The number of forced evictions recorded by 30 housing committees located in several regions of Quebec increased from 1,525 cases in 2022 to 3,531 cases this year. And this review, underlines the Regroupement of housing committees and tenant associations of Quebec (RCLALQ), is only the tip of the iceberg since only a minority of tenants use the services of these organizations.
The RCLALQ has been carrying out this exercise of reviewing evictions for three years, given that there is no mechanism to quantify them precisely. The increase is significant: in 2020, the participating housing committees recorded 597 forced evictions. Since 2020, the number of evictions has therefore increased by almost 500%.
“Less well-off or vulnerable people, as well as the elderly, are particularly targeted to carry out lucrative operations,” indicates the RCLALQ in its report.
What is a forced eviction? It is a resumption of housing by the owner, undue pressure for the tenant to leave, renovation companies, or outright eviction for reasons of expansion or subdivision on the part of the owner.
These reasons may be entirely legitimate and consistent with what the law prescribes, but in some cases they are only apparently so. For example, an owner may pretend to rent to a member of his family, but the accommodation will actually end up on the rental market… with a higher rent. For the RCLALQ, “the majority of housing repossessions, the reason given is only a pretext. There is no follow-up to ensure that the owner has complied with the law,” says Cédric Dussault, spokesperson for the group.
The organization has identified the various forms of evictions. The number of cases of renoviction is experiencing a sharp increase: it has practically tripled. “We live in a climate of impunity which encourages delinquent behavior. Owners who carry out evictions no longer even bother to find excuses,” underlines Cédric Dussault.
The phenomenon is obviously exacerbated by the housing crisis plaguing Quebec. The increase in recorded evictions is also evident across the entire province: 143% increase in Montreal, 69% in Quebec and 121% in the other regions recorded (the suburbs of Montreal, Lanaudière, the Laurentians, Mauricie and the Bas-St-Laurent).
The consequence of these forced evictions can be seen in the streets of cities across Quebec, underlines the RCLALQ. Evictions in fact represent a quarter of the situations leading to homelessness. However, the latest count of homeless people in Montreal showed that the number of people forced onto the street had almost doubled since 2018, going from 5,789 people to nearly 10,000. “A disturbing observation: evictions have become the main factor in “homelessness, faced with problems of drug addiction or insufficient income”, notes the group.
Consequently, the RCLALQ urges the Quebec government to take measures to counter the phenomenon of forced evictions. In particular, we are calling for a moratorium on housing repossessions and evictions when the vacancy rate is below 3%, as well as compulsory monitoring of evictions and major works by the Administrative Housing Tribunal. We are also asking for a rent register, easier prosecution in cases of harassment, as well as increased funding for tenant rights organizations.