Protesters against high rents have three demands for Quebec government

A ‘To Rent' sign outside a flat in Montreal, on Wednesday 2 July 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

With three months to go until the provincial general election, many citizens gathered on Wednesday to protest against the unaffordability of housing in Quebec. Demonstrations were held simultaneously in Montreal, Quebec City and Rouyn-Noranda to make their demands heard.

There are three of them. These are: introducing rent control; developing social housing to meet demand; and recognizing the right to housing in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The event was organized by the Coalition Against High Housing Costs (COLOC), which brings together more than 120 organizations from various sectors, including trade unions, community groups, feminist organizations and student bodies.

This coalition, which was launched last April, is not made up solely of housing committees, as Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for the Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU), emphasized in an interview.

“The demonstration clearly highlights this issue, which is not entirely new but which, over the past year, I would say, has become a point of consensus across large sections of the social movements: namely, the high cost of housing,” says Laflamme.

Drawing on data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) rental market reports, Ms Laflamme explains that the average rent in Quebec has soared by around 60 per cent, rising from $760 per month in 2018 to $1,232 in 2025.

“We have decided to join forces to form a coalition against high housing costs, in the belief that, with the upcoming elections, there needs to be a united front and a popular voice that emerges to highlight the minimum conditions required to overcome a housing crisis that has been systemic for decades,” adds Benoit Rullier, coordinator of the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ).

`Having a place to live should not be a privilege’

Wednesday’s demonstrations took place at social housing estates. In Montreal, hundreds of citizens waved banners and chanted slogans in the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

On the ground, Julie Gagnon and Marie-Frédérique Gravel explain that they would not be able to live on their income as artists if their rent were to rise too sharply.

“I’m lucky – my tenancy is a lease assignment. The rent hasn’t gone up for a long time. But if it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be an artist; I simply couldn’t afford it,” says Gagnon.

“Housing takes up too large a proportion of everyone’s budget,’ she said. ”It’s a breach of the social contract.”

Her friend agrees wholeheartedly. In 2020, her landlord reportedly refused a lease transfer even though it was still possible to do so. When Gravel met the new tenant, the rent she was paying ($700 a month for a 4½-room flat) had doubled.

“You can imagine the kind of rent rises that are possible these days. It’s quite outrageous,” she says.

Both women also note that there is increasing visible homelessness in their neighbourhood, Hochelaga. “The situation on the streets is getting worse and worse. Having a place to live shouldn’t be a privilege; it should simply be a right,” Gravel said.

Francis Waddell, who lives in the Verdun neighbourhood, recalls a time when he held down three jobs and his rent ate up 50 per cent of his income. Today, he describes himself as a “working-class homeowner” and considers himself lucky to have managed to save some money.

He is aware that being a tenant brings additional stress, and that is why he decided to take part in the protest on Wednesday.

“First and foremost, it’s in solidarity with all those who cannot find a place to live. After that, it’s about finding a place to live at a truly affordable price,” he says.

“All the stress that comes with it – the whole issue of gentrification – people who, even though they have a roof over their heads and a family, are finding it increasingly difficult to afford a place to live. Having so-called affordable housing, but off the open market, is the very least we can ask for today,” he adds.

Heart-wrenching choices for tenants

As of 30 June, 6,647 applications submitted to housing assistance services had been closed, and 2,087 households were still searching. However, many tenants do not use these services.

Many will have to make heart-wrenching choices, says Laflamme.

“Families living in homes that are too small, tenants staying in accommodation that is already too expensive and who struggle to see how they will be able to cope with the new rent increases on 1 July, but who realise that what is available on the private market is no cheaper than their current rent. So, there are many sacrifices that aren’t reflected in these figures,“ said the FRAPRU spokesperson.

Rullier reiterates the coalition’s three demands. The government must recognise the right to housing in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because we must stop allowing people to believe that “having four walls and a shabby roof constitutes housing.” Including it in the Charter means defending the right to decent housing for all, he says.

As for the construction of social housing, he points out that for several years now, there has been “no consistent provision of social housing in Quebec on the scale required.”

“We want proper social housing programmes, not unaffordable housing,” he argues.

The rent register, for its part, serves to curb the ever-accelerating rise in rents. Moreover, such a register already exists, set up by the organization Vivre en ville.

“It would simply be a matter of taking an existing tool, adapting it slightly, and we could have the means to establish a rent register,” Rullier said.

Laflamme points out that the housing crisis affects all regions of Quebec.

“This is an issue for people from different backgrounds and different regions, who can clearly see how rapidly rents have skyrocketed in recent years, fuelled by this shortage of rental accommodation and property speculation as well,” she says.

“The result today is that the housing that is available is unaffordable for large sections of the population, particularly for tenants on low and modest incomes – tens of thousands of whom in Quebec are already spending too large a proportion of their income on housing,“ she adds.

According to the CMHC, a household should spend no more than 30 per cent of its pre-tax income on housing. If it exceeds this threshold, it is considered to be under financial strain.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 1, 2026.