Greater Montreal: Nearly one in five families do not have the income to pay for housing

In 2022, about 360,000 households in Greater Montreal, or roughly one in five households, do not have enough income to pay for their housing and basic needs such as food, clothing, or transportation.

At least that’s what a survey conducted by Centraide of Greater Montreal on Monday revealed.

And so the data shows that in Greater Montreal, for the average family, a minimum income of $28,000 was necessary in 2022 to meet basic needs. After paying the rent, these families started the month with a negative balance. The total annual theoretical deficit is estimated at about $3.6 billion.

Households with incomes of less than $28,000 in 2022 have had to go into debt or cut expenses in the consumption basket.

“This picture of the situation shows that housing is not just a problem of the number of doors to be built, but above all of affected human beings and degraded living environments. The crisis is significant, in addition to It represents a significant social cost.

He added that “the cost of housing imposes great pressure on families, especially on those with limited income,” stressing the need to work urgently so that “no [soit] Forgetting or depriving them of their right to adequate housing at a reasonable cost.”

The report also shows that housing construction since 2019 in Greater Montreal “mismatched demand” while new construction “increased supply in the most expensive quarter.”

“Multi-bedroom units with below-average rents are virtually unavailable to low-income families seeking decent housing,” the report states.

For the organization, several avenues can be explored to address the shortage of adequate housing: better use of the existing housing stock, accelerating construction of new housing, reviewing the legal framework surrounding the right to housing, and improving community support for and access to housing. Data and mechanisms to monitor the evolution of the situation.