News Releases
BMO Bank of Montreal and all the partners that have made the BMO Dream Home a reality today took part in the inauguration and preview visit of this magnificent house valued at $940,000 and located in Sainte-Doroth�e, Laval. Ticket sales for the draw for the house and for other prizes awarded as part of the 2007 BMO Bank of Montreal Dream Home philanthropic project will raise more than $1 million for non-profit organizations, in particular those that work with sick and underprivileged children.
“To go from dream to reality takes only a small step for BMO Dream Home ticket buyers, who know that besides having the opportunity to win a unique home, they are helping to fund Quebec's non-profit organizations,” said L. Jacques M�nard, President, BMO Financial Group, Quebec. “We are proud to have played a lead role in bringing back this project and to have enabled Laval-based organizations to raise nearly $180,000 to date through ticket sales.”
Built by Constructions D'Astous, the 2007 BMO Bank of Montreal Dream Home is located at 220 des Victorias Street in Sainte-Doroth�e in the Villas-sur-Rive development, one of Quebec's largest residential construction projects. It can be visited from June 1 through September 30 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays and from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Thanks to the generosity of the various partners, the BMO Dream Home is completely furnished and decorated, and the future owner will enjoy the equivalent of a five-year holiday from municipal taxes and heating, telephone, satellite television and Internet service bills.
“An average of more than 125,000 visitors toured each of the previous editions of the Dream Home, and we expect at least as many this year,” said Annie Lemieux, Vice-President of Group LSR, the real estate developer of Villas-sur-Rive. “Group LSR is proud to be associated with this project once again. We share with our partners both a commitment to the community and the desire to provide a helping hand, mainly to underprivileged children and organizations that work with people in need.”
“The Dream Home initiative makes it possible to raise funds for those who truly need them,” said Laval Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt. “For a booming city like Laval, being the site of this project is a true sign of our involvement and shows that we care about others.”
The 2007 BMO Dream Home is the sixth house designed by architect Alan Bellavance with decorator and designer Johanne Morency, who described the house as already having a soul. “We have done everything to ensure it is comfortable and family friendly. While certain luxuries set it apart from the ordinary, the BMO Dream Home remains down-to-earth and real for people of every age,” she explained. “The materials used are innovative, practical and life-enhancing. The rooms are filled with light, open to nature and able to accommodate an entire family whose members are engaged in different activities.”
“With its 625-square-foot bi-generational loft, exercise room, second-floor green deck, elevator giving access to all three floors, large two-vehicle garage and basement storage space, the home is designed to be adaptable to the various activities its future owners will engage in,” Ms. Morency added. “Its extreme comfort characteristics are apparent in the house's three natural gas fireplaces, four bathrooms, powder room, spa, billiards room, home cinema and well-stocked wine cellar. Its luxury is epitomized in the window treatments, furniture and the aquarium in the master bath, to name just a few features. Its soul is reflected in the many paintings that decorate its walls. I encourage people to come and discover for themselves all the BMO Dream Home's other touches of fantasy. I am convinced the eventual homeowners will be delighted whenever they cross the threshold of their dream home.”
Equipped with natural gas and Novoclimat™ certified, the Dream Home is also energy efficient. Its construction meets the highest energy efficiency standards, at least 25% higher than those for conventional new homes. The house offers an exceptional quality of life due to its natural gas appliances, such as a restaurant-worthy range, high-speed dryer, high-performance central heating system and instant water heater. The Dream Home also has a green roof and shower-water heat reclaimers. “The Dream home is an outstanding example of co-operation and concerted action,” said Guylaine Lehoux, Vice-President, Marketing, Gaz M�tro. “That is why Gaz M�tro and the Gaz M�tro customers' Energy Efficiency Fund are so excited about taking part in this project.”
“It was with great pride and enthusiasm that we decided to be part of the Dream Home team for a sixth time,” said Guy Brouillette, Vice-President, Sales and Purchasing, Brault & Martineau. “Besides providing the furniture for this prestigious home, the sale of tickets by our company will enable us to give more than $75,000 back to the community.”
“More than 150,000 tickets have already found takers at BMO Bank of Montreal branches and Brault & Martineau stores and through the hundred or so non-profit organizations that sell them,” said Fran�ois Hudon, Senior Vice-President, Quebec Division, BMO Bank of Montreal. He thanked his colleagues at BMO Fountain of Hope, BMO Financial Group's Employee Foundation who have already sold more than 50,000 tickets and will donate the funds raised to three children's hospitals in Quebec.
Organizations that take part in the sale of tickets for the BMO Dream Home draw retain 50 percent of the total value of the tickets they sell, making it an attractive source of fund raising for them.
“It is an amazing opportunity for an organization like the Maison de quartier de Fabreville to be able to join with the Fondation Maison de R�ve and take advantage of a fund-raising activity with such high exposure and public recognition,” said volunteer C�line Joannette, a member of the Maison de quartier de Fabreville's Finance Committee. “The funds raised will be used to expand our offices in order to provide better parent–children activities and improve our food assistance service.”
Ticket sales will end on September 30, 2007. The first three secondary draws have already made 12 persons happy thanks to AirMiles, Gaz M�tro, IGA and BMO Bank of Montreal. The two remaining secondary draws will be held on June 21 and July 19, 2007.
All tickets purchased are eligible for the grand draw on October 8, 2007, at which four prestigious prizes will be awarded: the BMO Dream Home; $10,000 in a BMO Bank of Montreal account; $10,000 in shopping vouchers ($5,000 at IGA and $5,000 at Brault & Martineau); and $10,000 in cruise vouchers complements of Vision 2000 Travel Group.
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BMO Bank of Montreal and all the partners that have made the BMO Dream Home a reality today took part in the inauguration of this magnificent house that will raise more than $1 million for non-profit organizations in Quebec. L. Jacques M�nard, President, BMO Financial Group, Quebec, Michelle Courchesne, Minister of Education, Recreation and Sport, and Family Minister, and Gilles Vaillancourt, Mayor of Laval were among the participants.