Owners of private seniors’ residences (RPA) that offer health care could apply larger rent increases to their tenants, according to a draft regulation submitted to the Council of Ministers in January. A situation that worries an association for the defense of the rights of seniors in Quebec.
Currently, the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL) provides the same calculation in its recommendations for rent increases in RPAs as in traditional rental properties. However, the Quebec Regrouping of residences for seniors (RQRA) has been demanding for years that the rapid increase in health care offered in RPAs can be taken into account in the increase in rents for their residents.
“We were asking for a specific calculation for RPA,” explains the chairman of the group’s board of directors, Hugo Boucher, in an interview with the To have to Wednesday.
A request that has been heard. A draft regulation appearing in the Official Gazette of January 25, piloted by the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, thus plans to add to the calculation necessary for setting the rent in the RPA “a percentage applicable to the service costs which relate to the person even of the tenant. This would be determined on the basis of the consumer price index relating to health care established by Statistics Canada, adds the draft regulation.
In other words, such a legislative change would allow RPA owners to raise their tenants’ rent even further while respecting the criteria of the TAL, which would then take into account annual inflation in the cost of health care offered to residents. .
“It will just allow us to increase our rents to the height of our real expenses”, sums up Hugo Boucher. Since January 2021, more than 300 RPAs have closed in Quebec, a number that continues to increase, in a context where many seniors’ residences are struggling to make ends meet.
The draft regulation also mentions that all RPA owners “could be affected by this regulatory change, which could result in an increase in income”. “In return, this measure would increase residents’ spending,” the document adds.
Hugo Boucher also concedes that RPA tenants should expect, if this draft regulation is adopted, to see their rent increase accordingly. “I don’t think they need to worry significantly, but to be very honest, they should expect a bigger increase than the last criteria for calculating the TAL”, which recommends an increase in rent 2.3% on average for a dwelling that is not heated by the owner.
“We just hope to cover our inflation,” adds Mr. Boucher.
Concerns
A situation that worries the head of the Income and Taxation Committee of the Quebec Association for the Defense of the Rights of Retired and Pre-Retired Persons, Pierre-Claude Poulin. The thousands of senior renters who depend on the Guaranteed Income Supplement — available to seniors with an annual income of less than $20,832 — will find it difficult to absorb a larger rent increase this year, he fears.
“It’s nice to rely on an indicator that includes health care [pour augmenter les loyers]but if the person only has $21,000, they are not able to pay the increase »adds Mr. Poulin.
The latter thus believes that it would be wiser for the government to rely on increased financial support for small RPAs in difficulty as well as low-income seniors, in order to put an end to the “vicious circle” of the closure of private residences for seniors. in Quebec. Requests shared by Hugo Boucher.
“Basically, seniors need more financial assistance” to have the means to stay in RPAs that offer nursing care, notes Mr. Boucher. Otherwise, they will not have the means to stay in them, so the “hemorrhage” of the closure of RPA will continue, he continues. “Therein lies the crux of the problem. »