CORPIQ asks the City to postpone the Certification project

MONTREAL, June 8, 2022 - In front of the Permanent Commission on Economic, Urban and Housing Development, CORPIQ explained why a Certification would not serve the interests of tenants and landlords. According to CORPIQ, this regulation does not bring any concrete solution to the problem of insalubrity.

First of all, the Corporation wanted to make the City aware of the fact that Montreal landlords are involved in a relationship of assistance and proximity with tenants and that this relationship is valuable. Landlords are therefore able to propose solutions to combat insalubrity.

 

1) Act on the causes

CORPIQ explains that it is necessary to be able to determine all the causes of unhealthy conditions to solve this problem. It notes that 50% of the problems of insalubrity encountered by the landlords of buildings of 8 dwellings and more, are problems of rodents, cockroaches, or bedbugs. The source of the problem is linked to human activity, but the occupant is certainly not doing it on purpose, nor is the landlord who does not want to find vermin in his or her building.

The landlord's solution is to call in exterminators, but for them to do their job, the tenant's cooperation, which is essential to success, is the most important obstacle. Instead, it is important to call upon specialized resources to intervene with people in a conciliatory process, not a coercive one.

The same is true for the second most common situation: the accumulation of dirt, which accounts for 22% of cases of insalubrity and which, most of the time, are linked to psycho-social difficulties.

    

2) Taking into account human realities

At the root of the problems of insalubrity are above all human issues. The housing network managed by the city of Montreal is experiencing major problems of insalubrity: not because of the buildings or the managers, but because a part of the clientele is in a difficult situation.

The private network encounters the same situations since it welcomes clients who are also facing personal challenges. The landlords help, and very often are understanding, but sometimes the individual needs much more. Unfortunately, there is a lack of resources to help people with mental illness or difficult life situations. There are even fewer resources to assist landlords who are often the first responders in these situations. All this results in a context where the difficulties of the occupant make it difficult to implement solutions and very often compromise the fight against insalubrity. In fact, the mental health problem is the main obstacle to finding solutions to unsanitary situations: either because of their behaviour (for example, by not making good use of the functional elements of the dwelling), or because they have difficulty collaborating to solve problems such as vermin and bedbugs.

  

3) Profound negative consequences

CORPIQ is convinced that the proposed orientation, which goes in the direction of coercion, goes against the needs of tenants and landlords to solve the problems of insalubrity. The same is true for the posting of rents (registry) since this measure will harm the market and is unworkable in the Quebec context. The two proposed measures that are not the right remedies, and from an economic point of view, it would be a mistake to think that there would not be serious consequences for the Montreal rental sector. We must expect increased impacts on rents and a greater judicialization of cases of insalubrity, which is not desirable.

   

4) A collaborative approach

Landlords need a close and open collaboration with the city and its authorities, involving community groups as well as governmental authorities in health, social services, and housing. Therefore, CORPIQ proposes an approach that values all stakeholders, promoting conciliation and problem solving.

The issue is not to convince landlords of the importance of providing a healthy living environment, nor is it a question of identifying the technical aspects of a building, but to have a very good knowledge of the situation of their building and to wish to improve things.

 

5) Changing the game

CORPIQ ended its intervention by proposing 9 recommendations. It divides them into two parts: change the paradigm of the City of Montreal's approach to the file and help landlords to help their tenants. The first recommendation is the most important:

Suspend the application of the bylaw and work with all partners in a mobilizing approach. Ideally, this should be done with a recognized external firm to give objectivity to the process.

Landlords do not underestimate the extent of the situation of insalubrity in Montreal, they are in fact greatly affected by it. Therefore, they are very motivated by the idea of a structured approach that would ensure that all stakeholders have a common vision of the situation. CORPIQ is very willing to participate in the development of orientations and to get involved in a constructive process.

 

About CORPIQ

A non-profit organization bringing together 30,000 landlords and managers who own nearly 500,000 rental units and condos, CORPIQ is the largest association to offer services to landlords and to defend their interests, for over 40 years. It serves all regions from four offices with a total of 70 employees. Quebec landlords provide housing to 1.3 million renter households, seven out of ten of which own a duplex or triplex. Rental housing represents gross annual revenues of $10.5 billion, of which $1.6 billion is returned in municipal and school taxes. 

 

Information and interview requests:

Benoit Ste-Marie

Executive Director - Corporation des propriétaires immobiliers du Québec

Phone: 514-249-1691

Email : bstemarie@corpiq.com