The time has come to recognize the right to housing and to implement the means to ensure that this right is respected, according to a coalition of 500 community organizations, unions, students and others, supported by some 20 public figures.
At a press conference on Tuesday in Montreal, the representatives of these organizations pointed out that several other rights, notably the right to health and food security, are violated by the inability to find reasonably priced housing in healthy conditions.
They argue that almost all cities in Quebec have vacancy rates of less than three per cent, which is the break-even point. Some regions have rates approaching zero per cent.
These organizations are demanding that the Legault government recognize and enshrine the right to housing in the Charter of Rights and that it acknowledge the existence of the housing crisis.
They are asking for the adoption of a true housing policy that would involve massive investments in social housing, both cooperative, non-profit and public.
The organizations are also calling for better regulation of the private market to curb so-called "renovictions", temporary tourist rentals such as AirBnb, and speculation.
The housing shortage is pushing up prices, while low-income households are already struggling to cash in on runaway inflation.
In March 2021, some 610,000 people used food banks, a 22 per cent increase over 2019. This increase reflects, according to the organizations, the difficulty households have in making ends meet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 1, 2022.
