Now that Quebec has moved to help first-time homebuyers, the opposition at Montreal City Hall wants the city to redirect municipal funds reserved for homebuyers toward a rent-assistance bank instead.
Projet Montréal argues the province’s commitment to reimburse a portion of the “welcome tax” makes an existing city-led program redundant — while low-income renters bear the brunt of the housing crisis.
“This is the kind of program that really, concretely helps people stay in their apartment,” Projet Montréal leader Ericka Alneus said in an interview Friday.
The party will present a motion calling for the rent-assistance fund at Monday’s city council meeting.
In mid-April, new Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette announced her government intends to reimburse part of the hefty “welcome tax” Quebecers must pay when purchasing property.
First-time homebuyers will be eligible for reimbursement of the first $5,000 paid in real estate transfer taxes and 25 per cent of the portion of the tax that exceeds that amount.
Municipalities will continue to collect the welcome tax on every real estate transfer, while the province reimburses buyers through a new tax credit.
The city of Montreal has offered a similar subsidy program for new homebuyers since 2018. Given the new provincial measures, Projet Montréal feels the timing is right for the city to review the program and help renters instead. The party says roughly $4.8 million was paid out through the program last year.
It suggests the city either create a new municipal rent-assistance fund or partner with a community organization such as the Maison du Père, which already runs a rent-assistance bank.
The Maison du Père’s program supports households at risk of eviction by paying up to three months of rent, which can be repaid over five years. The fund helped 153 people avoid eviction last year alone.
During last fall’s municipal election, both Projet Montréal and the now governing Ensemble Montréal promised to bolster the organization’s fund.
The opposition now wants to remind the administration of its commitment and bring the idea “back to the table.”
“We’ve heard the mayor say homelessness is her priority,” Alneus said. “And it’s important to get people out of the street, but we also need to make sure they can keep a roof over their head.”
Monday’s motion argues that many people lose their apartments over temporary financial issues, which could be avoided through the fund.
It also states that helping people keep their apartments is an effective way to counter the homeless crisis and ease pressure on the city’s already strained shelter network.
Alneus noted how 65 per cent of Montrealers are renters and that the housing and cost-of-living crises have made it alarmingly easy for people to slip into homelessness.
She spoke of people in the city sleeping in tents or cars while holding down jobs, or young families and students struggling to make ends meet.
“These are the kind of people we don’t think about,” she said. “So let’s think about them before something worse happens.”
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