There are currently 250 tenant households who haven’t found housing in the Montreal area three weeks after July 1, according to a housing rights group.
The Front d’action populaire en reamenagement urbain (FRAPRU) says the households in question are either still using temporary accommodation provided by emergency assistance services or are staying with relatives.
During a press conference on July 2, FRAPRU reported 256 households who were without accommodation. Three weeks later, the situation hasn’t progressed much.
FRAPRU spokesperson Veronique Laflamme said the private market chooses not to accommodate certain households, like single mothers, people with low incomes or those with low credit scores.
Laflamme says the housing crisis in the city is also a factor that contributes to discrimination. If several households are interested in renting a given dwelling, the discrimination becomes obvious as the landlord gets to decide who to rent to.
FRAPRU says the solution to the problem is the construction of more social housing in the city. The organization is also calling for tenants to be better protected against evictions, specifically through legislation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2020.
