By Canadian Press

Calls increase for more money as Montreal and rest of Quebec facing housing crunch

Jun 27, 2022 | 12:38 PM

Montreal’s mayor and a provincial opposition party leader are warning that the city’s affordable housing shortage is going to get worse if more money isn’t made available.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and Québec solidaire spokesperson Manon Massé made their pleas during separate news conferences today ahead of July 1, Quebec’s traditional moving day.

Plante says Montreal has been waiting for the past four years for millions of dollars promised by the federal government to build 1,200 affordable housing units and renovate an additional 4,700 units. 

Massé says low-income families in Montreal and in the rest of the province are spending up to 85 per cent of their monthly incomes on housing.

A coalition of housing committees and tenant associations in Quebec released a report over the weekend indicating that rents across the province increased by nine per cent between 2021 and 2022, reaching an average of $1,300 per month.

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Massé says that on July 1, many families in the province will be forced to remain in or move into homes that are unsanitary or unfit for their needs.

A study released last week by an association of homebuilders suggests Quebec is missing 100,000 homes, with more than 37,000 families on waiting lists to access subsidized housing. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 27, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press