Quebec’s Moving Day, on July 1, is exactly two months away, and many are starting to worry whether they’ll have a place to live.
Montreal announced $3.5 million to help.
“This support is still really needed because most of these tenants don’t have any other places to go and could easily fall into homelessness without the types of support around the first of July,” said Catherine Lussier, a community organizer with the housing group FRAPRU.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante acknowledged there’s an increase in the number of people who are looking to find a home by July 1 who are “in distress.”
“It is a worry,” Plante said. “It’s a big burden on their shoulders.”
“The City of Montreal decided to increase the budget, working with the entire ecosystem so it could be about finally helping people to find an apartment. If they don’t find it right away, to locate them in a safe place. And also, we have a warehouse where people can put their stuff by the time that they find it, we help them to find a roof.”
Housing groups welcomed the new funding, but warn emergency measures won’t fix the housing crisis.
“The vacancy rate has gone lower, so we are expecting more maybe tenants that will struggle to find an apartment, especially an affordable apartment,” said Lussier. “When you look at the average for rent in Montreal, and it’s more than $1,000, obviously for some tenants with low income, just finding something they will be able to afford.”
Housing in Canada
The city is launching an awareness campaign in six languages to help renters find a place to stay.
“We receive, unfortunately, calls from people that are worried, even desperate sometimes, because they are really scared of not being able to find a place to stay because they see already all the discrimination,” said Lussier.
Last year more than 100 people were left without a home on July 1. Housing groups hope the increase in emergency money and services provided will reduce that number to zero.
But many say the reality is that more needs to be done.
“We need to see real structure and measures,” Lussier said. “And then this is not necessarily just the City of Montreal’s role to assure the development of social housing, but it’s also the Quebec government that has a major role to play. And that’s what we need to see if we want the emergency measures to be less used, we need to have solutions way before that.
“And for that, we need the Quebec government to truly take the responsibility and truly take the housing crisis as a priority.”
Those looking for housing will be able to consult the housing search tool developed by the Office Municipal d’Habitation de Montréal. It allows you to find available housing in Montreal, according to your budget and the number of rooms you’re looking for.
Residents can also contact their local housing group and call 211 for more information.