Montreal’s social housing is under threat

The CAQ government killed Quebec’s social housing program, AccèsLogis. Montrealers are concerned for the future of social housing in the city, with nearly 24 thousand Montrealers on a waiting list to access social housing. At the same time, non-profit organizations are on the hook for bills required to complete housing projects under the old program.

Non-profit organization Brick by Brick, which builds affordable housing in Parc-Extension, told Local 514 they’re now on the hook for unpaid bills for social housing developments created under AccèsLogis.

Abuhani explained that they are not given money to build social housing ahead of the project. 

"Our project was due to start construction this year and we cannot proceed," he said. "It doesn't seem like big deal, but is."

Abhuani said permits will not wait until the project restarts, they expire. He also said it takes a lot of time and money to develop projects. In the development phase they have to pay pay engineers, architects, developers, experts and lawyers in order to get green light from the government.

"The government doesn't give us money to develop projects, we have to develop projects bit by bit and every time we reach a milestone – we get reimbursed," said Abhuani. 

"Even though we're developing an $11 million project, we don't have that kind of money to absorb the costs and to write them off. We have liabilities like bills that are unpaid. I'm afraid that my organization is going to have a bad credit score or going to lose its reputation because it's not going to pay its professionals and it's going to impact the projects we have running now. "It's going to impact our relationship with the bank, it's going to impact any future projects that we have. Not only is the way the government shutting down [AccèsLogis] problematic for future projects, it's problematic for existing projects."

AccèsLogis will be replaced by the Société d’Habitation du Québec. The new program requires developers to allocate 30% of their builds as affordable housing, however, developers are only enforced to keep these prices affordable for only 10 years. This means in a decade, we may be in a greater crisis of accessing affordable housing than we are now.

Abhuani would not disclose how much, but said it’s not an amount Brick by Brick could afford.

AccesLogis has been the main source of financing for social housing in Quebec since 1997. But in late February, the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau announced the end of AccesLogis. She said there IS provincial money for social housing – but that with AccesLogis, these projects aren’t being built fast enough. 

Under the Société d’habitation du Québec, there are currently no new low-rental housing projects being built. The program was announced by the government in 2021. 

In Montreal, there are nearly 23,700 people waiting on a list to access low income housing. In the whole province, the number is around 37,600.

Social housing advocates and organizations fear for the future of Montreal’s affordable housing and access to housing for low income people.

Catherine Lussier, community organizer for housing rights group Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU), told Local 514 that under the housing program replacing AccèsLogis, affordable housing is not guaranteed after 10 years. 

"The private sector has no interest in offering low income housing," said Lussier. She said that after ten years, the developers can increase pricing as they want, and this was not allowed under AccèsLogis. "This leads to a shorter time of affordable housing."

Lussier said the new program, the Société d'habitation du Québec, leaves the private sector to solve housing crisis in Quebec.

The City of Montreal plans to continue to build social housing, while hoping for financial support from the provincial government. 

Montreal by-law requires the city to be a “mixed metropolis”, called “20-20-20” –  meaning developers must include 20% social housing, 20% affordable housing and 20% family housing in their projects.  

But the 20% dedicated to affordable housing isn’t really affordable in the long term. If the initial buyer resells they can put the price at market value, meaning there’s an incentive to buy and pocket the difference. 

Just how affordable are social housing units for tenants?

The prices vary by different types of social units. There's subsidized housing, affordable rental housing and non subsidized housing. For subsidized housing, tenants are required to put 25% of their income towards low income housing. They will also have to pay for electricity and, if applicable, air conditioning and parking. If a household earns $800 a month, they’ll be paying $200 for their rent, plus added fees.

Will the way social housing is set up in Montreal change? 

The city said the land provided by developers and acquired by the City for the construction of social housing will still be built with the 20-20-20 by-law being applied. However, the Plante administration has not provided any details of how this will be carried out without AccèsLogis.

The City of Montreal did not respond to Local 514's request for an interview.

Are you concerned about the state of access to affordable housing in Montreal? Let us know below in the comments.