Bill 65 tabled Wednesday by Quebec Minister responsible for Housing France-Élaine Duranceau prohibits evictions for a period of three years or until the vacancy rate passes the 3% threshold.
Evictions will be prohibited for changes in use of subdivisions or expansions, but owners retain the right to take back housing for themselves or a member of their family.
The measure will come into force when the bill is assented to, likely by the end of the parliamentary session on June 7.
Protection for 24,000 additional senior households
The government is also expanding protection for senior tenants, which will affect 24,000 households in Quebec.
It was already prohibited to evict a low-income elderly person aged 70 and over who had rented for ten years. Bill 65 raises the eligibility age to 65 and slightly increases the eligibility income. Protection now concerns people whose income corresponds to up to 125% of the eligible income for low-income housing (HLM). This is the equivalent of $38,000 for a one-bedroom apartment in Montreal or $24,500 in Mauricie.
With these changes, the government is largely moving closer to the Québec solidaire bill to broaden the scope of the Françoise David law. However, he did not accept his request to reduce the required presence in the apartment to be protected from ten to five years.
No impact on this year’s leases
However, the bill will have little impact in view of July 1. As Laurier-Dorion MP Andrés Fontecilla (Québec solidaire) noted Wednesday morning, “the eviction season is over.” Indeed, to evict a tenant, the owner must send him a notice of eviction six months before the end of his lease, i.e. December 31, six months before December 1er July, he recalled.
More details will follow.
