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Mission

The Société de développement du boulevard Saint-Laurent (SDBSL) is a non-profit organization. Its mission is to contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of Saint-Laurent Boulevard between Sherbrooke Street and Mont-Royal Avenue.

Goals

• To foster business development
• To promote Saint-Laurent Boulevard’s cultural diversity and preserve its non- conformist character
• To keep the members informed and foster synergies among them
• To enhance the quality of life and aesthetics of the street
• To represent the members and defend their interests.

Membership

The Société de développement du boulevard Saint-Laurent represents over 600 establishments divided almost equally between retail businesses located at street level and professionals with offices on the upper stories.

The retail sector includes a large number of bars and nightclubs (more than 30), licensed restaurants (more than 40) and unlicensed restaurants (more than 20), as well as menswear and ladies’ wear shops, furniture stores, hairdressing salons, bakeries, vintage-clothing stores, art galleries, and bookstores.

The professional members of the SDC include casting agencies, legal and notarial firms, advertising agencies, artists’ agencies, and property-management and travel-service firms

Background of the Société de développement

From the Village International du boulevard Saint-Laurent…

For nearly twenty years, the Village international du boulevard Saint-Laurent merchants’ association, a voluntary grouping of over 120 members, provided a structure to handle relations between the merchants and the various departments of the City and to organize summer street fairs. The association was run by an elected six-member executive council that operated on a volunteer basis.

Over the years, many of the long-established businesspeople on the street felt a need to create an association that would both be more stable and have access to stable funding.  In April 2000 the Village international du boulevard Saint-Laurent thus turned into the Société de développement du boulevard Saint-Laurent (SDBSL).

… to the Société de développement du boulevard Saint-Laurent …

In place of what had been a voluntary association, the businesspeople of Saint-Laurent Boulevard constituted themselves into an economic development corporation—an autonomous non-profit organization, membership in which is automatic for the 600 businesses located on the territory covered by the SDBSL, the stretch of Saint-Laurent Boulevard between Sherbrooke Street and Mont-Royal Avenue.  The membership is divided equally between street-level retail establishments and professional offices on the upper stories.

The aim of the SDBSL is to promote the interests of the members and take action to ensure the economic, social and cultural vitality of the area.  In addition to organizing two street fairs in the summer and the Dias Das Montras Christmas-window event, the Société de développement offers its members a variety of services including training workshops and promotional initiatives such as a tourist guide and a Web site.  Furthermore, by maintaining constant cooperation with the City of Montreal, the SDBSL can help members in their dealings with municipal departments (requests for permits, information on municipal by-laws, etc.).

Operation of the Société de développement

Every calendar year, the SDBSL must convene two general meetings of the member :

• the Annual General Meeting (no later than March 31) :

1. to approve the financial statements and vote on reports presented to the AGM
2. to elect members to the board when directors’ terms are over
3. to amend regulations governing internal management, if necessary

• the general meeting on the budget (in September)

1. to adopt the operating budget for the following year

The SDBSL’s financial year begins January 1st and ends December 31st.

The general meeting elects eight directors to represent it. Board members sit for a term of two years. Two other directors are appointed by the City of Montreal on the basis of recommendations made by the SDC Board of Directors to the City Executive Committee. The directors then select from among their number an executive committee made up of a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer.