Elected officials who represent the 82 cities of Greater Montreal are asking Quebec for “massive” and “urgent” investments to allow the construction of at least 3,000 social housing units per year in the region.
“The government gave us encouraging signals during the last mini-budget, but the needs require massive investments,” said Mayor Valérie Plante, who is also president of the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM), in a statement. published Thursday afternoon.
Quebec announced at the end of November amounts that will finance the construction of approximately 450 “social and affordable” housing units per year across the province within five years. However, it would take 3,000 per year just for Greater Montreal, estimates the CMM.
Press revealed Thursday morning new data on the extent of underfunding affecting social housing in the metropolis. Bâtir son quartier, a community housing developer, has on its drawing board 16 very advanced projects totaling 1,467 affordable housing units, which are “slowed down or blocked” due to lack of funding, we learned. This social economy enterprise has 10 other projects bringing together 928 housing units which are also struggling to obtain funds.
The underfunding also affects private developers like Prével, TGTA and Atelier Chaloub, who have tried to integrate more than 300 social housing units into real estate complexes for two years in Montreal. They had to abandon this idea, due to the lack of funds from the AccèsLogis program, funded by Quebec.
These revelations of Press generated many reactions. The New Democrat deputy Alexandre Boulerice, among other things, denounced on Twitter a situation which made “no sense”.
Tenant advocacy groups have also expressed outrage. “The government of Quebec should be ashamed of abandoning social housing while a severe housing crisis is raging across the province,” lamented the Regroupement des committees logement et associations de tenants du Québec.
Uncertainty
The exit of the CMM comes as a certain vagueness hangs over the financing of social housing in the province. Quebec announced new sums a few weeks ago, but it is only when the holidays return that the terms of application will be known. Many fear that the AccèsLogis program will be abandoned, which could penalize the poorest households if a clear distinction is not drawn between “social” housing and “affordable” housing.
“What will be the parameters, what commitments will have to be made by the private sector? We don’t know, ”said Alain Marcoux, president of the Association of Technical Resource Groups (GRT) of Quebec in an interview.
In AccèsLogis, there were clear parameters allowing very poor clienteles not to pay more than 25% of their income in rent.
Alain Marcoux, President of the Association of Technical Resource Groups (GRT) of Quebec
The 25 TSOs who are members of this association have plans in their boxes, often very advanced, which would allow the construction of 10,000 social housing units across the province, says Marcoux. However, only a fraction is guaranteed to go ahead, due to the lack of funding.
In its statement released Thursday, MWC made a series of demands on the provincial government. It requires funds to help build “as quickly as possible” the 2,500 social housing units already “programmed”, but not funded, by AccèsLogis.
The CMM also wants government funding for social housing to be provided over a 10-year period, rather than annually.
In a declaration sent to Press On Wednesday, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest, indicated that her new program, which will be unveiled in early 2022, aimed to “increase the supply of affordable housing in all regions” and “accelerate the pace Delivery “.