The\u00a0Regroupement des locataires des terres publiques du Qu\u00e9bec\u00a0said the increase would affect about 26,000 members in total.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We understand that it has to increase, but why so much?” said Bertrand\u00a0Grenier, an administrator of the association who has rented his own public land lot near Chibougamau since 1981.<\/p>\n
The Ministry said in a statement to Radio-Canada that the rents hadn’t been revised in 15 years, and that “it’s only fair to update the rates to better reflect the fair value of the land.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Grenier says that the rates have been increasing steadily for years, with his own lot going from 263$ a year in 2010 to 577$ in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His own rent would be raised by less than 46 or 52 per cent because he pays more than the minimum fee, but he is speaking out on behalf of those affected by the steep increases, he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/quebec-mining-legislation-20240528.jpg\")
Quebec Minister of Natural Resources and Forests Mait\u00e9 Blanchette Vezina is planning to implement increases to the rents of public land tenants as high as 52 per cent. (Jacques Boissinot\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
He added that the association have known of the proposed increases since the winter, and had been in negotiations with the Ministry.<\/p>\n
“The rent of the land is one thing, but we pay municipal taxes,” he said. “And we also, believe it or not, we also pay school\u00a0taxes.”<\/p>\n