FRAPRU plans week of protests over housing crisis

A building with ‘For Rent’ and ‘For Sale’ signs in Montreal, Oct. 1, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi)

The Montreal-based housing advocate - FRAPRU (Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain)- is again calling on the Legault government to tackle the housing crisis.

The organization estimates that the number of social housing units would need to double over 15 years — meaning at least 10,000 new units would have to be built each year.

July 1st is fast approaching, and every year, hundreds of people across Quebec find themselves without housing, a number that continues to rise.

Last year, the day after moving day, there were 1,667 renters without housing or looking for housing, accompanied by a rehousing assistance service, according to FRAPPU’s report.

To raise awareness among decision-makers, the organization is launching a week of mobilizations, with about 15 actions planned by housing committees that are members of FRAPRU.

Protests, public debates, and occupations of land and buildings are on the agenda this week, including in Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Rouyn-Noranda, Rimouski, and Gatineau.

The first event will take place on Monday afternoon in Montreal, in the Parc-Extension sector, on land acquired by the City of Montreal for social housing purposes.

The action committee wants to highlight the discrepancy between the needs of the neighbourhood and the lack of assistance provided by the Quebec government.

The 2025-2026 budget did not earmark any money for new non-profit housing units, which, according to FRAPPU, undermines the predictability needed to get new projects off the ground.

The organization says Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau is “raising the affordability thresholds for projects funded by Quebec, now allowing projects with median rents as high as 150 per cent of market rent in order to minimize the province’s financial contribution.”

In a press release, FRAPRU spokesperson Véronique Laflamme condemned the fact that public subsidies were being replaced “by support from private backers, philanthropy or by rents stuck to the private market.”

“We refuse to see scarce public funds contributing to the normalization of unaffordability when the urgency is obvious.” she says.

Laflamme points out that social housing has “finally” been built in recent months, but she is concerned about the sustainability of the projects announced.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French May 19, 2025.