address: http://bit.ly/1LekA8U.

The Montréal 2016 Budget documents are available at the following address: www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/finances.