With Quebec’s moving day fast approaching, more than 2,000 households across the province are still searching for housing — 320 more than at the same time last year, according to the province’s housing corporation.
Advocacy groups say they are bracing for more emergency calls.
“There’s been a lot more evictions, cases of repossessions,” said Lyn O’Donnell, with the Citizen Action Committee of Verdun.
“People are not only dealing with eviction. They’re also dealing with the fact that they’ve received rent increases that, you know, like your average person just can’t afford.”
In Montreal alone, some 270 have asked for help, the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ) says. Advocates warn the number is misleading.
“That’s just what’s reported, right? So there’s so much invisible homelessness involved in that. That even includes families with children,” O’Donnell said.
The city says help is available by calling 311.
“We have enough resources, enough budget to help you find a new dwelling,” said Philippe Sabourin, City of Montreal spokesperson.
“We can also offer temporary resources or a temporary dwelling. We also have some resources for the storage if it’s required.”
Help is also available through the SHQ and some people may be eligible for a rent supplement.
But housing advocates say these resources are far from enough.
“Housing is scarce, first of all. And also the program is mostly for low-income households,” O’Donnell said. “And you have to have lived on the island of Montreal for the past 12 months and you have to have used up all of your own resources.”
O’Donnell said all of these measures are only temporary. The real solution is making more affordable housing available.
Housing advocacy group Le Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) says the increasing number of households in search of a home is due to the scarcity of affordable housing in the province.
The SHQ says that of the 1,989 households at risk of homelessness, 473 are already in temporary accommodations, such as with family, friends or in a hotel.
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The regions with the highest number of cases include Lanaudière (294), Montreal (269) and Montérégie (235).
Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for FRAPRU, said people are often hoping for a solution up until July 1, and then come forward looking for help soon after. She said some end up in their cars or camping.
Although rehousing assistance is available throughout the province, the measures offered to tenants vary greatly from one region to another, said Laflamme.
Not all municipalities offer the Quebec-backed rehousing assistance program like the one in Montreal, which provides temporary accommodations, moving and storage.
The housing shortage is easing slightly across the province, with the housing vacancy rate at 1.8 per cent in 2024, up from 1.3 per cent in 2023, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
But this improvement does not translate into greater affordability, Laflamme said.
In Montreal last year, the vacancy rate for units under $1,150 was less than one per cent. This compares to more than five per cent for units priced at a minimum of $1,675, which likely includes many recently built rental apartments, according to CMHC data.
New data from Statistics Canada, released Wednesday, also shows soaring prices for available housing. The asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Montreal was $1,930 in the first quarter of 2025 — a 70.8 per cent increase from 2019.
In Montreal, the average rent increase was 18.7 per cent in 2024 for apartments that changed tenants, compared to 4.7 per cent for dwellings where a lease was renewed, according to the CMHC.
Since 2018, rents have jumped 47 per cent for all apartments in the province, according to a compilation by FRAPRU based on data from the CMHC.
To address this unaffordability, FRAPRU urges Quebec to double the number of social housing units in the rental stock within 15 years, which would involve the construction of at least 10,000 new social housing units per year.
The government has adopted a national housing strategy and set a target of 56,000 rental units per year — but no target for social housing, laments Laflamme.
Even for tenants who are not moving this year, the situation is far from ideal, as many are facing steep rent increases, said Laflamme.
The average rent increase suggested by Quebec’s housing tribunal was 5.9 per cent for 2025.
“This year’s lease renewal period has been extremely difficult,” said Laflamme, citing a large number of callers looking for ways to mitigate rent increases.
