While the housing crisis continues, Quebec has just passed a bill that will impose a three-year moratorium on evictions and protect more seniors from this practice.
The new law from the Minister of Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, improves protection against evictions for seniors who have lived in their home for at least 10 years. It increases the age of this protection from 70 to 65 and increases the income limit for eligibility by 25%.
During the study of the bill, Québec solidaire (QS) and the Parti Québécois (PQ) tried to further expand protection for seniors, but the minister refused, affirming that a balance had to be maintained.
As the vacancy rate is currently very low, the new law will also prohibit evictions aimed at “subdividing the accommodation, substantially enlarging it or changing its use”.
The moratorium will end before three years if the vacancy rate of all urban centers in Quebec with a population of at least 10,000 inhabitants reaches 3% or more.
The bill was recently amended to allow the moratorium to be maintained in certain regions of Quebec, even if the overall vacancy rate reaches 3%. The three-year limit is maintained despite everything.
Minister Duranceau’s new law is a significant change of course for the government.
During the study of another housing bill (known as “Bill 31”) a few months ago, she was very unreceptive to the opposition’s proposals.
The minister rejected the amendments from QS and the PQ aimed at protecting more seniors from evictions. At the time, the minister said that her bill already contained several measures to protect everyone, regardless of their age. France-Élaine Duranceau says she has “evolved” on the issue since then.
Remember that “Bill 31” provoked a lot of resistance, in particular because it restricted the use of the transfer of lease.