The countdown is being felt for thousands of tenants who must leave their homes in the coming days. They struggle to find movers, who themselves are unable to meet the demand.
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“We have an unprecedented volume of calls. People call constantly for the same day or for the next day, we’ve never seen that! says Chantale Paquet, owner of Prix modique – moving and storage, in Quebec City.
As affordable housing is particularly scarce this year, people have taken longer to find the rare pearl and then contact movers, she explains.
Photo QMI Agency, Marcel Tremblay
The Clan Panneton at work to help a family move to Saint-Lambert, near Montreal.
A situation that was also observed by the co-owner of the Clan Panneton, Pierre-Olivier Cyr, on the Montreal side.
“I have never had so many calls for the 1er July at this time of year. However, we have been complete for at least 3 months! “, he says, noting the feeling of panic of these last-minute customers.
The increase in the cost of movers, which sometimes amounts to up to 50% more than in previous years for some, does not seem to scare them. “They are ready for anything, they are in a bad way”, explains Mme Pack.
Unable to provide
One of the causes of this problem also lies in the shortage of labour. Low price – moving and storage is limited to twenty moves per day, which has lost 30% to 40% of its employees and trucks.
Photo QMI Agency, Marcel Tremblay
A sketched scene in Lac-Beauport.
As for the Quebec branch of Déménagement La Capitale, we are limited to a dozen “jobs” daily, whereas we have the demand to do 70 on the 1er July.
“But I don’t have the staff. Obviously, to have the best, we had to pay the price,” says the general manager of the branch, Jean-Sébastien Bonin.
The Clan Panneton is, for its part, obliged to call on agencies in the Montreal region to meet the demand.
“But in the rest of Quebec, it’s a complete and total shortage,” says Pierre-Olivier Cyr.
perfect storm
The latter also explains that the movers and their customers are facing a perfect storm.
In addition to scarce and expensive labour, movers are struggling to repair their trucks or buy new ones due to parts supply problems.
Added to this is galloping inflation, which notably doubles the price of boxes, and the cost of gasoline, which has increased drastically with the war in Ukraine.
“We are planning difficult weeks for the movers, we do not want to pass the bill on to the customers. We are not even sure [d’être rentables] this year,” laments Mr. Cyr.