A new study found the share of Quebec rental units costing $1,100 or less fell sharply over the past three years. Vivre en Ville, a public-interest organization focused on housing and urban development, estimates that more than 300,000 rental units had effectively disappeared from that lower-price range since 2023. “Prices and rents don’t go down, especially not in that bracket. These are truly units that will not be back — they’re gone for good,” said Alana La Rosa-Dancoste, a housing coordinator with the group. The $1,100 threshold is not a definition of affordability, La Rosa-Dancoste explained. Vivre en Ville uses it as a benchmark based on the distribution of rents in its study. In 2023, units at or below that price represented the 75th percentile of rents surveyed. That figure had fallen to the 56th percentile in 2026, meaning the share of units below the threshold had dropped by 19 percentage points. The study, conducted with polling firm Léger, also found the average Quebec rent had increased from about $930 a month in 2023 to $1,170 this year. ‘Almost unheard of’ in Verdun The rising costs are being felt by tenants and housing advocacy groups in Montreal. Lyn O’Donnell, a community organizer with the Citizen Action Committee of Verdun (CAVC,) said finding an apartment for around $1,100 in the Montreal neighbourhood is increasingly difficult. “Today, people feel lucky when they find an apartment around that price,” she said. “It’s almost unheard of here [in Verdun.]” Meanwhile, Vivre en Ville found that one in five Quebec renters, or 21 per cent, had difficulty paying their rent. That proportion rises to 29 per cent among people earning less than $20,000 a year, 34 per cent among single-parent families and 49 per cent among people who had previously experienced homelessness. “It tells us that people are struggling and will most likely continue to struggle,” La Rosa-Dancoste said. The impact of rising rents, O’Donnell said, is visible among the tenants who seek help from her organization. “It’s not uncommon, for example, for a single mom to come in our office and say: ‘my landlord sent me $150 rent increase,’” she said. O’Donnell also said changes to Quebec’s rental rules in 2024 had made it easier for landlords to pass some renovation costs on to tenants, including, even, for cosmetic work. “That change really made it so that when there’s any work done in units, we see large increases,” she added. And for some tenants, she said, higher housing costs means cutting back elsewhere. “With the cost of everything increasing, I see a lot of people sacrificing on groceries and people not being able to buy a bus pass for their children,” said O’Donnell. She said some families are also living in increasingly crowded homes to avoid higher rents. “People are more and more often living in very crowded environments — especially with families that don’t have enough space,” added O’Donnell. “And for those who are living in situations of conjugal violence, it’s becoming even more and more difficult for them to leave these kinds of situations because where are they going to go?” Calls for a rent registry In response to its study, Vivre en Ville also raised concerns about the information available to tenants when they sign a lease or receive a rent increase. Nearly 80 per cent of renters surveyed did not know the previous rent listed on their lease. That information is included in the section commonly known as clause G and is intended to help tenants assess whether a proposed increase is justified. Changes made to the law in 2024 were intended to strengthen that protection. “This clause has been in place for 50 years, and some say it worked for a while, but now, it’s not being respected,” she said, adding that landlords still sometimes leave that information out — or list an incorrect amount — despite it being mandatory. “They brought the changes on two years ago and it hasn’t done anything — it hasn’t helped,” argued La Rosa-Dancoste. The group is instead calling for a public, mandatory rent registry that would give tenants access to more information about rental prices. The organization already operates its own voluntary registry, which reached 95,000 rent entries submitted by tenants. “It really goes to show the solidarity between people and how willing they are to engage in the process,” La Rosa-Dancoste said. “Especially as they see themselves and others struggle in this affordability and housing crisis.” The study found 82 per cent of people surveyed supported the idea of a rent registry. O’Donnell said the debate should also consider what is actually meant by an “affordable” rental. “Often, when politicians talk about affordability, they’re looking at market value but that doesn’t reflect what people are able to pay,” she said. “Affordability isn’t just what we’re able to pay, it’s what we should be paying. Because why is so much of our income going towards rent?”
