Quebec increasing allowances, rent supplements to address housing crisis
One day after announcing a plan to build 3,000 social and affordable housing units, Quebec's minister of municipal affairs and housing, Andrée Laforest, adds the government will also be increasing housing allowances and rent supplements.
Housing allowances, which were increased last fall, will now go up to $170 per month -- an increase of 70 per cent, the minister says.
Laforest estimates that 134,000 households will be eligible for financial assistance to help pay rent in 2022-2023.
The government says it is also increasing the Rent Supplement Program threshold, which allows eligible households to pay 25 per cent of their income towards rent.
The cost to qualify for housing under this program is now being raised to 150 per cent of the median rent.
Thursday's announcement is in addition to the government's July 1 Action Plan, announced on May 19 by Laforest, in collaboration with a campaign by the Société d'habitation du Québec to help people search for housing or pay rent.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 30, 2022.
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