The Workplace municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) studies that 71 households have been relocated into short-term lodging following the province’s unofficial Transferring Day on July 1, a 103 per cent enhance from the identical time final yr when 35 households have been relocated.
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada shared that evictions have additionally elevated this yr, with 81 households being compelled to vacate their property because the begin of 2026, a spike she calls worrying.
“The evictions have been elevated and the variety of folks that we now have to place in short-term lodging has doubled,” stated Martinez Ferrada throughout a press convention on Thursday afternoon.
Catherine Lussier, the coordinator for the non-profit housing group Entrance d’motion populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU), says the cost-of-living disaster is on the forefront of this spike in relocations.
“Since 2018, the lease in Montreal has elevated round 60 per cent. Salaries haven’t gone (up). And it’s simply housing, we’re not speaking about meals, we’re not speaking about transportation. Every part has elevated within the final yr.”
Of the 71 relocated households, 35 per cent have been evicted because of an incapacity to pay lease, 70 per cent have been people residing alone and one-third have been seniors over 60 years outdated. Along with the relocations, 219 households are being adopted by the OMHM to obtain assist to entry reasonably priced housing.
For Montrealers like Alexandrie Lespérance, this time of yr is especially troublesome. After being unable to discover a studio condominium she will afford, she turned to the OMHM for assist.
“I’m being evicted from my household and I’m looking for some place that’s reasonably priced on the identical type of worth I’m already paying, and it’s very troublesome,” stated Lespérance. “I don’t wish to pay the double the value for a similar high quality of a spot I wish to dwell in.”
Removed from alone in struggling to entry housing, one other Montrealer, Windsor, has been on the lookout for an condominium for his father for some time.
“The price of residing may be very excessive. So, discovering an reasonably priced condominium may be very troublesome given the costs,” he stated.
The mayor confirmed that everybody in jeopardy of being on the road who contacted the free helpline 2-1-1 was granted help and a type of momentary lodging by the town.
“The knowledge I’ve from the OMHM is that no one was left on the road. And if there’s anyone on the street proper now with no assist, please attain out, name 2-1-1, we are going to handle you,” Martinez Ferrada stated.
This comes after the Metropolis of Montreal granted $3.4 million in further funding to the OMHM in late Might for homelessness prevention packages forward of the July 1.
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