The Quebec government unveiled on Wednesday the details of two assistance programs to support tenants and owners affected by the buffer zone in Rouyn-Noranda.
The government action plan to support Rouyn-Noranda, announced a year ago, has an envelope of $90.4 million over five years.
Of that amount, $16 million will go to two programs to help citizens who have to relocate because of arsenic emissions from the Horne smelter, which are associated with an estimated increased risk of cancer.
Help for tenants
The tenant assistance program is structured around three components: departure compensation, relocation assistance and assistance with paying the new rent.
The departure compensation amount corresponds to one month’s rent for each year of uninterrupted rental.
The relocation assistance is intended to cover moving expenses. Each household will receive $2,500. Another amount will be offered depending on the size of the home. Moving expenses, Internet and telephone connections, among other things, will also be paid by the government.
Rent payment assistance will also be provided to help tenants pay their new rent if it is higher than their previous rental. The assistance will last for a maximum of 60 months and the amount could be as high as $80,000.
To encourage the relocation of beneficiaries in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, tenants who remain in the region will receive 100% of the amount, while those who settle outside the region will be entitled to 70% of the amount.
“Applications can be made until 2028 and the program is eligible until 2029, so the goal is really to give you time to find new housing,” explained the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, during a press conference in Rouyn-Noranda on Wednesday.
Help for owners
Assistance for owners includes four components: compensation for relocation, flat-rate assistance for incidental costs, compensation for loss of income and compensation for loss of guaranteed income supplement.
“The watchwords are really agility, flexibility and adaptability, and our intention is really to act in complementarity with what Glencore offers to owners for the repurchase of their home and the compensation program that will be developed by the City,” explained Minister Laforest.
Glencore, the owner of the smelter, is expected to acquire the buildings and land in the area at its own expense and by mutual agreement.
Horne Foundry will purchase the homes at the land value, while the government will pay the owners the difference between the land value and the replacement cost.
Several months of consultations
These two programs, details of which are available online at Québec.ca, were developed after individual meetings and group consultations that took place over the past few months to identify the needs of the 200 households affected by the relocation in the Notre-Dame district.
“This is really the result of the consultations that have taken place here for a year,” said Minister Laforest, acknowledging that “these programs are not perfect,” but “they are flexible” and that her ministry “will continue to meet with citizens.”
The minister responsible for the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, Jean Boulet, who also participated in the press conference, indicated that citizens should expect to “see paperwork and complexities,” but that the government would “continue to dialogue, to converse and to ensure that the fundamental concerns of each person are addressed.”
Compensation for the relocation of owners could reach $700,000.
The government action plan to support Rouyn-Noranda has an envelope of 90.4 million over five years.
This plan provides in particular nearly 45 million dollars for the City of Rouyn-Noranda, to help relocate citizens from the buffer zone and also to develop new neighborhoods.