July 1st promises to be less busy than usual

July 1st when moving trucks invade the streets of Quebec may soon be a thing of the past. With the shortage of affordable housing plaguing the province, “moving day” is looking less busy than usual this year.

This year, there are fewer address changes and they are occurring in the days before or after the Canada Day holiday, movers note.

Today, people no longer want to move. With the housing crisis, before moving, they will think twicebelieves the co-owner of Clan Panneton, Pierre-Olivier Cyr.

Never has the number of moves been so low in the province, according to data from the Institut de la statistique du Québec. In 2023, some 658,000 people changed addresses, or 7.8% of the population. This rate was 10.3% just four years ago.

Instead of making a big splash on July 1st, the movers’ work schedule is instead spread out over several days.

Since there are a lot of moves paid for by the owners and they do not want to pay the July 1st rates, they find agreements with their tenants so that they move a week or two before or afterinterprets M. Cyr.

But with just two days to go until July 1, some households are still far from planning their move. Across the province, some 1,300 households are still looking for housing, according to data from the Société d’habitation du Québec.

The reality could be even worse, warned Cédric Dussault, spokesperson for the Regroupement des comités logement et des associations de locataires du Québec (RCLAQ), in an interview with First the information. According to him, these data are conservativebecause many homeless people have still not applied for emergency assistance.

The number of households looking for accommodation is much more important this year, especially outside of Montrealhe adds.

Even if there are fewer moves, the situation is still catastrophic and will not cease to be so until we tackle the increase in rents and evictions, according to him. At a press conference Thursday alongside other community organizations, he asked the Legault government to form a transpartisan committee that would tackle the root causes of the housing crisis.

In Montreal, 242 households are currently being supported at various levels by the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM). The demand for emergency housing is increasing: 32 households are currently being housed temporarily, there were 26 on Friday and 21 on Thursday.

Helping Hand from the Owners

At 1.3%, the current vacancy rate in Quebec is the lowest in 20 years. As for the average rent, it has increased by 17% in two years. In the past year, rent increases have outpaced both inflation and wage growth, reports the SCHL.

We see what is happening and we don’t want to stay on the sidelines.explained the president of the Corporation of Real Estate Owners of Quebec (CORPIQ), Éric Sansoucy.

For the first time in its history, the Corporation asked its 30,000 member owners to submit housing that could qualify to the Municipal Housing Offices. Some 800 homes relatively affordable have been made available to tenants, who will be able to pay their rent with housing assistance programs.

On Monday, the offices of the CORPIQ will be open to take calls from member and non-member owners, Mr. Sansoucy assures. A brigade made up of members of the board of directors and employees of the CORPIQ will travel the streets of Montreal to lend a hand where it will be useful.

With information from Aimée Lemieux and The Canadian Press