Québec Solidaire housing critic launches petition to change rent hike formula

Quebec Solidaire MNA Andres Fontecilla questions the government during question period, Thursday, September 28, 2023 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Three months after Quebec Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau announced she was altering the formula used to calculate rent hikes, Québec Solidaire (QS)’s Andrès Fontecilla launched a petition to change it again.

Calculations have shown that though the new method would have led to a slightly lower average rent increase this year, it would be a bit higher in subsequent years.

The new proposed regulation bases rent increases on a base percentage, the consumer price index, variation in municipal and school taxes, insurance costs and capital expenditures.

Though landlord associations said they were pleased with the changes, tenants and advocates have pointed out that the formula will allow for even higher rent increases.

Quebec’s housing tribunal predicted the average rent increase this year would be 5.9 per cent, an all-time high. Fontecilla stresses that the number will be the “minimum” as “many, many landlords will have an even higher increase.”

The new rent hike formula will “take money out of renters’ pockets and into the pockets of landlords,” said Fontecilla.

• READ MORE: Quebec is changing how rent increases will be calculated after hikes hit historic high

His petition, which garnered over 5,200 signatures in just a few days, says “the use of the overall CPI as the main criterion for increases does not adequately reflect the specific costs associated with the operation of rental properties and maintains the influence of market fluctuations in the calculation of increases.”

It also points out that the draft regulation does not protect access to housing or provide rent caps.

Those signing the petition are urging MNAs to reject the current draft regulation, develop a new one aimed at genuine rent control based on operating expenses, and introduce an absolute cap on yearly rent hikes.

The petition also calls for the creation of a public rent registry, accessible free of charge, allowing tenants to view the history of rents and major renovations, and a rent freeze until a “new, fair regulation” comes into effect.

A spokesperson for Duranceau’s office said the current calculation formula had been in use for 40 years and needed to change as it was complicated to understand for both landlords and tenants.

Duranceau said the new method, which she said is a “balanced proposal,” will be more predictable, easier to understand and will lead to fewer cases before the housing tribunal.

“The goal is to maintain balance by offering more predictability for both tenants and landlords. By using the average CPI over the last three years, we avoid large variations. And it is easier to understand,” she said in an email.

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

But Fontecilla accused Duranceau of protecting the interests of landlords to the “systematic” detriment of renters, who make up 40 per cent of Quebec’s population. About 63 per cent of Montrealers rent.

“It even rewards bad landlords because even if there will be an automatic increase for them even if they did absolutely nothing for the building and let it degrade,” he told CTV News.

He added he hopes every renter in the province will sign the petition to put pressure on Duranceau to rethink the method and to put in place better rent control measures.

Fontecilla said a new method should be more balanced, reward landlords who improve their dwellings and that will help reduce pressure on renters.

“The main issue at the heart of the housing crisis is that rents are increasing too much too quickly and it’s impoverishing tenants,” he said.

Meanwhile, landlords have been complaining about losing money due to Quebec’s rent regulations. But Fontecilla pushed back, saying the real-estate business has never been so profitable and there “must be an end to speculative activity.”

Fontecilla hopes to bring the petition to the National Assembly at the beginning of the next session in September.