Nearly one-third of Quebec's social housing units need major repairs
About 21,500 homes languish in disrepair as inflation outpaces the pace of renovations, advocates warn.
Nearly one-third of Quebec's social housing units — roughly 21,500 homes — are in a state of disrepair, according to new data on the province's affordable housing stock.
Social housing is owned by the provincial government and sets rents at 25 per cent of renters' household income, making it a lifeline for people on fixed or low incomes. The problem: renovation budgets aren't keeping pace with inflation, and the backlog is growing.
Out of about 74,000 total social housing units across the province, 21,500 need renovations. That's homes with broken heating systems, leaky roofs, failing plumbing — conditions that make daily life harder for people who can least afford to move. Advocates worry that without significant new funding, the gap between units that need fixing and units that get fixed will only widen.