Until recently, the CAQ government refused to recognize the very existence of a housing crisis. Last April, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest, finally admitted the reality. It became truly embarrassing to continue to deny the obvious.
According to fresh data from the Association of Construction and Housing Professionals of Quebec (APCHQ), there is a shortage of approximately 100,000 homes in all of Quebec. Just over 37,000 low-income households are waiting for a HLM or a rent supplement, while the deficit in private rental housing is 15,000. In addition, there is a scarcity of properties for sale — there would be a shortage of 58,000 — which explains the overheating of the residential real estate market. This scarcity prevents many households from accessing the property, a phenomenon which, by a domino effect, reduces the number of rental units that become available.
To put these figures into perspective, the Legault government had promised to build 15,000 social or affordable housing units in order to fulfill a commitment that the Liberal government had not respected. After four years, the catch-up represented only 8,000 dwellings, or a modest 2,000 dwellings per year.
Once hitting major urban centers, the housing crisis is no longer limited to Montreal or Quebec City; it has spread to several municipalities such as Drummondville, Trois-Rivières, Victoriaville, Granby, Gatineau, and even as far as Rimouski and Gaspé.
Times are tough for tenants struggling to find housing that meets their needs. In recent years, real estate sharks have emerged to carry out “flips”, these rapid resales, and “renovictions” fraudulent or at the limit of legality or decency, throwing tenants into the street informed of their rights or even unable to resist the harassing pressures of greedy landlords. As several reports from the To have to, these landlords use many eviction tactics, including the imposition of abusive rent increases, unilateral changes to leases and proceedings initiated before the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL) which are then abandoned and which only served to intimidate tenants. Claiming to want to carry out renovations without undertaking them to justify a rent increase is an illegal but widespread practice, as is evicting tenants for minor renovations.
The Legault government should have seen it. The City of Montreal called for changes to the Civil Code to prevent a landlord from evicting tenants in order to subdivide a dwelling, enlarge it or change its use. According to experts interviewed by The duty, the Civil Code contains various provisions with the aim of protecting tenants, but landlords rarely take them into account since tenants do not exercise their right. This is why the government should put in place measures to control this type of behavior instead of limiting itself to complaints sent to the TAL. Similarly, the damages claimed by the TAL, after tedious steps undertaken by the tenants, are not dissuasive, point out the experts. For the greedy owners, it is only a cost which they absorb by carrying it to profit and loss.
Housing is a basic need, but it has become an object of speculation. With rising interest rates and a real estate market at its peak, this El Dorado could dry up and the profiteers break their teeth. However, the resumption of short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, as well as the influx of students and foreign workers will continue to exert pressure on the rental market in Montreal. Outside the metropolis, it is the workers, who have come to fill labor shortages, who are changing the situation.
The Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, repeats that the supply of housing must be increased. He’s not wrong, but it won’t be enough. Last year, residential construction had an exceptional year in Quebec with the addition of 35,000 rental units out of a total of 68,000 new homes, an annual number that usually varies between 45,000 and 50,000. In just one year, costs have jumped 35%: rising material prices, labor shortages and, now, rising interest rates. The current crisis is that of affordable housing, because tenants who can shell out $2,000 or more per month for a 4 and 1/2 are spoiled for choice. But, after years of real estate bidding, it is also the cross and the banner for the first buyers, unable as they are to access the property.