Housing: a crisis far beyond Montreal

The housing crisis is being felt more than ever this year outside the major centres, while more than 600 Quebec households are still looking for a roof.

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“We expected a 1^is difficult July, well, we had a difficult July 1st in several regions of Quebec”, launched Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU), at a press conference. held on Saturday.

According to FRAPRU, never before has the demand for assistance been so strong for tenants who found themselves without a lease on 1^is July. At least 4,000 households are said to have requested housing assistance from the emergency services.

The drop in vacancy rates observed in several municipalities also foreshadowed an increase in homeless households the day after the end of rental leases for thousands of Quebecers. They are finally 621 homeless this year, a hundred more than at the same time last year.

In Drummondville, where the vacancy rate fell to 0.2%, well below 3%, a rate deemed healthy for the rental market, there are 135 households still homeless.

The municipality of Centre-du-Québec has therefore risen to the top of the unfortunate ranking of municipalities with the highest number of homeless households.

A first, according to Véronique Laflamme who maintains that it is usually big cities like Montreal, Quebec or Gatineau that win the prize.

“I think this is an illustration of this housing crisis which has spread and which is currently being experienced in regions outside Montreal”, she believes.

Alarming situation in Montreal

The situation has deteriorated in the regions, but it has not improved in the major centres.

In Montreal and Quebec, even if the vacancy rate is not alarming, there are still 118 and 55 households looking for a new lease.

“It’s not just a question of the vacancy rate in Montreal, there are units available, but those that are, they are overpriced,” said the FRAPRU spokesperson.

The latter is concerned to see the rapid rise in rents spreading to more distant towns. She cites for example Saguenay, Rimouski and Drummondville where the cost of rents has increased so quickly that residents of these cities are struggling to find housing that meets their budget.

The worst to come?

FRAPRU maintains that the situation could worsen in the coming days as new households could ask for help.

“In Montreal, last year, the number of tenants accompanied by the assistance service almost doubled between June 30 and July 15,” recalls Véronique Laflamme, who qualifies the current figures as fragmentary.

In order to avoid the worst, the organization which fights for the rights of tenants implores public decision-makers to keep government assistance measures in place until everyone has found housing.

NUMBER OF HOMELESS HOUSEHOLDS IN THE MAIN CITIES AFFECTED