Montreal mayoral candidate says it was an ‘honest mistake’ her tenant was asked to pay illegal deposit
Posted May 12, 2025 2:04 pm.
Last Updated May 12, 2025 2:09 pm.
The leader of Ensemble Montréal says it was an “honest mistake” that her tenant was asked to pay a deposit on appliances, something that is illegal in Quebec.
Soraya Martinez Ferrada admitted she accepted a $1,000 deposit from her tenant for the purchase of appliances in the rental home. She says the rental was handled by a real estate agent.
The mayoral candidate says both she and her tenant had entirely forgotten about the deposit until it came up in a report by the Journal de Montréal. Martinez Ferrada says she immediately repaid the money.
“I take full responsibility for it and I have corrected the situation,” Martinez Ferrada told reporters in a press availability during which she repeated the terms “honest mistake” multiple times.
Martinez Ferrada, who is campaigning as the “mayor of housing,” was previously a parliamentary secretary to Canada’s housing minister for nearly two years – from 2021 to 2023.
“I cannot claim to know all the jurisdictions of all the provinces when you are the parliamentary secretary for housing, and we are not the ones who make the laws in each of the provinces. Once again, no one can ignore the law,” she said.
The Ensemble Montréal leader used the situation as an example of problematic practices regarding housing in the city.
“Even today, there are many people in Montreal who still engage in this practice, who are not even aware that it is a practice, that it should not be done,” she said. “And I am the first to say that it is an honest mistake. I corrected the situation, I corrected the error. And today, I am the first to denounce it. The housing crisis is very real. And I will continue to say that it is a housing crisis and I will continue to say that I will be the mayor of housing.”
