Tenants from Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve who received an eviction notice due to expansion are calling on the administration to take action against this practice, which is still tolerated and, according to them, is exacerbating the housing crisis.
• Also read: No region in Quebec is immune: the number of evictions has increased by 132% in a year
• Also read: Housing crisis: expansions threaten tenants
• Also read: “I think about it every day”: 10 years after being evicted, he hasn’t mourned his old apartment
“We are angry. If we leave, there is no chance that we will find such a large accommodation at this price,” says Samuel Provost.
The 29-year-old young professional lives with three roommates in a large 7.5-room apartment, whose rental agreement they have been transferring to each other for eight years.
The price is still affordable: $1505, which they divide into four parts.
But the previous owner, who lived upstairs, died a few years ago. In 2021, a well-known company bought the building with seven residential units. Last year he tried to raise the rent by $150, but the roommates won their case in Housing Court.
Samuel Provost wants to prevent evictions like the one he and his neighbor fell victim to. Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montréal / Agence QMI
Shortly before Christmas, her neighbor also received an eviction notice after rejecting a rent increase last year that she considered unfair.
“That’s just what I have in my head. I don't sleep at night. There is no point in being stressed in the same way,” worries Réjeanne Bellemare, who has lived in her big four and a half for more than 30 years.
She doesn't believe in the pretense of expansion. “After the increase last year, I no longer have any self-confidence,” says the 64-year-old.
Eviction crisis
In the province, evictions exploded by 132% in 2022-2023, according to data from the Regroupement des Committees Logement et Associations de Tenants du Québec (RCLALQ).
“We are in a housing and eviction crisis. Expansions make the problem worse,” criticizes Annie Lapalme, community organizer at Entraide-Logement.
The organization supports eight tenants who received an eviction notice due to expansion in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. They are demanding that the administration, like other Montreal districts, tighten the screws.
In the southwest, for example, the expansion of apartments in buildings with six or more units has simply been prohibited since 2020.
MHM promises to take tough action
The mayor of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Pierre Lessard-Blais, declined our interview request.
In a written statement sent to the Journal, he vows to completely ban housing mergers from the next county council meeting on February 5, citing a “phenomenon invisible to local authorities.”
According to the statement by the press secretary of the Projet Montréal office, Béatrice Saulnier-Yelle, less than ten permit applications are sent to the district per year to carry out an apartment consolidation in a rental building.
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