Housing Crisis in Quebec
Trois Rivieres, Housing rights action, February 8, 2023.
The housing crisis in Quebec is taking on unprecedented proportions at the beginning of 2023.
On January 27, the People's Action Front on Urban Renewal (FRAPRU) issued a press release following the tabling of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Rental Market Report on January 26. The organization wrote: "Not only are vacancy rates dropping dramatically, but rent increases keep accelerating. We are not far from a perfect storm, if we also take into account the high number of evictions due to speculation. The coming year will be extremely difficult for the right to housing, everywhere in Quebec."
As
a result, vacancy rates are now below the equilibrium level of three
per cent in all of Quebec's metropolitan areas. Province-wide, it has
dropped from 2.5 per cent to 1.7 per cent. In Gatineau, it fell to 0.8
per cent. In Saguenay, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières, it is 0.9 per
cent. In Quebec
City, it has dropped to 1.5 per cent and in the Montreal metropolitan
area, it is two per cent. In large family apartments with three or more
bedrooms, the rate is 0.1 per cent in Saguenay and 0.2 per cent in
Gatineau.
With one exception, the 38 other urban centres in Quebec are also affected by the shortage of rental apartments and, in 25 centres, the vacancy rate is less than one per cent. In Gaspé, Roberval and Sainte-Sophie, the vacancy rate is actually zero per cent. In Drummondville, Granby and Rimouski, where the situation was very tense in the summer of 2022, the rate is still very low at 0.4 per cent. Since January 1, the Sherbrooke Tenants' Association reports about 30 evictions and repossessions.
The voices of organizations defending the right to housing are being raised throughout Quebec to denounce this unbearable and unsustainable situation for Quebeckers.
Since November 2022, FRAPRU has been crisscrossing the regions of Quebec with its float to make visible the needs of tenant households in distress. "We want to illustrate the needs of tenant households because the housing crisis is hitting hard," says Catherine Lussier, community organizer at FRAPRU, mentioning the low number of available units, rent increases, evictions and repossessions.
F Clause in Residential Leases
Also
contributing to the housing crisis is the existence of the F Clause in
residential leases, in place since 1980. For housing in a new building
or housing in a building that has recently had its use changed, it
gives landlords a five-year period in which rents can be increased
without limit
and without tenants having recourse to the Administrative Housing
Tribunal (TAL) to contest rental increases. Its purported aim is to
permit landlords to recoup the cost of building new housing.
As just one example, the newspaper 24 Heures reported that in 2022, a family with three children living in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac in the Laurentians had their monthly rent increased by $725, from $1,475 month to $2,200, a 50 per cent increase. This was after one year of tenancy in their house that was built less than five years ago. This is unsustainable.
Anti-Social Offensive
Over the past 30 years, the Quebec government has imposed its anti-social agenda of destroying social programs of all kinds. The Régie du logement, which once provided some protection against rent increases, landlord abuse, unhealthy housing, etc., has been dismantled. It has been replaced by the Administrative Housing Tribunal which does not meet today's requirements.
The government says it provides "assistance" of all kinds. There is a shelter allowance program specifically for people 55 years of age and older whose rent or shelter costs exceed 30 per cent of their income. Low-income individuals or families can receive financial assistance through the Shelter Allowance program under certain conditions.
So on the one hand there is the F clause that favours landlords and on the other hand there is arbitrary "assistance" for tenants. These contradictory measures do nothing to solve the housing shortage, evictions, low quality housing and unlimited rent increases. The ruling circles claim that the housing shortage is caused by, among other things, the increase in the number of migrants, the aging population and a higher proportion of people living in urban centres. This so-called explanation is not new, nor does it assist anyone to deal with today's reality. The issue is that Quebec needs new arrangements that will guarantee this right for all.
The right to housing is a fundamental right for every human being to live his or her humanity, to house themselves and their families decently. Housing must be healthy, well insulated, affordable, provide peace of mind and security, and this, in the specific conditions of Quebec, adapted to the weather conditions. The need for new arrangements to guarantee this right has been put on the agenda by the working people of Quebec.
(Photos: FRAPRU)
This article was published in
Number 3 - February
15, 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2023/Articles/WO10032.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca