Transferring your lease 'is giving the next person someone else's property,' says Que. housing minister

Quebec Minister Responsible for Housing France-Elaine Duranceau responds to Opposition questions after she tabled a legislation, during question period, at the legislature in Quebec City, Friday, June 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Quebec's minister responsible for housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, wonders whether it would be better to intervene in rent increases when a dwelling is transferred from one tenant to another, rather than in lease transfers.

During Tuesday's parliamentary committee study of her bill, the housing minister seemed to continue to have reservations about lease transfers by tenants.

Transferring your lease "is giving the next person someone else's property," she said in a conversation with David Searle, a lawyer and lecturer in housing law.

"Transferring a lease is not the answer," she added. She asked Searle if it wouldn't be better to intervene at the source of the problem: the fact that, at the time of the transfer, "there are rent increases that aren't what you'd like, so shouldn't we be working on those?"

Searle replied that tenant advocacy organizations would certainly be in favour of such a measure, which would help keep rents down.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 19, 2023.