Quebec housing minister refuses amendments to law protecting seniors from eviction

Quebec Minister Responsible for Housing France-Elaine Duranceau responds to the Opposition during question period, at the Legislature in Quebec City, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Quebec City -

Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau refused to improve the "Loi Françoise David" aimed at better protecting seniors from eviction, despite amendments tabled by Québec solidaire (QS) and the Parti québécois (PQ) on Tuesday.

According to Duranceau, her bill already contains several measures to protect people from evictions, regardless of age.

In 2016, Françoise David -- then a QS MNA for Gouin -- unanimously passed the "Act to amend the Civil Code to protect the rights of senior tenants." The law prevents a landlord from evicting seniors aged 70 and over who have occupied their dwelling for at least 10 years and whose income is equivalent to or below the maximum threshold to qualify for social housing.

During Tuesday's study of Bill 31 on housing, QS MNA Andrés Fontecilla and PQ MNA Joël Arseneau tabled several amendments to extend the protection offered by the "Françoise David Act."

Among other things, they proposed lowering the age limit from 70 to 65 and reducing the length of employment required to benefit from this protection from ten to five years.

"With the deepening housing crisis, it has become necessary to make another turn of the screw to this legislation to better protect senior tenants, who are often the victims of unscrupulous [landlords]," said Fontecilla.

"It's a question of improving the social safety net for the elderly. ... When we say that the phenomenon of homelessness has doubled and we see elderly people in it. These are people who have not been protected by the State of Quebec," said Arseneau.

Minister Duranceau and her CAQ colleagues voted against the QS and PQ proposals, justifying her refusal by saying that her bill would put in place several mechanisms to protect tenants against eviction. It will reverse the burden of proof for evictions to put the onus on the landlord.

If a tenant fails to respond to an eviction notice, he or she will not be deemed to have accepted it by default, as is currently the case. Finally, the legislation will also require a landlord who evicts a tenant to compensate him or her with one month's rent for each year of continuous residence in the dwelling.

"There are many people who are not vulnerable at 65. So we're protecting those who are with eviction measures, and that's where we're taking action," the minister said.

Duranceau has repeatedly stated that her objective is to increase the housing supply on the market to alleviate the current crisis.

Study of Bill 31 resumed on Tuesday after being put on pause for the holidays. There are currently no further sessions scheduled for the rest of the week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 30, 2024.