One-stop shop: Quebec wants to make it easier to rent affordable or low-cost housing

The Legault government wants to take new action on the housing front. In particular, it wants to set up a one-stop shop for applications to rent affordable or low-cost housing and improve the efficiency of the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL).

These measures are part of a new bill tabled by Housing Minister Caroline Proulx in the National Assembly.

The bill presented Wednesday by the CAQ representative proposes to enact a law promoting access to housing and to amend various provisions concerning housing.

The proposed “Act to promote access to housing” would include the concept of affordable housing.

“This bill establishes the rules governing the allocation and rental of affordable housing and allows the rent for affordable housing to be subject to a request for determination by the Administrative Housing Tribunal,” the minister said at the legislature.

The government is proposing the creation of a one-stop shop for applications to rent affordable or low-cost housing. This should enable “the matching of housing applicants with landlords,” according to the bill.

The office would consist of two rental application registers, one for affordable housing and the other for low-cost housing.

The Quebec Housing Society is the organization responsible for implementing this public office.

Through her bill, Proulx also wants to “increase the efficiency of the TAL.” The Tribunal could prohibit a party whose behaviour is “vexatious or querulous” from filing an application or other procedural document.

The bill also provides that the president of the Tribunal may require the parties to attend a conciliation session.

- By Frédéric Lacroix-Couture

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 11, 2026.