Housing advocates demand moratorium as repossessions triple in a decade across Quebec

Housing advocates are calling for extending the eviction moratorium law as the number of repossessions by landlords in the province triples in 12 years, according to a study by the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ).

The findings by the tenant’s rights group, released Monday during a press conference, based on data from Quebec’s Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL) showed that repossessions reached a historic high in the province in recent years.

The study covering 2019 to 2023 also showed that TAL approved nearly two-thirds of repossession requests during that period leading to more than 2,200 units going off the rental market, with the majority being affordable housing units long occupied by the same tenants, according to RCLALQ.

“The TAL treats homeowners and tenants differently, generally to the advantage of the former,” said Renaud Goyer, a researcher at the Collectif de recherche et d’action sur l’habitat (CRACH).

“Evictions disproportionately affect people who have been rooted in their communities for years, often in housing with rents below the market average. This is no coincidence, but rather proof that our legislative model is synonymous with housing insecurity,” Goyer added.

RCLALQ said that its analysis of repossession data for the years 2019, 2021 and 2023 showed that the requests approved by TAL were highest in the month of March, and remained higher in the months leading up the July 1 moving day, a trend which the group calls a “season of repossessions.”

Majority of the repossessions were also noticed in the Greater Montreal, the region with the highest population as well as the region with highest concentration of renters in the province.

In 2019, TAL offices in Greater Montreal approved 494 of the 746 requests, while in 2021 and 2023 they were at 676 and 845 approved requests respectively.

RCLALQ notes that while the number of evictions have declined due to Bill 65 which banned evictions for three years between 2024 and 2027, repossessions reached historic highs between 2021 and 2026.

The tenant rights group says that was because the current moratorium law do not cover repossessions.

“The right to evict is an exception to the right to remain in the premises,” said Jean-Christophe Bureau, community organizer at RCLALQ.

“But the moratorium leaves a huge loophole: repossessions are not covered. Landlords have understood this well, we have understood this well, and the government should understand it too!”

RCLALQ is calling on Quebec Housing Minister Karine Boivin-Roy to expand Bill 65 to include repossessions.