On November 18, the “I love working downtown” Strategic Forum was held, organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal with funding from the Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie. This event was launched in collaboration with Pattison and in partnership with the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain.
Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Minister Responsible for Regional Economic Development and Minister Responsible for the Metropolis and the Montréal Region, and Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal and Chair of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, were honoured guests.
Some 360 participants gathered at New City Gas to hear key players in the business community take stock of the reorganization of work and mobility in the downtown area, as well as discuss the city’s attractiveness and creativity.
Rethinking the purpose of the office
Throughout the Forum, our panelists were unanimous: we need to rethink the role of the office in order to create inspiring spaces for employees.
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The purpose of the office, in our opinion, is to generate innovation and creativity and to boost social contact as much as possible. We’ve redesigned all of Ivanhoé Cambridge’s offices to appeal to employees and make them want to come back.
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Élise Proulx, Head, Economic Development, Quebec, Ivanhoé Cambridge
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Employees of tomorrow’s financial institutions will work in spaces that are as exciting as the Ubisofts of the world. Employers are looking to enhance the quality of workspaces and energize employees, so that being in the office becomes an experience.
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Jean Laurin, Principal, President and Managing Director, Quebec, Chartered Real Estate Broker, Broker of Record, Avison Young
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The concept of ‘local business travel’ is very important. During their days at the office, people want to meet with clients, plan lunches, take advantage of cultural attractions, go see a play in the evening, etc.
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Élise Proulx, Head, Economic Development, Quebec, Ivanhoé Cambridge
The risks of telework
According to Élise Proulx, telework could be putting our economy at risk, as well as our ability to innovate.
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A thriving downtown means a thriving province. When Montréal does well, Quebec’s regions also do well. It’s crucial to have a strong downtown, where merchants are flourishing and there’s a high level of economic activity.
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We’re social beings. Human contact spurs innovation, creativity, the exchange of ideas and discussion. We need to have these interactions to create new things. If we’re always working remotely, we’re in danger of stagnating.
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Élise Proulx, Head, Economic Development, Quebec, Ivanhoé Cambridge
The downtown area benefits from the synergy created between businesses, employees and merchants. To ensure that workers come back, everyone needs to do their part.
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We have to let businesses decide. They know their employees and their business models best. But we need to encourage workers to come back. The situation is getting better, but we need to do more. I’d like to see workers returning three to four days a week.
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Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal and Chair of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal
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By bringing people back, we can guarantee a future and an energy downtown. That’s how we will draw new companies and international players to Montréal.
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Danny Déry, Vice-President, Employee Advisory Services, National Bank of Canada
Adapting transit to new work organization methods
Post-pandemic traffic patterns are giving rise to new thinking.
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Since the end of the pandemic, we’ve seen a major shift on our roads and highways. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, congestion is equivalent to, and sometimes even greater than, what we saw in the past in terms of flow, backups and delays. There are still rush hours on Mondays and Fridays, but they’re much lighter. We’re also seeing more cars on the road during the day (during non-peak periods), as well as on weekends.
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Fadi Moubayed, Territorial General Manager of the Montreal Metropolitan Region, Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable
To better respond to these new habits, we need to rethink the network, as well as focus on public transit to change the “car culture.”
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We need to change the car culture for two reasons. First, congestion costs us $4.2 billion a year. Second, because of urban sprawl, we don’t have the necessary public transit structures to properly serve low-density areas. That’s what we need to address.
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Benoit Gendron, General Manager, Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM)
According to Minister Fitzgibbon, the REM will have a significant impact on our vision of public transit.
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The REM will create a collective awareness of the importance of public transit. We’re likely to see citizens and governments become engaged about expanding it.”
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Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Minister Responsible for Regional Economic Development and Minister Responsible for the Metropolis and the Montréal Region