Asphyxiated by the cost of her rent, a young woman from Quebec plans to return to sharing with five people to try to give herself some oxygen.
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“It’s a choice that I made, in particular because the feeling of community that we can create with others is important to me. But financially, I couldn’t have afforded anything else,” explains Marie-Ève Fortier, 30, in an interview.
For two years, she has been paying rent of a little more than $1,200 per month for a five-room apartment.
“There are worse things on the market, but for a single person, it’s expensive,” she whispers. I managed to find cheaper, but that means going to live with five other people.”
Worry
If Marie-Ève Fortier considered this option, it is also due to a back injury which has prevented her from working since March 2023.
“My disability insurance is about to expire, and I don’t know if I will be able to work many hours when I start working again,” she emphasizes. That worries me.”
According to the latest rental market report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the average rent for two-bedroom apartments was $1,040 in Quebec and $1,096 in Montreal, which represents increases of 4.8 % and 7.9% compared to the previous year.
