Further Together: Verdun Community Land Trust

The Verdun Community Land Trust (VCLT) is an emerging initiative working to take land and housing off the private market and place them under perpetual community stewardship. Their goal is simple: no landlords, just people collectively stewarding autonomous but connected housing.

Building community stewardship in Verdun

In a context of rising rents and displacement, VCLT is creating a vehicle to help residents decommodify their own housing. Through collective stewardship, decisions about housing, land, and community spaces can remain in the hands of local residents, co-operatives, and non-profits.

Beyond creating greater agency over housing, land, and neighbourhood services, the project is exploring how assets can be mutualized through a localized structure that builds the capacity for long-term housing liberation. At the heart of the project is a simple principle: housing is not a commodity—it is a vital need for wellbeing and security.

VCLT’s vision is to establish a community land collective in Verdun that can support the transition of tenant-landlord buildings into co-operative housing and other forms of community stewardship. The team hopes to develop a model tailored to Montréal’s unique urban housing landscape that can ultimately be replicated and freely associated in other neighbourhoods.