With the explosion in the cost of rent and the scarcity of available housing, housing cooperatives appear to be an interesting option to consider to provide a roof over your head at a reasonable price. But carrying out cooperative projects is long-term work, which sometimes takes on the appearance of an obstacle course.
Five years ago, citizens mobilized to develop a cooperative project in the Plateau-Mont-Royal. The objective: to build 28 housing units on land located north of Mont-Royal Avenue, between Fabre and Marquette streets, in a cooperative called “Familiale 2”. The City of Montreal, which owns the land in question, was ready to transfer it to citizens in order to carry out the project. It still is, except that the cooperative project is now on the back burner and could remain so for a long time. The crux of the problem is the financing of AccèsLogis, indicates Marie-Ève Morin, who is part of the citizen group which carried out the cooperative project.
In the mid-2010s, the AccèsLogis program was already struggling to meet demand. In February 2022, Quebec launched a new program, the Quebec Affordable Housing Program (PHAQ), which aimed to accelerate the realization of projects, at the same time signing the possible death warrant of AccèsLogis, considered ineffective.
“It’s a change in philosophy. What we understand is that the cooperative is no longer the type of project that the government wishes to finance at the moment,” says M.me Morin, who believes that with the new program, real estate developers seem to be given more priority.
The years have passed. The citizen group having the feeling of “pedaling through butter”, the initial enthusiasm has faded. The project is not dead, but, according to Marie-Ève Morin, few indications suggest that it could be realized in the short term. “I won’t hide from you that the citizens involved are losing motivation,” she said.
A slowdown
The pace of construction of cooperative projects has slowed down over the last 10 to 15 years, admits Patrick Préville, general director of the Fédération de l’habitation cooperative du Québec (FHCQ).
Born in the 1940s, the housing cooperative movement has evolved over the decades. In the 1970s, the cooperative movement, driven by committed citizens, had the wind in its sails. The trend now is for NPOs to be more of a source of new housing projects, notes Mr. Préville. “We also have to get into the spirit of the times with the feminist, environmentalist and trade unionist movements,” he says. Today, we are in an increasingly individualistic world. It’s not easy for citizens to come together to do that. »
Thus, he says, technical resource groups (TRGs), which work to carry out housing projects, receive more requests from NPOs for community and social housing than requests from citizens for cooperatives.
Currently, Quebec has approximately 1,300 housing cooperatives for 30,000 housing units.
The cost of land and its scarcity, particularly in Montreal, the increase in construction costs, and the difficulty of carrying out financial arrangements are all obstacles that must be overcome. Mr. Préville also believes that the financing model of recent decades has not allowed existing cooperatives to expand with the addition of housing. “If we had considered coops as social economy enterprises and if we had developed incentives so that they could grow, it is not 1,300 coops that we would be talking about today, but perhaps 3,000 or 5000.”
But that doesn’t stop projects from seeing the light of day.
Persevere
In Deux-Montagnes, it took 14 years to bring to fruition the Train de la vie cooperative project, which has 35 housing units. Among the pitfalls encountered: insufficient funding from AccèsLogis based on exceeded construction costs. It will ultimately take financial help from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to break the deadlock and complete the financial package.
Guillaume Brien, general director of the GRT de l’Estrie, however, remains optimistic about the Quebec Affordable Housing Program. “At the start of AccèsLogis, it took two or three years before it was well established and got off to a good start. When we have a new program […] in all areas, there is always time to adapt. What is important is predictability. We know that it takes three to five years to complete projects. »
For her part, Édith Cyr, general director of Bâtir son district, in Montreal, emphasizes that the call for tenders system of the new PHAQ does not necessarily favor housing cooperatives, because the projects must be well put together at the time of their deposit.
According to her, however, participatory solutions in housing are emerging. She also notes that new cooperative projects have more housing than in the past. “In Montreal, we are doing projects of up to 150 or 200 housing units. Previously, the 24 housing units were large coops. But, like any developer, with the price of land, we are obliged to have a certain volume to make the project viable,” she explains.
This year, Building Your Neighborhood has three cooperative projects under construction, including the Laurentienne cooperative, in the Saint-Laurent borough, with 169 housing units, and the Pointe Amiale cooperative, in the Pointe-Saint-Charles district, with 93 housing units. .
The fact remains that in Quebec, the share of community and cooperative housing remains limited and has nothing to compare with that of Vienna, in Austria, an often cited example, because there are 420,000 social housing units in which 60% of the population lives. population.
A living environment
Living in a cooperative allows you to occupy housing whose price is much lower than the market price. Inaugurated in January 2019, the Mile End cooperative, avenue De Gaspé, has 92 housing units. The cost for a 5 ½ is $1,341 per month, but members get a $400 discount, which brings their monthly rent to $941. “It’s really at the bottom of the market. In the Plateau-Mont-Royal, a 5 ½ dwelling in a new construction can cost $2,500 plus utilities,” underlines Thierno Souleymane Diallo, president of the board of directors of the Mile End cooperative.
On the other hand, members must participate in the collective effort, get involved in the various committees and carry out tasks in the building, otherwise they may lose their discount or even be expelled from the cooperative. This sharing of tasks makes it possible to reduce operating costs and thus keep rents lower. However, the cooperative is not immune to inflation and this year had to impose significant rent increases. “We told our members that it was better to be forward-thinking,” says Mr. Souleymane Diallo. “In five or ten years, repairs may need to be made. Three scenarios for increases were presented: 3.5%, 5% and 6%. Members agreed to vote for 5%. »
In times of crisis, demands for affordable housing surge. The Mile End cooperative says it has received around a hundred applications over the past year, but few units become available, recognizes Mr. Souleymane Diallo.