Montreal protesters demand rent control measures ahead of moving day

Protesters braved the rain Saturday afternoon and took to Montreal’s streets to demand rent control measures from the Quebec government.

Catherine Lowe was renovicted half a year ago from a unit she lived in for nine years. She said it was done in “such a terrible way” she not only lost her home and neighbourhood, but she was treated as if she “was not even a human person.”

She said the housing tribunal could not help her.

“I managed to find another apartment that I can barely afford,” she said. “Now they just want to keep increasing to the maximum.”

As an artist, she feels Montreal is becoming less accessible – and she worries what rent will look like in a couple of decades.

“People want art in the city, but they won’t want affordable housing,” she said. “For me, the crisis is not even about the housing market. It’s about having a heart and being a human and understanding that not everyone has the same financial capacity.”

Lowe said the government is closing its eyes in front of a major problem that is felt everywhere.

Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau set up a new formula to calculate rent hikes last month as tenants across the province are preparing for their highest increase in over 30 years.

She said it would “maintain a balance, [offer] greater predictability for tenants and landlords alike,” and that “by using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as an average over the last three years, we avoid major variations.”

But the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ), which represents the province’s tenant associations, wants the new regulation withdrawn and replaced with stronger protection for tenants.

The RCLALQ set up a petition to this effect which will soon be available on the National Assembly’s website.

Advocates and lawyers have criticized the new rules, saying the formula is flawed and would result in even higher rent increases in coming years.

They say that including general inflation in the calculations, when it already includes housing, creates a “vicious cycle” where each rent increase justifies further hikes the following year.

• READ MORE: ‘Impossible’ for Quebec to come up with proper rent hike formula, says Montreal lawyer

The new formula also allows landlords to factor in the cost of renovations even more.

“Essentially, if this regulation had been put in place, the rent increases would have been almost three times higher over the past few years, and we’re anticipating they’re going to be even worse over the years to come,” said Amy Darwish of the Comité d’action de Parc-Extension.

She accused the minister of “profiting from a housing crisis to ram through a regulation that’s going to put even more tenants in precarious situations” and called the formula a “gift to landlords.”

Darwish said she’s been hearing from dozens of tenants who don’t know how they will afford rent in a few years if they keep rising at the current rate. Tenant associations are running out of advice to give, she added, and worry many will be evicted.

“We think it’s unacceptable ... It’s time that they take action to reduce the pressure on tenants and to allow people to live in their homes and dignity,” she said.

RCLALQ points out that Ontario caps rent increases, unlike Quebec.

On top of withdrawing the new formula and a rent freeze, advocates want rent control measures enshrined in law.

The formula is set to go into effect next year.

With files from CTV News Montreal’s Swidda Rassy