CORPIQ charts the course of change at a rallying event on the future of the rental sector

Montreal, May 11, 2023 - The Aviseo report on the rental sector was unveiled and presented by its authors, economists Jean-Pierre Lessard and Andrée-Ann Gosselin, to a room full of participants from all over the housing sector at an event that brought together experts of various backgrounds.

Masterfully animated by the renowned Marie-Claude Lavallée, the event gave the floor to former ministers such as Rémy Trudel, Jean-Marc Fournier and Line Beauchamp who reacted to the housing shortage situation. Claude Foster, president of the Société d'Habitation du Québec, Guillaume Tremblay, mayor of Mascouche and president of the CMM's Housing Committee, Julie Favreau of Fi3, a specialist in housing and specifically ESG issues, Maxime Rodrigue, president of the APCHQ, as well as the eminent professor Mario Polèse of the INRS completed the panels. All agreed that the Aviseo report constitutes a solid base of facts to allow decision-makers to take action, or at least to take directions to get out of this housing crisis as quickly as possible. Line Beauchamps praised the work done while insisting on the importance of the ecological dimension during the construction of new housing units or during renovations.  In this sense, Aviseo recommends multiplying the efforts to increase the supply, and evaluates that at least 130,000 housing units should be built over the next 10 years. This is why several panelists spoke of an opportunity for Quebec to make choices that involve environmental and social considerations. 

Among the participants, many leaders of the community and social sector appreciated the unifying nature of the event, and it was clear that CORPIQ succeeded in demonstrating its support for social and community housing as one of the important keys to overcoming the current crisis.  It also demonstrated that it is essential to be able to bring together all the players to achieve the objective, but also to ensure that there are multiple responses to a complex situation. Thus, Jean-Marc Fournier and Rémy Trudel, both former ministers of housing, recalled the challenges of the municipal world around construction. They discussed the need to allow municipalities to have the necessary funds to hold the infrastructure required to accommodate units and the difficulty of doing so with the current tax system. It was also pointed out that the choices made by municipalities to increase development charges to make up for financial shortfalls are directly contrary to the objective of increasing construction. 

Surprising conference by the founder of the Régie du Logement

One of the notable guests was Claude Chapdelaine, the very man who laid the foundations that led to the creation of the Régie du logement, of which he later became the first president. He painted a picture of the mechanisms of rent increases and spoke about the need to increase the return on renovation work, which he believes is one of the major sources of the difficulties encountered by the rental sector. He recalled the initial intentions of the Régie, which had as its objectives to encourage renovation and long-term ownership, and that in this sense adjustments are necessary. 

Conference by Luc Godbout

Luc Godbout allowed participants to form an opinion, far from clichés, on the real state of Quebec households' finances. Supported by convincing graphs, he presented the impact of inflation on Quebec households, considering the indexation of income for 14 typical profiles. The result is a rather encouraging picture of the purchasing power of Quebecers, but there are concerns for seniors who do not have access to income increases as is the case for the working population. 

Objective achieved

This was also the mission of the event: to be able to bring together, in the same room, builders, private and public managers, private and social economy developers and different levels of government to demonstrate that it was definitely possible to talk to each other, and also to join forces around a common objective to support and increase the supply of housing. The Aviseo report set the table and paved the way.  

Now that CORPIQ has demonstrated that all the players in the housing sector are capable of agreeing on the challenges and issues at hand, it becomes easier to move towards mobilizing solutions. It is essential that this effervescence of the community be accompanied by strong actions by the Quebec government to continue on the path of cooperation and quickly, collectively, be in solution mode. 

 

About CORPIQ

A non-profit organization bringing together 30,000 owners and managers who provide rental units and condos to more than 600,000 tenant households, CORPIQ is the largest association offering services to landlords. The association serves all regions from four offices with a total of 60 employees. Quebec landlords house 1.5 million tenant households and own, in seven cases out of ten, a duplex or triplex.

Information and interview requests:

Marc-André Plante

Director, Public Affairs and Government Relations - Corporation des propriétaires immobiliers du Québec

Cell: 514-249-1691

E-mail: maplante@corpiq.com