Solving the housing crisis will require investment in both physical and social infrastructure. It is a difficult exercise, but we are capable of it.
Posted at 2:00 p.m.
Leaving the office last Thursday evening, I tried to count my calls, messages and meetings which, over the past few weeks, have concerned housing.
I quickly gave up as there were so many of them, whether with representatives from business, construction, public institutions, community groups and foundations, or members of civil society. The last in line: a group of real estate owners.
Despite their diversity, all these people carry the same message: they want to be part of the solution. Everyone wants to get together to improve the quality of life of their fellow citizens.
In Quebec, we benefit from a social fabric shaped by decades of innovative community action. Many community organizations in Greater Montreal, which give shape to this great web, were born more than 50, even 75 years ago.
This social fabric constitutes a real infrastructure. But it is a social infrastructure, made of dedication and solidarity rather than concrete or steel. We could define it as the set of services, structures and resources that support the quality of life of a population.
In our society, infrastructures are essentially supported by the various levels of government. They assume the construction and maintenance costs of the buildings, of course, but also those of the assistance programs for organizations and individuals.
With the housing crisis that Quebec is currently experiencing, it is obvious that governments will need to have robust support programs for people – and not just as the 1er July or winter. Many citizens can’t help but ask for help from the government because they can’t make ends meet. These people need workers with the expertise and the ability to listen to ensure that their needs, which often go beyond the food basket, are met.
These programs already exist in part, but they will have to be improved, extended and revised in order to compensate for the current lack of housing. While it is difficult to quantify the exact number of affordable and healthy housing units missing in Greater Montreal (estimates vary depending on who you talk to), everyone agrees on one fact: there is a shortage! And the gap is widening year after year, and will continue to widen if we only alleviate the symptoms, rather than attacking the real causes of the problem.
Because beyond helping individuals, it also seems urgent to invest in stone, in physical infrastructure. In order to start the reflection well, we must admit the following simple fact: we lack housing! “Brick and mortar” investments are essential to stem the current crisis. If we had an adequate supply of social, affordable and decent housing, citizens would be able to find housing without having to juggle financial and food insecurity, without having to ask for help, without having to work two jobs to make ends meet.
Mark history
The housing vacancy rate is an incomplete measure that distorts reality. It includes the entire rental offer, but a large part of it is not accessible to people in vulnerable situations.
It would therefore be advisable to agree on another way of measuring the gap. Perhaps by talking more about the housing adequacy rate, which would take into account supply and demand, including factors such as larger housing for families, housing adapted for people with disabilities and affordable housing for seniors, for example. To this measure, we could add indicators on the quantity of current, under construction and desired social housing.
In our public investment policies, we do not have to choose between people and stones. In fact, we will necessarily have to pursue these two avenues.
Yes, it’s a real balancing act that we will have to submit to over the next few years, but we have no choice.
Remember: housing is a right recognized by the United Nations. And it is a right that deserves that we implement innovative solutions. It is still scandalous that, in our society, workers are unable to afford decent housing and that they are forced to turn to food banks to feed their children.
The various levels of government, I was saying, are the primary financiers and guardians of our social infrastructure. But they cannot solve the problem alone. The good news is that they can now count on support that is growing day after day, as evidenced by my discussions over the past few weeks.
The will to contribute is there. It’s high time to make history now.