On Quebec’s traditional moving day, hundreds of renters are still looking for a home

It’s moving day in Quebec, and hundreds of provincial residents are still looking for a home.

“I think just the preparation and then finding the right movers and getting timing done on time and because you’re in and out. A lot of July 1st movers, a lot of people coming in and out July 1st so just having that cross paths sometimes is pretty a little stressful,” said Rayvhaun Dougan-Gordon , who is moving in Côte Saint-Luc.

For Romy Bacani and his roommate, their move has not gone as planned as they had to wait with their furniture and boxes on the side of the road.

“Once we got here the tenants haven’t even left yet so we’re a little we’re a little stressed because we’re stuck out here,” said Bacani.

For others like Marc-André Breton, the day is going more smoothly with help from family.

“They helped me move, they helped me with all the furniture, so I’m pretty lucky, but indeed I think for many people it’s a very stressful day,” he explained.

“Me and my parents have a truck and a trailer so it was just normal to help him help him today,” said Émilie Breton, who is from St-Hyacinthe and helping her brother move.

Not everyone is moving within or to Montreal, some have decided to leave the city for an upgrade in housing. 

“We’re moving to Longueuil and we’re moving to a house and the thing is it’s way cheaper to move to Longueuil obviously than to Montreal to live in a house,” said Kirk Koshkin, who is moving from Notre-Dame-de Grâce to Longueuil.

A Montreal housing advocacy group says there are still nearly 1,300 households in the province looking for help to find a place to live, including 147 in Montreal.

July 1 is the day when most Quebec leases expire, but advocates say a growing number of people are struggling to find a place they can afford.

Rents have spiked in Quebec in recent years, and rental availability has dropped.

According to the rental website Zumper, their ‘Canadian Rental Report’ published in June shows that the average price of rent for a one-bedroom apartment on active listings in Montreal is just over $1,700 dollars.

This represents an increase of about 9.5 per cent since the same period last year based on their rental data of active listings in the city. For a two-bedroom apartment, Zumper says the average price is more than $2,200 dollars a month — a 6.2 per cent increase since 2023. 

“The increase for us this year was probably about 300 dollars for rent just looking for a place same size and everything and same around the same area,” said Dougan-Gordon.

Quebec Premier François Legault has blamed temporary immigrants for the province’s housing crisis, but advocates say the solution is more social housing and better rent control.

The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Montreal rose by nearly eight per cent in 2023.

“Before me and my roommates were paying $1,400 together now we’re paying around $1,500 together it’s not horrible but it’s not the best thing in the world right now but I used to live in Vancouver so it’s I can’t really complain that much,” said Bacani.

-With files from the Canadian Press