On the eve of July 1, Quebec is experiencing an unprecedented situation. Every day, the media tell us these stories of families, seniors, single parents, people with disabilities, young students, all actively and desperately looking for a safe and affordable place to live.
In Quebec, more than 500,000 people are in urgent need of housing. More than 600 people found themselves homeless on July 1 last year. Steady rise for 5 years. And all the agencies are already predicting a worse situation this year.
In short, housing, a fundamental right and a priority issue for all, is in crisis like never before.
Social housing
The problem is known, it is the offer. The supply of housing of all kinds, but especially social and affordable housing. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) estimates that by 2030, in Quebec alone, it will be necessary to build 1.1 million dwellings to return to a point of equilibrium. She estimates that the private sector alone will be responsible for building 500,000. Governments must therefore intervene in one way or another to build the remaining 600,000.
The federal government had good intentions in 2017 when it decided, no doubt seeing the crisis looming, to launch its National Housing Strategy. With a budget of $82 billion over ten years, it aimed to house the poorest and reduce chronic homelessness.
Halfway, the least we can say is that we are however far from the mark…
CMHC’s Deputy Chief Economist himself, Aled Ab Lorwerth, admits that there needs to be a rethinking of the approach to housing supply and that there needs to be ‘a radical transformation of the housing sector’.
The Strategy would thus have contributed to the construction of only 25,000 housing units in Quebec over the past 5 years. Despite the billions, the federal government is unable to curb the crisis.
His strategy is poorly adapted and we urgently need to adjust the shot. We need to quickly rethink the model in order to increase the housing supply in addition to undertaking a major social housing project.
Solutions
The Bloc Québécois is demanding that 1% of federal revenues be invested in housing with the share of Quebec transferred to build social and community housing.
Housing organizations must also be given the means to buy private housing to remove it from the market and thus maintain affordability. Dwellings take a long time to come out of the ground, due among other things to the shortage of labor and the increase in construction costs.
We believe program criteria should be relaxed and community developers should be left to work on what they do best: building housing that meets the needs of vulnerable populations.
Finally, we urgently need to develop tools to counter the growing scourge of the financialization of housing. It is completely unacceptable that having a roof over your head is the subject of cold dealings and speculation by big investors.
Housing is a recognized right for all. A nightmare is announced, but it is still possible to avoid it. It only lacks a little political will.
Photo provided by the Bloc Québécois
Denis Trudel, MP for Longueuil Saint-Hubert, Bloc Québécois Spokesperson for Social Solidarity
