Housing activists are calling on the provincial government to make it harder to evict long-term tenants from apartments.
Members of the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Quebec (RCLALQ) claim there is a growing trend in Montreal of landlords evicting tenants in order to make more money, either by turning an apartment building into a condominium, or by taking advantage of loopholes in order to bring in new tenants who will pay more money for the same space.
Maude Begin Gaudette is a tenants' rights advocate who says being evicted is particularly hard on people who have been in the same home for decades.
"It's hard to find another apartment at the same price in the same neighbourhood. Old people who have been living there for a while, they have nowhere to go," said Gaudette.
"When you've been living in your apartment for 20, 25 years, and you're an old person, it's a major situation in your life."
RCLALQ is asking for the municipal affairs minister to take action to make it more difficult to evict people who have been living in apartments for long periods.
One measure they are asking for is a 12-month indemnity, plus moving costs, payable by landlords who choose to evict a tenant.