Many Montreal homeowners are concerned after finding out Desjardins will no longer grant mortgages in certain flood zones.
The financial institution says climate change is a key reason for the policy adjustment, and now residents are fearing the possible effects on their bottom line.
“This news comes very fast, very hard,” said Pier-Luc Cauchon, a resident of the Île Mercier sector of Île Bizard, who advocates for victims of past floods.
“People are asking what it means to them, exactly.”
Desjardins says save for a few exceptions, it will no longer offer new mortgages in 0-20 year flood zones.
“The impacts of climate change, including water damage, are growing in importance and causing substantial damage,” Desjardins spokesperson Chantal Corbeil told Global News in an email.
“Desjardins wants to support its members and customers while taking into account these changes and the risks they may represent.”
Corbeil said the move affects only 5 per cent of the properties in the Desjardins mortgage portfolio, but Pierrefonds-Roxboro Mayor Jim Beis said it will impact 3,000 homes in his borough.
“In 2017, we had 1,000 homes that were severely damaged. Since then, we’ve been able to put safeguards in place with temporary measures, and we’ve reduced that to about 50 to 60 homes. Even though the floods were even more historic in 2019 and onward. That means that we know what to do to be able to protect our community,” Beis said, questioning how Desjardins’ move applies to his area.
The big concern is that other financial institutions will follow suit. Residents worry about a future where people who want to buy homes in 0-20 year flood zones won’t be able to get mortgages at all.
“How many people that you know have, let’s say a theoretical $500,000 in their back pocket, and they can cut a cheque and say, ‘Here you go,'” said Tim Coochey, who lives on Macon Street in Pierrefonds, which flooded in 2017.
“It makes the selling pool a lot more difficult.“
In 2017, Coochey’s neighbour, Rene Leblanc, had five feet of water in his basement, but Leblanc says that was the only flood on his street in 50 years.
“We should not be in a flood zone,” said Leblanc.
Beis says he’s planning a meeting with Desjardins. He says their move affects 3,000 homes in the borough, many of which haven’t had flood trouble in nearly a decade.
The mayor and the residents feel if other levels of government had built permanent flood-preventing infrastructure earlier, Desjardins may not have acted this way.
“There’s a lot of talk, there’s no action,” said Leblanc.
Construction on a retention basin in Pierrefonds is well underway, and Beis says, once completed, the $4-million tool will prevent past floods from repeating themselves in part of the suburb.
“This allows us to concentrate on and prioritize our action and not necessarily worry about the backflow coming into the neighbourhoods,” he explained.
The piece of infrastructure is cause for optimism in the midst of concern related to the new mortgage rules.
West Island residents plan to keep voicing their opposition to the move by Desjardins, with talk of a possible protest at their downtown Montreal office.