{"id":779381,"date":"2026-07-04T07:57:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T07:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779381\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T07:57:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T07:57:17","slug":"a-troubling-2039-quebec-households-needed-help-post-moving-day-frapru-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779381\/","title":{"rendered":"A troubling 2,039 Quebec households needed help post-Moving Day, FRAPRU says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A total of 2,039 households across the province are receiving assistance following July 1 Moving Day<\/a>, 140 more households than last year, housing rights group the Front d\u2019action populaire en r\u00e9am\u00e9nagement urbain (FRAPRU) said Friday.<\/p>\n

Calling the situation troubling, the group pointed out the number is likely higher as it doesn\u2019t account for those who haven\u2019t been in contact with local services. As a growing number of Quebecers grapple with the lack of affordable rental housing across the province, FRAPRU is renewing its calls for universal rent control and the creation of more social housing.<\/p>\n

\"AA for rent sign on a new apartment complex lists prices as starting at $1,850 per month. V\u00e9ronique Laflamme of FRAPRU spoke about the lack of affordable apartments and the housing crisis in Montreal on Friday. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, this is really showing how deep the crisis is becoming,\u201d FRAPRU community organizer Catherine Lussier said of the data for 2026. \u201cWe need systemic solutions to be able to work on this unaffordability of housing that we have seen increasing in the last years.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lussier explained the living situations of the 2,039 households receiving assistance differ: Some are still housed, but need to relocate in the coming days or weeks, while others have had to relocate temporarily. A total of 476 are staying in temporary accommodations arranged by their municipality, or with relatives, according to the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d\u2019habitation du Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the City of Montreal announced<\/a> 71 households were temporarily staying in hotel rooms provided by the city\u2019s housing authority, which is twice as many as last year. Thirty-five per cent of them were evicted because they couldn\u2019t pay their rent. The city also said it was helping another 219 households at risk of losing their homes.<\/p>\n

FRAPRU pointed out rents have been increasing dramatically across Quebec and salaries haven\u2019t kept up.<\/p>\n

The situation remains precarious despite the fact many units have been built and the provincial vacancy rate now stands at 2.7 per cent, which FRAPRU spokesperson V\u00e9ronique Laflamme described as \u201cclose to the historical level considered to represent a balanced housing market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we look at which units are actually available, they are concentrated in the higher rent brackets,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

The group also said a signed lease doesn\u2019t necessarily mean a tenant has secured adequate and affordable housing. Many sign for apartments they can\u2019t afford or don\u2019t meet their needs because they have no other options. Others have had to accept rent increases they can\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n

Laflamme said non-profit group Observatoire qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois des in\u00e9galit\u00e9s quantified the cost<\/a> of such situations this year, estimating the economic cost of housing unaffordability at $4.2 billion, including $2 billion in costs related to the effect it has on mental and physical health.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore recently, we\u2019ve also seen its consequences for intimate partner violence and for children\u2019s development,\u201d Laflamme said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that behind the households receiving assistance around July 1 are all those who continue to live in situations that are simply unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n

The group said the length of time tenants require assistance has been increasing: 13 per cent of 2,814 tenants currently receiving support from services across Quebec (outside of just the context of Moving Day) haven\u2019t been able to secure stable housing since 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is also showing the difficulties for tenants to find a place that is adequate for their needs, but also in (their price range),\u201d Lussier said.<\/p>\n

The group attributes skyrocketing rents to the high cost of new market-built rental housing, the lack of social housing and the lack of measures to curb exorbitant rent increases, particularly in between tenants.<\/p>\n

It criticized the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s record on housing, accusing it of overhauling public policy at the expense of social housing through new labels like \u201caffordable housing\u201d and \u201cnon-market housing,\u201d which it says don\u2019t provide the same affordability as typical social housing.<\/p>\n

\"V\u00e9ronique\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that behind the households receiving assistance around July 1 are all those who continue to live in situations that are simply unacceptable,\u201d says V\u00e9ronique Laflamme of FRAPRU. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

In the short term, the group is asking the Quebec government to launch a call for tenders for 1,000 affordable units announced in the latest budget<\/a> and ensure that they be truly affordable.<\/p>\n

It plans to closely monitor the coming election campaign and encourage party leaders to commit to the following:<\/p>\n

the creation of at least 10,000 social housing units per year for 15 years;<\/p>\n

permanent government programs dedicated to social housing, which would include a public housing program and a program to acquire existing residential buildings left vacant;<\/p>\n

formal recognition of the right to adequate housing in Quebec\u2019s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and a provincial housing policy based on that right; and <\/p>\n

the implementation of universal rent control, including a government rent registry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t start now, we won\u2019t get there,\u201d Laflamme said. \u201cThe needs that the private market is failing to meet are growing larger and larger.\u201d <\/p>\n

Quebec\u2019s municipal affairs and housing ministry did not respond to a request for comment on FRAPRU\u2019s requests in time for publication.<\/p>\n

kthomas@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A total of 2,039 households across the province are receiving assistance following July 1 Moving Day, 140 more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-779381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}