The Government of Quebec must clarify its intentions regarding the future of the AccèsLogis program, which has funded the construction of social and community housing in the province for 25 years, says the official opposition at Montreal City Hall.
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The arrival of the new Quebec Affordable Housing Program amplifies the vagueness about the future of AccèsLogis, which finances the construction of social housing.
The Ensemble Montréal party will table an emergency motion at the next meeting of the city council, next Monday, so that the elected officials of the metropolis inform the Government of Quebec of their wish that this program be maintained and that new sums be allocated to it. in the next provincial budget.
This request comes two weeks after the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest, announced the creation of the Quebec Affordable Housing Program. The government has therefore earmarked an envelope of $200 million for this purpose and mentioned the construction of 2,000 affordable housing units within the next year.
As for the AccèsLogis program created in 1997, which has a Montreal branch, “it remains in place in order to allow the continuation of the projects already started”, indicates the press release of the Legault government broadcast on February 3. A statement that, according to Ensemble Montreal, “ [laisse] imply the possibility that new funds will not be allocated to it”, indicates the motion of the party, that The duty was able to consult.
“We think that these are ambiguous answers that push the need to have this motion”, supports the spokesperson for housing for Ensemble Montreal, Sonny Moroz. Otherwise, “we are afraid of certain impacts that this could have on access to social housing”, when more than 23,000 households are on a waiting list to obtain social housing managed by the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal, adds the councilor for the district of Snowdon.
“We must not forget the importance of social housing in tackling the housing crisis,” recalls Mr. Moroz.
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A second Liberal MP criticizes Justin Trudeau’s crisis management
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Called to react on the sidelines of a press conference at City Hall on Thursday, Mayor Valérie Plante said she had discussed the matter with Finance Minister Eric Girard. “What we want is for there to be [logements sociaux] that are being built, that there are sums”, she indicated, while showing herself open to “multiplying the tools” to do this.
Minister Laforest’s office, for its part, refused to comment on the content of the next Quebec government budget “at this stage”, while ensuring that the AccèsLogis program “is still in place” and was recently renewed. “We must see the new Quebec Affordable Housing Program as a vehicle that is there to help increase the supply of affordable housing in Quebec more quickly,” added Minister’s attaché Bénédicte Trottier Lavoie.
Raising of shields
The nebulous future of the AccèsLogis program is also worrying many community groups, who have urged the Quebec government in recent days to clarify its position. The Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment and the Network for the Assistance of Single and Homeless People in Montreal pointed out in particular that the new affordable housing program announced two weeks ago aimed to create rentable housing at the median rent in regions where they would be fitted out. However, the rent may be too high for many low-income people, apprehend the two organizations. Residents of social housing allocate 25% of their income to rent.
“There is more and more the impression that in secret, the [Coalition avenir Québec] is in the process of destroying a key element of the Quebec model, which is to have social housing, non-profit housing in Quebec”, declared last Saturday at the Homework Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. The Parti Québécois and the Liberal Party of Quebec also raised concerns on the sidelines of the announcement of the Legault government’s new affordable housing program.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will also publish its report on the state of the rental market in the main regions of the country for the year 2021 on Friday. In 2020, the vacancy rate had doubled on the island of Montreal, from 1.6% to 3.2%, partly due to the drop in immigration and the arrival of foreign students in the context of the health crisis. A situation that did not prevent rents to climb at a record paceespecially those in unoccupied dwellings.