In the riding of Gaspé, as in many places in Quebec, there are concerns about the lack of places to live. “Le Devoir” went to meet local residents.
“Find yourself a place to live, then the job will come. »
This is what advises Sarah Jeanne Rajotte-Julien, coordinator of the Welcome Service for Newcomers (SANA) of the Côte-de-Gaspé, which helps immigrants and Quebecers who want to settle in the region.
Met in her colorful offices in the heart of Gaspé, the young woman wants people to see “reality in the face”. “I don’t think the Gaspé is all beautiful, all rosy,” she sums up. To live here you need a car, first note Mme Rajotte-Julien.
And that’s not counting the “appalling” lack of places to stay, she says, rolling her eyes.
Here, the housing vacancy rate is close to 0.8%, according to figures from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Finding housing is already difficult for locals, adds his colleague Aude Blais, “so imagine for an immigrant who arrives, who does not have a social insurance number, who does not have references to the Canada”…
The 24-year-old says she sometimes “oversteps her mandate a bit” to help newcomers looking for a roof over their heads. She always gets there, she says, but sometimes it takes several calls: “People have their hearts in the right place here. They won’t leave anyone on the street. »
On the side of the largest employer in the region, the CISSS de la Gaspésie, they say they are still struggling to accommodate new workers. In 2021, the organization hired 1,017 people; in 2022, 794. “We work in close collaboration with community organizations — SANA, Place aux jeunes, etc. — in order to facilitate their integration into the community as much as possible,” said CISSS spokesperson Lou Landry.
Moving repeatedly
In the town of Gaspé, which overlooks the bay, everyone has their housing story.
On Rue de la Reine, downtown, Janaina Nunes takes her lunch break. What is the regional electoral issue, according to her? “My God, the rents! I have moved four times so far,” exclaims the young woman who moved from Sainte-Julie, in Montérégie, to Gaspésie a year ago.
Due to the lack of housing – and too high prices – the personal finance advisor at Desjardins notably had to spend some time with her mother, who has lived in the region for a long time, because the house that the young woman was renting was sold. .
Nearby, at the friendly Paquebot café, Marie Duchesneau doesn’t mince words: the lack of housing in Gaspé is “awful and scary”. The young woman from Sherbrooke settled here eight years ago. She wanted to work a little in the region, she says on this rainy summer Friday; she never left.
At 35, the social work professor at Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles never thought she would have to “live with roommates” to be able to pay the mortgage. “But it’s the reality,” she breathes, looking at her four-year-old son.
An access problem
Following a separation in February 2021, the mother of the family lived for four months in a community center in the region. “I’m a social worker and I’ve used community resources that I direct people to,” she says.
Then, in July 2021, after a long search, she finally found a house to rent. “I thought, ‘Fine, I have a roof over my head.’ “says M.me Duchesneau. However, last March, its owners informed it that they intended to sell the house. After considering her other options—very limited due to real estate escalation—she took the leap and bought the place.
“In the current context, I am really lucky,” recognizes Marie Duchesneau. However, the journey was difficult. “That’s a lot of human costs, energy costs, stress costs and time costs. »
“Return to basic needs”
According to the 30-year-old, Quebec political parties “would benefit from returning to people’s basic needs”, such as housing. Even if “it’s not glamour “, it takes real political will to solve the problem, she believes.
“At the local level, really citizens, at the municipal level, the region, Quebec… I think that each sector like that has its role to play, notes the professor of social work. But obviously, this is not an individual problem. »