As of July 1, at least 600 households in Quebec were counting on the help of municipalities for shelter, revealed a devastating assessment.
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According to the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU), never before has the demand for assistance been so strong for tenants who found themselves without a lease on July 1.
“By sticking to the only official figures provided by the emergency aid services set up by the municipalities or the housing offices, we arrive at at least 4000 households which have requested assistance from the municipal authorities. to find a home this year. Of this number, at least 600 households are still followed by an aid service, and are hosted either by cities or by relatives,” said FRAPRU spokesperson Véronique Laflamme.
For her, Quebec is facing one of the worst housing crises since the beginning of the millennium. Especially since, in the coming weeks, other households will be added to the long list of homeless tenants. “[Ce sera] revealing a much deeper crisis, which will have to be tackled quickly to avoid the repetition year after year of such human tragedies, ”added the spokesperson.
In its report, the FRAPRU notably deplored the poor management of the housing crisis by the CAQ government, which did not keep its promises, according to him. “While this is coming to an end, not only has it failed to respect its commitment to deliver all of the 15,000 social housing units already promised in the AccèsLogis program, but several projects are not even fully funded”, perhaps we read in the document.
FRAPRU demands that the next government do much better and urges the various parties to act to counter the housing crisis. It asks, among other things, for the delivery of “all the housing missing from the AccèsLogis program and to finance 50,000 social housing units in five years in the form of low-rent housing, rental housing cooperatives and housing managed by non-profit organizations”.
Although only 400 households have been counted, the organization is convinced that the number is in fact much higher, but that some households have not yet come forward. Others, who have not turned to the help offered by the municipalities, have had to resort to renting accommodation that is too expensive or too small, which therefore does not correspond to their needs.
The housing crisis has no favorites, and several cities in Quebec must do their utmost to help homeless tenants. Here is the number of households that have requested assistance from their municipality. In the case of Montreal, the number of homeless households had practically doubled in the first two weeks of July.
Drummondville: 135
Montréal: 118
Québec: 55
Sherbrooke: 50
Gatineau: 40
Three Rivers: 24
Cowansville: 23
Granby: 20
Laval: 15
Saguenay: 13
Rimouski: 10
Joliette: 10
In the city of Montreal, the administration confirmed to TVA Nouvelles that it invites households who have not found accommodation to call 311.
“We know that this year is particularly difficult for many, which is why we redoubled our efforts once again this year and anticipated needs by deploying record sums to support everyone, with more than 3.5 M$ in contribution to the OMHM referral service”, we mention via email.
A full review of the operation will be made in the coming weeks.
Montreal is asking for help from Quebec to speed up the construction of social housing.
“The crying needs of the metropolis and other municipalities in Quebec require major investments that will make it possible to accelerate the construction of social and affordable housing, which remains the only way to sustainably tackle the repeated housing crises. The affordability of Montreal remains a priority for our administration and we will continue our Affordable Montreal project with our partners,” underlines the administration of Mayor Valérie Plante.