Quebec Solidaire urges the CAQ to take action on the social housing roommate project

Quebec Solidaire MNA for Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne Guillaume Cliche-Rivard during question period at the legislature in Quebec City, Thursday, January 30, 2025 (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

After agreeing to allow roommates in social housing last July, six months later, the CAQ has still not implemented this project, Quebec Solidaire (QS) said in a news release published on Sunday.

The aim of this initiative was to allow homeless people to access unoccupied rooms in certain social housing units and share them with others.

“We made proposals to this effect last spring, around May 2025, and we were listened to and had meetings with the government. At the time, Ms. [France-Élaine] Duranceau finally agreed to our requests and accepted to open up and allow shared occupancy in public housing. This was followed by a draft regulation,” said Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, who is responsible for the homelessness file for QS, in an interview with The Canadian Press.

“Then, six months later, we see that nothing has happened, the bylaw was never approved, and shared housing in public housing is still not available.”

However, since then, there has been a cabinet reshuffle in Quebec City in September. Duranceau is now President of the Treasury Board. Her former responsibilities at Housing have been handed over to Caroline Proulx.

QS is pressing the CAQ government to act because of the urgency of the homelessness situation.

“The homelessness crisis currently affecting Quebec requires rapid and concerted responses, and this is even more true given that we are experiencing a particularly cold winter in 2026, putting thousands of homeless Quebecers at risk. Our duty as elected officials is to take all necessary measures to address this serious humanitarian crisis,” said Cliche-Rivard in the release. “What we are essentially denouncing today is the delay, the inefficiency. And then the inexplicable nature of the absence, approval and implementation of this regulation, when we should be doing everything we can to tackle the homelessness crisis quickly.”

The QS spokesperson on homelessness struggled to explain this inaction and delay. He pointed out that the government, which seemed to be advocating efficiency a few months ago, has still not taken any action.

“To be honest, last summer I never expected to be talking to you about this in January 2026. For me, this issue was moving forward, and we were going to be able to quickly evaluate its implementation,” said Cliche-Rivard.

By publishing the release, QS expects a response from the CAQ and hopes to be able to move forward quickly on this issue.

The same release notes that the Coroner’s Office “confirmed last fall that 108 people died while homeless in 2024.”

“Quebec Solidaire believes it is everyone’s duty to reduce this sad toll,” the release concludes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 18, 2026.