Quebec’s traditional moving day arrives as thousands still looking for new homes

More than 2,000 Quebec households are seeking help in finding new housing on the province’s traditional moving day.

Most residential leases in Quebec end June 30, resulting in a mass movement of trucks and people as residents simultaneously shift to new homes.

The provincial agency responsible for housing keeps a running tally of how many households have sought help in finding a new home.

It includes people who are getting help from housing groups, as well as people who are temporarily staying in hotels or with friends or family.

The list includes 2,022 active requests, including 285 in Montreal.

A recent Statistics Canada report found that asking rent in Montreal has risen by nearly 71 per cent since 2019.

In Montreal’s Parc-Extension, it was surprisingly quiet. This year, many tenants in Park Extension are facing rent increases of up to 16 per cent—a steep hike that’s adding even more pressure to an already difficult situation. 

“We found it pretty early, we were lucky but I know a lot of people are struggling and that the prices are extremely high and everyone’s getting kicked out of their apartment,” said Véronique St-Onge, Montreal resident.

“What we’re observing is just that people aren’t moving this year, it used to be in past years if your apartment was too small or wasn’t in good condition you could potentially move somewhere else under better conditions and that’s really no longer the case,” said Amy Darwish, coordinator at Comité d’Action de Parc-Extension (CAPE).

Every year, the lack of affordable housing is making things especially hard for hundreds of people trying to find a new place to live.

“It was complicated because this is Montreal and this is already always complicated to find an apartment but we searched a lot on Marketplace every day, like every day even a couple times per day,” said Alessy Blanchard,
Montreal resident.

“We’re trying to be present on the ground today to be able to reach tenants who might be in precarious situations,” said Darwish. “We did a multi-lingual poster tour of the neighborhood we have an information table here and then we just wrapped up a car tour of the neighborhood where we just drove up and down the streets to approach tenants who might be in precarious situations as of July 1st without a place to stay and perhaps in need of some support.

—With files from The Canadian Press