The Government of Quebec must clarify its intentions regarding the future of the AccèsLogis program, which has funded the construction of social and community housing in the province for 25 years, says the official opposition at Montreal City Hall.
The Ensemble Montréal party will table an emergency motion at the next meeting of the city council, next Monday, so that the elected officials of the metropolis inform the Government of Quebec of their wish that this program be maintained and that new sums be allocated to it. in the next provincial budget.
This request comes two weeks after the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest, announced the creation of the Quebec Affordable Housing Program. The government has therefore earmarked an envelope of $200 million for this purpose and mentioned the construction of 2,000 affordable housing units within the next year.
As for the AccèsLogis program, created in 1997 and which has a Montreal branch, “it remains in place in order to allow the continuation of the projects already started”, indicates the press release from the Legault government issued on February 3. A statement that, according to Ensemble Montreal, “ [laisse] imply the possibility that new sums will not be allocated to it”, indicates the motion of the party, that The duty was able to consult under embargo.
“We think that it is ambiguous answers that push the need to have this motion”, insists the spokesperson for housing for Ensemble Montreal, Sonny Moroz. Otherwise, “we are afraid of certain impacts that it could have on access to social housing”, at a time when more than 23,000 households are on a waiting list to obtain social housing managed by the Municipal Office of housing in Montreal, adds the councilor for the district of Snowdon.
“We must not forget the importance of social housing in tackling the housing crisis,” insists Mr. Moroz.
Raising of shields
The nebulous future of the AccèsLogis program is also worrying many community groups, which have pressed the Quebec government in recent days to clarify its position in this regard. The Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU) and the Support Network for Single and Homeless People in Montreal (RAPSIM) pointed out in particular that the new affordable housing program announced two weeks ago aims to create units offered the median rent of the regions where they will be developed. However, this may be too high for many low-income people, fear the two organizations. Conversely, the occupants of social housing allocate 25% of their income to housing.
“There is more and more the impression that, on the sly, the [Coalition avenir Québec] is in the process of destroying a key element of the Quebec model, which is to have social housing, non-profit housing in Quebec”, reacted last Saturday to the Duty Québec solidaire co-spokesperson, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. The Parti Québécois and the Liberal Party of Quebec also raised concerns on the sidelines of the announcement of the Legault government’s new affordable housing program.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will also publish its report on Friday on the state of the rental market in the main regions of the country for the year 2021. In 2020, the vacancy rate had doubled on the Island of Montreal, from 1.6% to 3.2%, partly due to the drop in immigration and the arrival of foreign students in the context of the health crisis. A situation that has not prevented rents from climbing at a record pace, especially in unoccupied housing.