1er July may have passed, but nearly 500 Quebec households are still looking for housing. A significant number that does not even take into account the tenants that the system evades.
What there is to know
- As of July 4, 494 households had still not found housing, including 115 in Montreal, 82 in Estrie and 58 in Centre-du-Québec.
- On Monday, the Société d’habitation du Québec had 199 temporarily relocated households.
- FRAPRU calls for more structuring measures, such as the construction of social housing, to counter the housing crisis.
Sonia St-Laurent did everything to relocate her aunt. Absolutely everything.
When the owner of the building where the eldest lived announced last December that he was taking over her apartment, Sonia St-Laurent sent dozens of applications to cooperatives and non-profit housing organizations. She updated her aunt’s low-rent housing (HLM) application, which had already been on the waiting list for seven years. She combed through the advertisements for rental accommodation.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Caregiver Sonia St-Laurent
“Each time, the answer was the same: there are none, apartments,” says Sonia St-Laurent, in an interview.
The tip of the iceberg
As of July 4, 115 households had still not signed a lease in Montreal, according to the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU). “These are people who are in hotels or staying with relatives, but who need a lasting solution,” explains Sébastien Olivier, director of communications for the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ).
Among these households, 39 were temporarily relocated, according to figures from the Municipal Housing Office (OMH) of Montreal.
Unlike these households, Sonia St-Laurent’s aunt did not seek help from the emergency services. It was rather his niece who took charge of his relocation.
Sonia St-Laurent asked for help from the BAIL Committee and a social worker. When her efforts to find affordable housing proved unsuccessful, she went to plead her case to two MPs. “But they all told me that they couldn’t do anything,” laments Sonia St-Laurent.
When her HLM request remained unanswered after several months, Sonia St-Laurent “tried to knock on the back doors”. The caregiver showed up at the OMH offices, insisting on speaking to a rental agent.
“He explained to me that there was an internal strike, that there was no funding, and that she would not have an apartment, unless she was on the street 1er June. There, she could perhaps have an HLM in Montreal North, ”says Sonia St-Laurent.
According to the caregiver, the rental agent suggested that she send her aunt to Le Chaînon women’s shelter, her “best option”.
For Sonia St-Laurent, it was out of the question: “My aunt was freaking out at the idea of going to Le Chaînon. She worked all her life! »
Running out of other options, the eldest moved in with a relative last month.
A solution that was intended to be temporary, but which could be permanent, given the price of rents.
“She can’t pay above $1,000 a month. It is unthinkable! launches Sonia St-Laurent. I have little hope that we will find him an apartment. »
Overloaded services
For Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for FRAPRU, the improvement of emergency aid services is essential so that no one falls “through the cracks”.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
FRAPRU spokesperson, Véronique Laflamme
“It’s the gateway to accessing solutions,” she points out.
What we fear is that people who are not followed and who are in plan B, with family or friends, will find it difficult to relocate permanently.
Véronique Laflamme, FRAPRU spokesperson
If they are not accompanied, these people do not have access to the financial assistance granted by the Government of Quebec.
However, the housing crisis will require a policy that proposes structuring measures, says Véronique Laflamme. “We must ensure that emergency aid measures are complete throughout Quebec, but there must also be light at the end of the tunnel. »
The filing of an action plan, which was scheduled for March 2022, should finally take place in the fall. The office of the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, assured, through an email sent to The Pressthat social housing would be part of it.
While waiting for more funding for social housing, people not accompanied by emergency services will continue to “sink into precariousness”, notes Véronique Laflamme.
With no solution in sight, Sonia St-Laurent put her housing search on hold. Her aunt’s mental health “took a hit,” says the caregiver. “For her, the end of the world fell on her retirement. »