The number of housing evictions and repossessions has increased for a second consecutive year in Quebec, according to data compiled by the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ).
It reported that housing committees in the province handled nearly 875 cases of eviction or repossession this year. This is an increase of 50 per cent compared to 2020, the RCLALQ said Tuesday.
The vast majority of these cases are in Montreal and are related to new owners who have acquired buildings recently, either within the last three years or within the last year.
"This shows that these are evictions that are carried out to quickly increase rents. In short, they are often evictions for profit," said the spokesman of the RCLALQ, Maxime Roy-Allard, in press conference.
He also specified that the evictions touch in great part tenants living in their dwelling since at least 10 years and who paid their monthly rent below the Quebec average.
Faced with these figures, the group has once again called on Quebec to take measures to protect tenants against evictions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 14, 2021.
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This article was produced with the financial support of Facebook and The Canadian Press News Fellowships.
