Montrealers brace for moving day: New data shows asking rents spike nearly 71 per cent

With Quebec’s moving day on July 1st approaching at a quick pace, nearly 2,000 Montrealers are reportedly still looking for housing. A new Statistics Canada report shows that Montreal asking rents are surging. They’ve increased by approximately 71 per cent since 2019, while it’s roughly doubled in some other Quebec cities.

Amy Darwish, co-coordinator of Comité D’action De Parc-Extension said that the rent spikes are unsurprising. She added that in the Park Extension neighbourhood, rent went up by around 16 per cent across all housing sizes over the last year.

“This is going to be a very difficult moving day for a lot of people but the housing crisis is now year round,” Darwish said. 

Darwish encourages longer term solutions like a rent freeze, rent control and more resources to social housing. 

“For many people this is going to be more than they can afford and there’s a real risk that people are going to find themselves losing their apartments.”

A few days before July 1st, the City of Montreal encourages citizens to keep the city clean, recycle what can be recycled, and manage their waste properly.

A shipping container by the circular and solidarity-based economy program Trash2Treasure has been set at the corner of Duluth and Esplanade Streets, at the south end of Jeanne-Mance Park. It contains second-hand furniture.

The container has been temporarily installed in Plateau-Mont-Royal so that residents from all boroughs can drop off working appliances, toys, or furniture they no longer use.

Laure Tapiero, spokesperson for the organization Sollicité, which set up the Trash2Treasure program, encourages Montrealers to use their initiative, as it might relieve the burden of moving day.

“There are options available in terms of three pieces of furniture and household items to maybe lessen the burden in terms of moving,” Tapiero said. “So that’s probably the best recommendation I could give.”

Philippe Sabourin, the City of Montreal’s administrative spokesperson, called on citizens to recycle what can be recycled but also to ensure proper waste sorting.

“At this time of year, we’ve completed the early-season efforts, and the city is clean. We want to maintain this cleanliness,” so during moving days, “we ask people to carefully sort the items they want to dispose of,” said Sabourin during a press conference on Thursday.

Sabourin says challenges for the city is to help those without any dwelling, and reminds Montrealers to stay clean while moving, as roads are often left dirty from movers.

“We have resources with the OMHM (Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal) to help you out finding a new dwelling,” he said. “By calling the 311 if you have needs, we will make sure you’re going to get some resources.”

Despite saying that the situation is comparable to last year – Sabourin says the City remains confident there is enough resources to help Montrealers on a short term basis.

‘That date has been traumatizing’

Emerson, a recent McGill university graduate, said that she’s currently being priced out of the city because of the rent spikes.

“My housing situation got a little chaotic so I ended up having to move pretty last minute,” she said. “It’s like you don’t have time to enjoy life. You’re so focused on surviving and keeping up with all your work that it’s stressful.”

“That date has been traumatizing and I feel like that’s the case for a lot of Montrealers,” she said.

“Every year that I’ve lived here for the past four years my rent has gone up and I know that that’s not just me I feel like that’s a pretty typical experience for like young Montrealers.”

Montreal resident Micah has lived in the Plateau neighbourhood for 15 years and said that “stability is hard to define but definitely in terms of the basics of one’s life.”

He explained that he used to pay $750 in rent at his previous place in 2017 before leaving for three years because of school. He came back two years ago looking for a place, and it’s skyrocketed to $1,700. 

“Having access to the food and shelter, when that becomes harder to access, then other things that make you feel like you’re growing or trying new things, that extra little income to have those kinds of things becomes less easy to access. So you’re more lodged in the grind,” he said.

“Realistically I would like to stay here and I do foresee myself living here again,” said Emerson. “[But] I know that just for my own financial security it’s probably better to save up some money at home just because of the increasing cost of living here.”

—With files from The Canadian Press, first published in French and translated by CityNews.