Quebec housing minister tables bill putting 3-year pause on certain evictions
Tenants' rights group says moratorium is 'the minimum' ministry could do
Quebec's housing minister has tabled a bill banning certain types of evictions for the next three years, or until the vacancy rate for the province's urban centres reaches three per cent.
France-Élaine Duranceau tabled Bill 65 Wednesday at the National Assembly in Quebec City, which would prevent landlords from evicting a tenant to subdivide a dwelling, enlarge it or change its use. Municipalities can request to be exempt from the moratorium.
Repossessions with the purpose of having a landlord's family move in would still be allowed if the bill is adopted.
The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government hopes to pass the bill into law by the end of this parliamentary session, June 7. To prevent a rush in evictions, the moratorium will be applied retroactively to notices sent after May 22 if the law is passed this session.
Duranceau's Bill 31, which passed in February, was heavily criticized for a provision effectively ending lease transfers, a tool seen by many as having helped keep rent affordable in the province.
Duranceau stresses that law was meant to "modernize the relationship between landlords and tenants" and increase housing stock. In the meantime, it's important to take steps to protect vulnerable tenants, Duranceau said at a news conference Wednesday.
She said Bill 65 is focused on real estate speculators.
Parti Québécois housing critic Joël Arseneau told journalists at the National Assembly Wednesday he believes Duranceau is trying to save her image and "prove she can do something good."
Arseneau said the housing minister "hasn't done much" to protect tenants.
He said his party will support Bill 65 because it contains PQ policy ideas. The Liberal Party said it will wait for the bill to be studied.
Protection for seniors
Bill 65 also seeks to expand a protection for low-income seniors, as opposition party Québec Solidaire tried to do last year but was shut down by the CAQ. Two QS MNAs, Andrés Fontecilla and Christine Labrie, worked with Duranceau to draft Bill 65.
Seniors 65 and over would be protected from evictions and repossessions if they have lived in their dwelling for at least 10 years and their income is at 125 per cent or lower of the level eligible for subsidized housing. This protection, commonly known as the "Françoise David law," is currently in place for seniors 70 and older who are eligible for subsidized housing.
The expansion of the Françoise David law would be permanent and would protect 24,000 households from potential eviction, many of whom are single women, said Duranceau.
"We [QS] asked for a moratorium in 2019. I'm sure if we had acted then we wouldn't be in the current housing crisis," said Labrie.
"For years I felt like I was talking to a wall, but our arguments have finally sunk in, and that motivates us."
Cédric Dussault, a spokesperson for the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ), agrees with Labrie and says the moratorium on evictions — which RCLALQ recommended during Bill 31 public consultations — is "the minimum."
He says the government will need to pair the ban on evictions with limitations on fraudulent repossessions and rent-control measures like a rent cap and registry.
Martin Messier, the president of the Quebec Landlords Association, said the government is approaching landlords in "a bad way" and should instead implement more social security measures like rent subsidies.
Landlords already dealt with changes to eviction indemnities with Bill 31, and further restricting evictions will "discourage investors," he said.
"It sends the message to investors that if you invest in Quebec you'll be targeted to basically do what the government should do and financially support the society, the elderly and persons in need," he said.
"We should support those people, but not landlords specifically. We should do that as a society by financial aid."
'Exceptional measures'
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data shows that the vacancy rate in Quebec's major urban centres has been going down since 2021, and as of 2023 was just slightly above one per cent.
"I think we can all agree it's an exceptional situation that requires exceptional measures," said Duranceau.
Duranceau said the "real solution" to the housing crisis is to increase the available stock, "which doesn't happen overnight."
She acknowledged that some landlords might see the high demand for housing as an opportunity to evict their tenant and rent at a higher price. But because of the short supply, there's an increased risk of homelessness for those evicted.
"We want to send a message: We're not touching the housing stock anymore," she said.
Duranceau said an increase in temporary residents is partially to blame for the housing crisis and called on the federal government to step in. A record 560,000 non-permanent residents moved to Quebec in 2023, according to a new report by the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ).
"We are suggesting a pause to allow the housing market to absorb the demand while we build more units," she said.
Labrie pushed back against Duranceau blaming immigration for the housing crisis, saying ongoing speculation practices would have taken place "even without the influx of asylum seekers."
Dussault called Duranceau's comments on immigration "disgusting," "irresponsible," and "cowardly." RCLALQ has been sounding the alarm on the housing crisis for years, he said, long before the high immigration numbers Quebec saw last year.
He pointed out that in the Côte-Nord, where barely any immigrants settled, rent still went up by an average of 31 per cent. In the middle of the pandemic, when immigration was at its lowest, rents still skyrocketed, said Dussault.
"It has much more to do with speculation, with not controlling rents and not acting on evictions [sooner]. It has much more to do with this government and the government before weakening the rights of tenants," said Dussault.
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With files from Cathy Senay