In 2023, the proportion was 10 per cent, according to Léger.
Around 15 per cent of Montreal tenants report having experienced an episode of homelessness at some point in their lives — defined as having been without a fixed address for a certain period of time.
Because the pollsters interviewed tenants, the statistics exclude those who are currently unhoused.
“The figures were dramatic last year, but now we see how much it is getting worse. And without these studies, we wouldn’t see it. We see, among other things, that the number of people who have declared a situation of homelessness, at least for the city of Montreal, has increased by 50 per cent. So it went from 10 per cent to 15 per cent. It’s completely crazy,” said Adam Mongrain, housing director at the Vivre en ville organization, in an interview.
As for the rent paid, 30 per cent of the tenants surveyed report paying rent of $750 to $999 and 28 per cent paid $1,250 or more. The proportion of rents from $500 to $799 decreased in the past year.
In general, Mongrain said he is worried about people who have housing problems, whether they are those who spend too large a part of their income on it, those who experience a period of homelessness or others.
“The measures that we will have to deploy to help these people find housing or rehousing will never be sufficient if we do not address the problem at the source,” Mongrain said.
Likewise, 11 per cent of Montreal tenants said they had already contacted the Tribunal administratif du logement to fix their rent. It was eight per cent in 2023. Seven of the 11 per cent who went to the TAL claimed to have won their case, while the other four per cent said they lost.
The survey also reveals that 18 per cent of tenants surveyed believe they have the means to become owners over the next five years, compared to 23 per cent in 2023.
“People are giving up,” Mongrain said.
Some aspects of the survey are more reassuring: 85 per cent of tenants surveyed believe that their accommodation is in fairly good or very good condition.
“What that tells me is that the dilapidation” of the housing stock “is probably over-represented. This is not the endemic crisis that we sometimes hear,” Mongrain said.
The survey was conducted among 5,551 tenants in Quebec, including 1,579 in Montreal, from May 8 to 31.
It is not possible to calculate a margin of error from a sample drawn from a panel, but a similar sample of 1,579 respondents would give a margin of error of 2.46 per cent 19 times out of 20, Léger says.
Average rents in Montreal
- One bedroom: $962.40
- Two bedrooms: $1,134.30
- Three bedrooms: $1,135.50
- Four or more bedrooms: $1,156.50
- All: $1,004.80