Quebec Sustainable Social and Community Housing Living Lab

Summary

This transformational Quebec sustainable social and community housing living lab advances decarbonization and electrification in social, affordable and low-income housing. It combines technical innovation with community engagement to unlock scalable solutions for a sector often excluded from market-driven retrofits.

The project operates four living labs: a cooperative housing retrofit in Longueuil with the Centre de transformation du logement communautaire CTLC, a Black community housing project in Montreal-Nord, a social housing project in Hochelaga with the Centre operationnel de transition ecologique COTE, and a public social housing project with the Office municipal d’habitation de Montreal.

The living lab develops digital tools to co-create holistic retrofit solutions in low-income communities and engages residents to understand retrofit motivations and the role of intermediaries and social dynamics in decision-making. It also produces a practical toolkit and a digital multi-criteria decision-making platform to guide electrification and retrofit solutions based on local needs.

By integrating community engagement, co-created technical solutions and tailored business and financing models, the project accelerates implementation at scale, creating lasting impact for social and community housing across Quebec.