“I hope there’s someone who will open the door and give us a chance.” Despite her efforts, Jenny Akerley was unable to find accommodation in time for the 1er July. Like 38 other households, the single mother and her 7-year-old son had to turn to the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) for emergency accommodation.
In total, 147 households are actively supported by the OMHM. Across the province, 384 households find themselves in a temporary housing situation. Among them, 125 households are being housed in an emergency hotel by the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ).
Jenny Akerley, who has poor credit and is currently on welfare, has been unable to find a place to live since 1er July. She is now housed by the OMHM in student housing in downtown Montreal with her son.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
According to the most recent data from the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ), as of Monday morning there were 1,296 tenant households in Quebec who are actively supported by a housing search assistance service.
The little family left New Brunswick on December 22 to return to live in Montreal. But since that day, although they have approached about forty landlords, none of them have agreed to rent them a place to live.
It’s always the same, they want someone who’s alone and quiet. As soon as you say you have a child, they don’t want it, and when you’re on welfare, they ask you what your job is, and if you have bad credit, it doesn’t help you either.
Jenny Akerley, single mother
She had been temporarily staying with a friend since January, but tensions ended the cohabitation.
The single mother also has to deal with the specific needs of her son, who is autistic. Their arrival the day before at their temporary accommodation was very trying for him.
“He was really stressed because he saw me stressed,” Jenny explains. “I found it difficult because I had to manage myself and manage a child who was having tantrums.”
Painful steps
Jenny says she feels reassured and grateful to be given emergency shelter, but she remembers with sadness the first time she walked through the doors of the OMHM to ask for help.
“My first appointment on July 21 made me feel like a victim, like it was my fault,” she said. “They were asking me why I came back to Quebec and why I’m not going back to New Brunswick.”
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Jenny Akerley says she has approached around 40 landlords, without success.
They really made me feel like I wasn’t a good mother, like it was my fault that my child was homeless.
Jenny Akerley, single mother
She says it was difficult to hide her tears from her son on the way home.
“I cried in front of everyone, it really broke me,” she said. “My son just cried on the subway and said, ‘Mom, I don’t want to be homeless.’”
After she proved the housing search she had done, she was eventually offered temporary accommodation.
“When I got home, I sent them all the paperwork and they called me the following Monday for an appointment on Wednesday,” says Jenny Akerley. “I hope there’s someone who will open the door and give us a chance.”
A widespread crisis
The spokesperson for the Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU), Véronique Laflamme, notes a crisis that is rooted in Quebec and that affects both large cities and smaller municipalities.
In several regions of Quebec where housing was previously considered affordable, rents have increased very rapidly. The shortage of rental housing has never been so widespread across Quebec, and in all municipalities the vacancy rate is below the market equilibrium threshold of 3%.
Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for FRAPRU
She takes the example of Trois-Rivières, where 39 households had to be housed urgently on the 1ster July.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Across the province, 384 households are currently homeless and in temporary accommodation.
“The picture is very bleak for tenants in Quebec, and there are cities like Montreal where they are the majority in the population,” adds Véronique Laflamme. “This crisis has an effect on the social fabric of communities and neighbourhoods that were previously working-class.”
She denounces the situation of many residents of usually more popular areas who are being “driven out of their neighborhood.”
Requests for help on the rise
Data from the Société d’habitation du Québec shows that the number of requests it received from citizens in need increased from 5,200 in 2023 to 9,200 this year. To date, 71% of them have reportedly been processed by SHQ services.
“We recognize that there are needs, but the assistance is better organized to reach them,” explains the director of communications and external relations at the SHQ, Sébastien Olivier. “The work upstream is bearing fruit.”
For the spokesperson for Québec solidaire on housing and habitation, Andrés Fontecilla, these figures are only “the tip of the iceberg”.
I am convinced that the figures reported […] are below reality. There are many people who have not contacted the emergency service because they have gone to stay with friends or family.
Andrés Fontecilla, solidarity spokesperson for housing and accommodation
A “stressful” situation
The office of the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, reacted to the portrait painted on 1er July and assures that “no effort is spared” to provide assistance to citizens who request it.
“We understand that the situation is difficult and stressful for vulnerable households who are having difficulty finding housing,” said Minister Duranceau’s press secretary, Justine Vézina. “Everyone has been mobilized for several months to ensure that this period goes as smoothly as possible.”
For its part, the office of Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says it is ready to support anyone in need and invites them to dial 311.
“The moving period is stressful for many Montrealers, who are increasingly struggling to find housing options that meet their needs and budget,” says the mayor’s office. “We are here for you.”