While the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) says Quebec’s rental market is easing, prices are still going up and are out of reach for many, especially in Montreal. The city’s vacancy rate went up from 2.1 per cent last year to 2.9 per cent – close to the three per cent typically considered to show a healthy housing market. The report published Thursday notes that an increase in completed new construction projects and the government admitting fewer international students and temporary workers contributed to the vacancy rate increases across the province. But that doesn’t mean there are more affordable units – quite the opposite, according to the CMHC’s data. Rents went up by 7.2 per cent, which the corporation attributes to record-high rent increases approved by the province’s Housing Tribunal (TAL). The TAL estimated the highest recorded average rent increase of 5.9 per cent for 2025. The average two-bedroom apartment in the city now goes for $1,346 per month, and the average two-bedroom condo costs $1,826 per month. The median rent is $1,852. In a growing trend, newer units with higher price tags are staying empty despite a marked increase in completed new construction projects. The report says “some landlords were offering incentives, such as rent-free months, to attract tenants” as a result. Raising rents illegally While most landlords raised rents by around 6 per cent, rents grew in occupied units at a far higher rate than wages – bringing down the overall affordable housing stock, the CMHC notes. And units that saw tenant turnover – of which there were fewer than last year – rents went up by 17.2 per cent. Housing advocacy group BAIL points out that the increase proves landlords are raising rents illegally between tenants. “This is by far the most rapid increase across the province. It’s extremely concerning,” said BAIL community organizer Felix Marois. “These are affordable apartments that are disappearing.” He added that Montreal is already seeing an explosion in homelessness as a result. The numbers are not surprising to housing advocates like FRAPRU’s Catherine Lussier. The group denounced the TAL’s rent increase estimation early this year, saying it would only exacerbate the housing crisis. “We can see now in this report the impact of these increases on the tenants, and obviously it’s a preoccupation for us,” Lussier told CTV News. Though former housing minister France-Élaine Duranceau adjusted how rent increases will be calculated moving forward, FRAPRU worries they could exceed this year’s 5.9 per cent. “It will kill the last affordability that you can find right now in Montreal, which is most of the time the ones that are occupied by tenants,” said Lussier. ‘Difficult’ five years The Corporation des propriétaires immobiliers du Québec says the new formula will be in line with inflation and could help cool the market. “Will it make a difference of a few dollars per month? Maybe, maybe not. But we won’t see those numbers at 5.9 per cent because the year before that, the inflation was very high,” said CORPIQ spokesperson Eric Sansoucy. He adds that the last five years have been “difficult for everybody,” and that young adults are choosing to stay home with their parents because rents have exploded. “So yes, we need things to cool down a bit and socially, all together, move forward,” Sansoucy said. The best solution, according to FRAPRU, is to immediately increase Quebec’s social housing stock – subsidized units set at 25 per cent of a tenant’s salary. Lussier says it could bring down prices and give more options to tenants who need to move but have “basically no options on the market.” Lussier says Quebec has been slacking, especially after the Legault government axed its social housing program in favour of an “affordable housing” fund available to private developers. Groups like FRAPRU and BAIL have been demanding the government increase its social housing stock, implement a rent registry and a rent cap for years. Marois stressed that simply building more private housing is a losing strategy. CORPIQ, on the other hand, is pushing for Quebec to adopt more rent subsidy programs to help people afford those empty units in the private sector. The Housing Ministry did not immediately respond to CTV News’ request for comment. The CMHC expects the pressure on affordable housing units to stay high as long as they remain scarce, and the housing crisis is far from being over.
