The effects of the pandemic are still being felt most acutely in downtown Montreal, where 41% of businesses closed permanently or temporarily in office buildings or train stations in the third quarter of 2021.

According to a web survey of 1,000 Montreal metropolitan residents last September, 34% of businesses in shopping centers remain closed, while 20% of businesses on St. Catherine Street were in the same situation and 29% of those in Elsewhere in the city center.

Also, no more offices were filled during the same period.

“The situation is not as well as we had hoped at the beginning of the year when the vaccinations started. […] Altogether, uncertainty sometimes leads to shorter rents, but the city center is still essential to the business network,” explained Jean-Marc Fournier, President and CEO of the Institute for Urban Development (IDU).

However, the survey reveals that 47% of respondents were partly or completely working from home in the third quarter of 2021, compared to 77% in the first quarter.

“Remote work is here to stay, but a return to the office is brewing. Nearly half of those questioned say offices have been redeveloped and nearly 40% have been informed that vaccination evidence will be,” said Glenn Castanheira, director general of the Montreal Center in Vail. Required to access the building.

As for the residential sector, it is witnessing sustainable growth with sales of new and existing housing units.

This data is from the State of Downtown report led by Downtown Montreal and the Institute for Urban Development of Quebec (IDU), with the Government of Quebec and the City of Montreal.