2,100+ Households Still Hunting for Housing as July 1 Looms
More renters are scrambling to find affordable places than last year, even as vacancy rates tick up slightly across Quebec.
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Over 2,100 Quebec households were actively being assisted by housing search services as of Thursday, June 25 — more than the 1,989 households seeking help at the same time last year, according to the Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU).
The Montreal region alone had 279 households receiving active support in their search. In other regions, Montérégie had 407 households seeking assistance, while Lanaudière and Mauricie each had around 165-166.
Vacancy rates have risen in several areas: Montreal's metropolitan area saw vacancy reach 2.9% in 2025, up from 2.1% in 2024. Quebec City's rate climbed to 2.4%, up from 0.9% in 2024. But the improvement hasn't translated to relief for renters. "Housing units are being built, but they are so expensive that they are beyond the means of many tenants," FRAPRU spokesperson Véronique Laflamme said. In Montreal, the average rent for a two-bedroom unit was $1,346 in 2025, up 7.2% from the previous year.
Mauricie offers a telling case: despite the vacancy rate tripling from 0.9% to 2.7% between 2024 and 2025, more tenants sought assistance this year than last. "So really everywhere, there are tenants facing situations of great insecurity because they haven't found the housing they need," Laflamme said. She called on Quebec political parties to implement structural measures to address housing unaffordability ahead of a fall election campaign.