This demand for a national housing policy is not new. Already in 2016, the Federation made it one of its main recommendations in its brief during the Quebec government's consultation on its housing interventions.
In fact, housing is not only an essential need, but it also represents a fundamental right recognized notably at the UN in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976) and in Canada in Bill C-97 adopted in 2019. However, the right to housing does not appear in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
As a result, the Quebec government is free to intervene directly to regulate housing conditions from one budget to the next, or to leave it to the private market. A housing policy would require the government to make a permanent commitment to ensuring basic housing conditions, as it does for health and education.
It is regularly stated that housing is not just housing. More than a roof over your head, housing is a solution to many social problems and a means of prevention that allows the state to make considerable savings in other areas. Access to safe, affordable and healthy housing affects nutrition, physical and mental health - one of the key determinants of health - education and employment stability.
And consider the costs of extreme homelessness. The pandemic has also highlighted poor housing conditions as an aggravating factor in domestic violence.
By underfunding the housing sector, by shirking its own responsibilities, the government is keeping many households in a precarious situation, causing intense stress and psychological distress that undermines the productivity of workers, an issue so dear to its heart.
Speaking of the economy, the government should be sensitive to the contribution of social and community housing. In fact, according to a study commissioned by the Société d'habitation du Québec in 2011, every dollar invested in the development of social and community housing injects $2.30 in economic activity and creates employment at the local level for multiple professionals and businesses associated with building construction.
When it comes to housing, there are many needs and many solutions. The contribution of housing co-operatives can be seen in several ways. First, they provide a response to common challenges by creating communities based on mutual aid and sharing. The pandemic has highlighted this aspect, and we have several testimonies according to which cooperative living has contributed to reducing isolation, particularly among seniors. They also slow down the exodus of families to the suburbs, offering them a favourable environment for raising children.
As they are continuously owned, i.e. cannot be resold on the private market, except in exceptional cases, they escape the speculation that plagues the real estate market and can thus maintain rents that respect the ability to pay of low-income groups. They thus offer a sustainable solution to the problems experienced in the private market, which is plagued by vertiginous rent increases. Being collectively managed by their members, they are based on democracy and citizen participation.
For all these reasons, the Federation has joined the 500 organizations from various backgrounds that have endorsed the housing policy proposal developed by FRAPRU, which calls for
- The recognition of the right to housing and its inclusion in the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
- The protection of tenants' rights;
- The increase of social and community housing through a vast construction site of 50,000 units in five years.
The Federation therefore urges the government to review its vision and priorities. Let's be courageous when it comes to housing. Housing must be considered as a social project and be the object of a national policy with investments commensurate with the crying needs of a growing number of households. This is the way forward for a stronger Quebec.