Want to tear down a building in Ormstown? A committee of three council members decides, and anyone can object

Bylaw 145-2023, in force since August 31, 2023, prohibits demolishing a building, in whole or in part, without the authorization of a demolition committee made up of three council members. Anyone may file a written objection within 10 days of the public notice, and the fine for demolishing a principal building without authorization starts at $10,000. Annex A, the heritage inventory the bylaw refers to, reads “(en attente de la MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent).”

Why this bylaw exists

The preamble says the Loi sur l'aménagement et l'urbanisme and the Cultural Heritage Act (Loi sur le patrimoine culturel) allow council to adopt a demolition bylaw. It says the act amending the Cultural Heritage Act and other legislative provisions, adopted March 25, 2021, brings several changes for municipalities, notably on demolition control, the protection of built heritage and building-maintenance regimes. It says council wants to regulate the demolition of heritage buildings, and calls the bylaw “an instrument of choice” for protecting built heritage and ensuring the proper reuse of the cleared land. Article 1.2 gives its purpose as governing the demolition of certain buildings under chapter V.0.1 of title I of the Loi sur l'aménagement et l'urbanisme.

Notice of motion was given March 6, 2023. A public consultation was held May 17, the bylaw was adopted June 5, a certificate of conformity was issued August 17, and it took effect August 31, 2023. It was passed unanimously by the council members present.

What counts as a demolition, and which buildings it covers

The bylaw defines demolition as the dismantling, moving, or complete or partial destruction of an immeuble (art. 1.10). It defines immeuble, citing article 900 of the Civil Code, as permanent constructions and works on a piece of land and everything that forms an integral part of them; this explainer says “building.” The bylaw applies to every building in the municipality (art. 1.3). Article 4.1 prohibits demolishing any building, in whole or in part, unless the owner has been authorized under the bylaw and the municipality has issued a certificate.

Article 4.2, which requires the certificate, and article 2.6, which sets the fine for demolishing without authorization, both speak of a principal building (immeuble principal). The bylaw does not define “immeuble principal,” and does not say whether demolishing an accessory building, such as a shed or a detached garage, needs the committee's authorization. The fee schedule, Bylaw 39-2026, lists a separate certificate for demolishing an accessory building (see “What it costs”).

Some steps apply only to a heritage building (immeuble patrimonial). The bylaw defines it as a building cited under the Cultural Heritage Act, a building in a cited heritage site, a building covered by the federal Historic Sites and Monuments Act, or a building listed in an inventory of buildings with heritage value under article 120 of the Cultural Heritage Act. It says that inventory is in annex A (art. 1.10). The published annex A reads “(en attente de la MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent).”

The bylaw does not apply in three cases (art. 4.1):

• a building that has lost more than half (50%) of the value shown on the assessment roll in force at the time of a fire or other disaster;
• a demolition ordered under articles 227, 229 or 231 of the Loi sur l'aménagement et l'urbanisme;
• a building threatened by an imminent disaster within the meaning of Québec's civil-protection law (Loi sur la sécurité civile).

What an owner has to file

The owner or their agent sends the application to the competent authority on the form provided (art. 4.3). The competent authority is the director general, the urban planner or the municipal inspector, and any representatives council designates by resolution (art. 2.2). Among other things, the owner must supply:

• proof of ownership (or of an option to buy), and the names and contact information of the owner, their agent, the contractor, the engineer, the architect and anyone else responsible for the work;
• a detailed description of the building's condition, photos of its interior and exterior, and photos of its lot and of the neighbouring lots;
• the reasons for the demolition, and a detailed estimate of the cost of restoring the building;
• a heritage study of the building prepared by an expert;
• a preliminary plan for reusing the cleared land (programme préliminaire de réutilisation du sol dégagé): schedule and probable cost, the use of the planned construction, summary plans and colour elevations of every exterior façade, a colour perspective of the planned construction in its setting, site and subdivision plans prepared by a land surveyor, the landscaping plan including parking, and, for contaminated land, the schedule and probable cost of decontamination;
• the schedule and probable cost of the demolition, and the methods of demolition and of disposing of the materials;
• for a building with one or more dwellings, the owner's declaration that each tenant was told in writing of the intention to seek authorization, and the conditions for rehousing the tenants.

On the application form, the applicant can ask the committee for a preliminary opinion (avis préliminaire) on the admissibility of the reuse plan or of the demolition. The opinion must give reasons and be sent to the applicant without delay (art. 4.4). If the file is incomplete or imprecise, its examination is suspended until the missing information is supplied. If the file is not complete within three months of filing, the application lapses; the applicant must then pay the fee again, and is deemed to have withdrawn the application if they do not do so within 30 days (art. 4.6–4.7).

What it costs

The bylaw leaves the fees for an application and for a preliminary opinion to the municipal fee schedule. They are non-refundable, and no certificate can be issued until the fee is paid (art. 4.5). The current schedule, Bylaw 39-2026 (in force June 1, 2026), sets these amounts:

Item (Bylaw 39-2026)	Fee
Review of a demolition application: heritage building	$300
Review of a demolition application: other principal building	$250
Demolition certificate: principal building	$100
Demolition certificate: accessory building	$50

How the process runs, and where the public comes in

1. Application filedThe competent authority checks that all the required information and documents have been supplied and passes the application to the committee. The applicant must send a notice of the application to each tenant by registered or certified mail as soon as it is filed (art. 4.6, 4.8).
2. Notice posted and publishedOnce the application is complete and the fees are paid, a notice is posted on the building where passers-by can see it and published as a public notice, at the applicant's expense. It gives the day, time, place and purpose of the committee sitting and reproduces article 4.11. For a heritage building, a copy goes to Québec's Minister of Culture and Communications (art. 4.9–4.10).
3. Objections10 daysAnyone who wants to oppose the demolition must send a written, reasoned objection to the municipal clerk within 10 days of the publication of the public notice or, failing that, within 10 days of the posting on the building (art. 4.11).
4. Committee sitting and decisionThe sitting is public. Before deciding, the committee must consider the building's heritage value, its history and condition, the deterioration of the neighbourhood's quality of life, the cost of restoration, the proposed use of the cleared land, the harm to tenants and the effect on housing needs nearby, and any objections received. Its decision must give reasons (art. 4.13–4.14).
5. Review by council30 daysAnyone can ask council to review the decision by writing to the clerk within 30 days. Within the same 30 days, council can also adopt a resolution on its own to review a decision that authorizes a demolition. Council can confirm the decision or make any decision the committee should have made (art. 4.18–4.20).
6. MRC disavowal (heritage buildings only)up to 90 daysWhen the demolition of a heritage building is authorized, the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent is notified and its council can disavow (désavouer) the decision within 90 days of receiving the notice (art. 4.22–4.23).
7. Certificate issuedNot before the 30-day review period ends; if a review is under way, not before council decides to authorize the certificate; and, for a heritage building, not before the MRC says it will not use its power of disavowal or the 90 days run out, whichever comes first (art. 4.24).

For a building with one or more dwellings, a person who wants to acquire it to keep it as rental housing can, until the committee has decided, ask the clerk in writing for time to undertake or continue steps to acquire it. A person who wants to acquire a heritage building to keep its heritage character can do the same. If the committee considers the circumstances justify it, it postpones its decision and grants up to two months from the end of the sitting; it can postpone for this reason only once (art. 4.12).

Conditions and the financial guarantee

When it authorizes a demolition, the committee can set any condition on the demolition or on the reuse of the cleared land, including deadlines to start and finish the demolition and reuse work, the submission of a reuse plan for its approval, and rehousing terms for tenants (art. 4.15). It can also require a financial guarantee, capped at the building's value on the property-assessment roll, in the form of a certified cheque, a cash deposit, or an irrevocable and unconditional bank letter of guarantee for at least one year (art. 4.16).

90% of the guarantee may be returned once the cost of the reuse work done exceeds the guarantee (and, if the plan includes a new building, once its exterior envelope is complete) and the conditions have been met. The last 10% can be returned only when all the work in the reuse plan is done. If the work is not finished on time or the conditions are not met, the municipality can cash the guarantee and keep the amount (art. 4.16). If the property is sold while work is planned or under way, the applicant must tell the municipality in writing, the new owner commits in an addendum to the certificate to respect its conditions, and the guarantee stays in force unless the new owner provides a new one (art. 4.26).

Penalties

• Demolishing a principal building without the committee's authorization, or in breach of its conditions: $10,000 to $250,000. The maximum is $1,140,000 when a legal person (personne morale), such as a company, demolishes a building cited under the Cultural Heritage Act or located in a heritage site cited under that act (art. 2.6).
• Preventing a municipal employee from entering the demolition site, or refusing on site to show a copy of the certificate when asked: $300 to $1,000 (art. 2.7).
• Rebuilding: on top of any fine, the offender must rebuild the demolished building. If they don't, council can have the work done and recover the cost, which becomes a priority claim on the land secured by a legal hypothec (art. 2.8).
• Each day an offence continues counts as a separate offence (art. 2.10). A certificate is revoked if the work does not start or finish within the committee's deadlines, if municipal bylaws or the statements in the application are not respected, if erroneous documents were produced, or if the conditions of the certificate are not met (art. 2.9).

What this means for residents

Demolishing all or part of a building requires the committee's authorization and a certificate from the municipality, and the application must include the documents listed in article 4.3 (art. 4.1, 4.3).

A notice of each complete application is posted on the building and published as a public notice (art. 4.9). Anyone may send a written, reasoned objection to the clerk within 10 days of the public notice (art. 4.11). The committee's sittings are public (art. 3.2), and anyone may ask council in writing to review the committee's decision within 30 days (art. 4.18).