Press review of early May

During the first half of May, CORPIQ is pleased to have once again obtained media visibility allowing us to express our concerns, but also our demands regarding the housing situation throughout the province. Moreover, a wind of change seems to indicate a new trend in housing starts and building values. Also, the issue of urban densification created a stir as municipal elected officials met to consider the future of urban planning by putting forward the density of cities and Minister Bonnardel retorted that it was only a temporary social trend.

The first thing to note is the CORPIQ's press release emphasizing "the effect of the exodus of Montrealers” which contributes to raising the rate of available housing to 10%, creating a rental market more favorable to tenants in the metropolis. This news was picked up by several media, including TVA Nouvelles, and also the Journal de Montréal. CORPIQ also shone on social media by reporting a mention in the media about amending the Civil Code of Quebec for non-payment of rent. Indeed, the article in the Journal de Montréal mentions that CORPIQ is favourable to a security deposit that would allow landlords to better protect themselves against late rent payments. The article seemed to indicate that the APQ would like to allow non-payment of rent to open a file at the TAL as early as the 2nd day of the month of unpaid rent, which would bog down the Tribunal's services. CORPIQ proposes instead to allow the Tribunal administratif du logement to render a judgment at the hearing instead of several weeks later.

It was also noted that a change in trend is underway with respect to sales and housing starts since April. Thus, in the newspaper Les Affaires the CMHC depicts on one hand an increase in rental unit starts compared to the month of March in the country, but the other hand one notices a decrease of these starts for certain regions in Quebec, as reported in Le Droit of Gatineau (-58 %). For the Ottawa region, there is even a significant decline from the record year of 2021, while other Canadian cities have maintained growth despite a slight decline from the previous year. In Sherbrooke a new regulation could also cause a decrease in construction starts since the municipality would require a greater sharing of costs from real estate developers (costs for infrastructure resulting from new construction: streets, water systems, etc.). In the Journal de Montréal, It was also reported that the cost of building construction was increasing. Contractors cited the cost of transporting materials as the most influential factor in this increase.

Finally, the topic of urban densification raised divergent reactions between representatives of Quebec municipalities and the Minister of Transport, Mr. Bonnardel. The latter described the need for urban densification as a passing fad, to which the mayor of Quebec City retorted that it was a comment worthy of a dangerous populism. While the Minister was trying to demonstrate that a balance should be sought, and that not all families would want to undergo this densification, as explained in this article from La Presse, one can also read there a will of "yes in my backyard" (oui dans ma cour) as in this other article. Finally, it is important to note that Premier Legault is considering granting municipalities a right of first refusal, something that only Montreal can currently exercise. In this article from Journal de Montréal, it states that this is part of the strategy to reduce sprawl.