Montreal's emergency housing jumps to 71 households as affordability crisis deepens
A week after moving day, nearly double last year's number of households are in temporary city-funded accommodation as housing costs continue to climb.
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Seventy-one households in Montreal remain in emergency housing a week after Quebec's moving day on July 1, nearly double the 40 households that needed similar help a year ago.
Most were left without homes in the lead-up to the move, and the city is now paying for rooms in hotels and units run by community organizations. "It's always catastrophic, the fact that we have 71 households in emergency accommodations," said Rouzier Métellus, director of social and community development at Montreal's housing authority, the Office municipal d'habitation de Montréal. "It's people who, on the personal level, can't find a network, or their network can't support them anymore."
The spike arrives against a backdrop of worsening affordability. A recent study by RBC Economics found that Montreal's housing affordability measure hasn't been as bad since 1990 — and for the first time in 16 years, condos in Montreal are less affordable than those in Toronto.
The city's emergency accommodations are free for two months, then determined case-by-case. The housing authority helps residents search for permanent housing, though there's no official cap on stay duration. Métellus said the agency aims to find people permanent homes within a few months.
For Véronique Laflamme, a spokesperson for a housing rights non-profit, the use of emergency housing reflects a positive: at least people are being sheltered rather than facing homelessness. But she emphasized the need for more affordable permanent solutions, including social housing. According to Jayne Malenfant, an assistant professor at McGill University, part of the crisis stems from tenant protections that have been weakened in recent years — protections that historically kept Montreal cheaper than Toronto and Vancouver.
