Housing: “Concrete and immediate measures” demanded in Quebec

We are experiencing a historic housing crisis that requires decisive and immediate actionThey pointed out in their letter to the Prime Minister.

We’re going down [du nombre] Residential housing starts since 1995, while one of the ways to permanently reduce overheating in real estate is to increase supply. We all have to work together. More than ever, there is an urgent need to establish concrete and coordinated action to address the housing crisis.Continue signatories.

Among them are Laval, Stéphane Boyer, Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, the mayors of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, Gatineau, France Belisle, Rimouski, Guy Caron and Trois-Rivières, as well as Daniel Cournier, the vice president. Executive Committee of the City of Montreal, Benoît Dorais.

The group also includes heads of organizations such as Cenrite of Greater Montreal, the Urban Development Agency of Quebec, Redevelopment of Senior Housing, the Corporation of Property Owners of Quebec, the Construction Association of Quebec, and the Council of Employers of Quebec. Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce.

Faced with the multiple causes that accentuate the effects of the crisis day by day, we join our voice to unite all decision makers so that they first fully measure the severity of the situation and identify the obstacles together. Follow a common roadmap that includes actions aligned with goals and timelines to be respectedAsk the signatories.

Scarcity and price rise

In terms of housing, Quebec is currently experiencing the lowest vacancy rate (1.7%) in more than 20 years, according to a letter from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to Prime Minister Legault.

According to the Association of Construction and Housing Professionals of Quebec (APCHQ), 100,000 new homes are needed in the short term to return to a balanced market, with a vacancy rate of about 3%.

” Everyone agrees that housing shortages are responsible for rising rental housing prices and difficulty in affording property. »

Soon. Many families will be left homeless. A lack of affordable housing in Quebec’s student cities has forced young people to abandon their study programs in our CEGEPs and universities. Companies will see their growth slow downContinue the signatories, stressing the importance of their prompt action.

The signatories have listed a number of factors contributing to the crisis and they will soon be the subject of debate: financing social housing, carrying out infrastructure works that allow residential development in the context of the climate crisis, conservation and renovation. Implementation of incentive municipal regulations to encourage existing rental stock and investment in residential real estate.

It is not just a housing crisis. Housing is an issue of infrastructure, transport, economy, health, immigration, elderly, homelessness, etc., and therefore calls for a cross-cutting approach from your government, its various departments and other actors.Adds the letter.

For an integrated approach

The signatories say they want to participate in the drafting of a plan of action to deal with the crisis.

They also recommend adopting what they say is a consultation-based approach, such as the one surrounding the work of the Acceleration Committee to develop the Hippodrome project.

In April, the provincial government announced $5.8 million in backfill assistance pressing needs Families without housing as July 1 approaches.

On June 9, during the last day of parliamentary work before the fall, the Legault government tabled Bill 31, which gives landlords the right to refuse quotas for leases, often used to avoid rising rents. Tight structure for exhaust.

Criticized by tenants’ associations and home owners’ groups, the minister responsible for housing, France-Alain Duranzault, backed the bill, arguing it would be inserted. defects In the residential rental market.

Legal changes have been called for for months, particularly by Québec solidaire, to protect tenants from unfair rent increases and illegal evictions.

However, groups that often speak out about access to housing, notably the Front d’action populaire en réménagement urbain (FRAPRU) and the Regroupement des Committees logement et Associations de tenants du Québec (RCLALQ), are not part of the signatories. A letter was sent to Prime Minister Legault.