Housing protesters call for outright ban of Airbnb, other short-term rental companies in Quebec

"Tenants are being kicked out of apartments," says Annie Lapalme of the housing committee in Montreal's Hochelaga, denouncing Airbnb's presence in the neighbourhood. Hundreds protested calling on Quebec to tighten rules. Alyssia Rubertucci reports.

Hundreds marched through Montreal’s Hochelaga neighbourhood Friday calling for restrictions and even an outright ban of short-term rentals companies like Airbnb in Quebec.

The protesters say those companies, and real estate speculation in general, are contributing to the housing shortage in the province.

The rally was held three days before Moving Day in Quebec.

“It definitely takes away from the housing stock,” said Lyn O’Donnell, a community organizer and intervention worker at the Citizen Action Committee of Verdun (CACV). “We already have a lack of social housing, let alone just general housing that’s on the private market that’s somewhat accessible to your everyday person.”

Housing protest in Montreal’s Hochelaga neighbourhood on June 28, 2024. (Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews)

“Stealing a lot of apartments from the rental market,” added Annie Lapalme with Entraide Logement Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. “Tenants are being evicted to do Airbnb. And this is why we are here today, because it’s unacceptable that tenants are being kicked out of the apartment, sometimes after 55 years of living in the apartment, in order to run a business and rent an apartment like about $800, $900 per night.”

Some protesters said short-term rental companies could be allowed in some areas of the city, but not everywhere.

“They shouldn’t be anywhere near here,” said Hochelaga resident Claudette Lapierre. “I don’t mind having them in the middle of the city where a lot of tourists are coming in, but not in our area.”

Housing protest in Montreal’s Hochelaga neighbourhood on June 28, 2024. (Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews)

After a fire last year in Old Montreal killed seven people, the Quebec government and the City of Montreal said they were cracking down on illegal short-term rentals, as most of the units in that building were said to be on Airbnb without proper authorization.

READ: Remembering the victims, striving for justice on 1-year anniversary of Old Montreal Fire

The tragedy spurred an overhaul of the industry, with Quebec passing a law requiring registration numbers on listings.

O’Donnell says it’s far from a perfect system.

“We even see speculators using the same registration numbers for multiple listings under different owners,” she said. “It’s very easy to bypass these rules. So it’s really disappointing because people lost their lives through this negligence.”

Housing protest in Montreal’s Hochelaga neighbourhood on June 28, 2024. (Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews)

In Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, short-term rentals for commercial use are illegal and are only allowed for residents renting their primary home.

“What we are seeing is landlords are lying, they’re saying it’s their principal residence, which is not the case and they’re renting full-time on Airbnb,” Lapalme said. “But the municipality tells us it’s Quebec that has to apply the law, but Quebec doesn’t do anything.”

More than $1.5 million in fines have been handed out since April 2023 to Montrealers who offered their accommodations on Airbnb without complying with the law.

Housing protest in Montreal’s Hochelaga neighbourhood on June 28, 2024. (Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews)

“The amount of fines should be astronomical because we know that little fines doesn’t stop speculation,” O’Donnell said. “It becomes the cost of doing business. We want to see big fines.

“We see other places like New York, San Francisco, coming down with some pretty solid Airbnb bans, and we see no reason why that can’t happen here in Montreal, in Quebec.”

In a statement to CityNews, a spokesperson for Airbnb says restricting short-term rentals will not solve the housing crisis.

“Despite a significant decrease in the number of short-term rentals in Montreal and across Quebec, rent continues to increase in the double digits. The reality is that short-term rentals represent less than one per cent of the overall housing supply,” they say.

Advocates say they also want Quebec to change the law to let municipalities have the right to ban short-term rental companies on their territories.

But in a statement to CityNews, Quebec’s Tourism Ministry says “municipalities have the powers allowing them to regulate tourist accommodation on their territory. … They are able to determine on their territory, through zoning, what uses and, consequently, what types of tourist accommodation establishments they authorize, limit or regulate.

“The municipality must carry out checks before issuing its notice of conformity in order to ensure, depending on the type of accommodation declared, that it complies with its regulations.”

The Ministry adds Revenu Québec inspectors are on the ground to implement the rules.

Housing protest in Montreal’s Hochelaga neighbourhood on June 28, 2024. (Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews)

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