Housing crisis in Montreal: even this ex-bank employee can no longer pay

A Montrealer who worked for thirty years in a bank came close to ending up on the street by squandering his savings on rents that have become too expensive because of the housing crisis.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better than paying my rent. But you have to have money,” breathes Frédéric Bussières, met by The Journal in his tiny three and a half apartment in the Milton-Parc district of Montreal.

The 56-year-old almost lost it when his lease ended on 1^is August, unable to pay his rent of $1,060 per month.

This is 55% of his income, much more than the 30% threshold recommended by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Even without a car and by tightening his belt, he quickly exhausted the $1,975 in pensions he receives per month for food, electricity and transportation, if he wants to go see his parents in Quebec from time to time.

Laid off

Everything started to go downhill in 2018, when he lost his job at the Laurentian Bank.

He was recovering from kidney and liver problems when he learned that his employer no longer needed him, preferring an ATM.

“It was a shock,” says the man who has never managed to find an equivalent job since.

The former bank clerk had no choice but to dip into his savings to maintain his standard of living and pay his old rent of $1,650 per month.

It was only three years ago that he finally managed to find smaller, cheaper accommodation.

“At the beginning, it looked good, I could live relatively well, but everything increases. Food, electricity… I should have had time to reach full retirement age,” he believes.

Rent assistance

To avoid eviction, Mr. Bussières had no choice but to seek help.

He obtained a $3,000 loan from the rental assistance bank, a pilot project of the Maison du père to prevent homelessness (see below).

A worker helps him manage the little income he has.

“You stay at home and we help you pay. It avoids changing environments and paying for the move,” he emphasizes.

He now looks differently at people forced to live in tents. “It’s scary… It might be selfish, but you don’t want that to happen to you.”

The rental assistance bank, a solution?

La Maison du père has set up a rental assistance bank due to the explosion of requests for assistance linked to a risk of eviction, no less than 500, in 2024 alone.

“We saw the profile of the people who came to us change. These are people who have never experienced homelessness, people aged over 50 or 55 who are displaced during a vulnerable moment, during a hospital stay for example,” explains Alexandre Clément, director of finance.

The organization wants to intervene upstream, to prevent people from falling into the street. Thanks to a $45,000 grant from the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, stakeholders will be able to help 15 people at risk of losing their housing like Mr. Bussières.