If the problem of family homelessness is particularly critical in Gatineau, it is also beginning to manifest itself in other cities in Quebec, such as Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières and Rimouski, has observed The duty.
Until recently, very few homeless families knocked on the door of the Sherbrooke Tenants Association. “Today, half of the households that call us are families,” notes the spokesperson for the organization, Mario Mercier. This is a completely new situation. “
He also notes that it takes more time than before to relocate households. “Normally it would last about two weeks around the 1er July, but here we are at the end of October, and there is still a family staying at the hotel. “
The activist deplores the lack of specific services for homeless families. “We set up a daycare this year to help families looking for housing, but we have no expertise, and we improvise a little,” he admits.
Families in panic
In Trois-Rivières, the situation is also starting to become worrying, notes Carol-Ann Côté of InfoLogis Mauricie. “The families are calling us in great panic. They do research, but they are refused housing. Discrimination has exploded. “
The very profile of families seeking help has changed, she notes. “Before, the families who called on our services were in a very precarious financial situation. But here, we even see people with decent salaries who find themselves on the streets. “
She says a lady lived with her mother in a laundry room with her 18-month-old daughter. Another has lived in a tent trailer all summer. “People are resourceful, and some have found relocation. But many must review their criteria and agree to live in housing that is too small or too expensive for their budget. “
At the Office municipal d’habitation de Trois-Rivières, we do not have precise statistics on homeless families, but we can see that more and more of them have been asking for help over the past two years. “It’s a phenomenon that is more frequent, we are seeing requests for larger housing,” says communications advisor Marie-Ève Croteau.
Uncertainty for the future
In Rimouski, which has become a host city for immigration, we find ourselves in the same situation. Both in requests for a place in a low-rental housing and for the housing search assistance service, we see more and more large families, explains Daniel Bélanger, from the Office d’habitation de Rimouski. Snow.
It must be said that the vacancy rate in the sector is 0.9%. And for large housing, we are at 0.2%. “In June, seven families with three or more children were considered at risk,” explains Mr. Bélanger. The majority have obtained emergency accommodation and have since succeeded in relocating. But some had to go to another MRC because they were not able to relocate to Rimouski, he laments. “With the considerable increase in rental costs, we don’t know what will happen next year. Some families may have surprises, that’s for sure. ”