Housing proposals arrive amid mounting affordability challenges
Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the mayoral candidate for Ensemble Montréal, has pledged $1 million to strengthen community housing initiatives in the city should she be elected. The funds aim to support organizations working to prevent homelessness and expand access to affordable housing.
In a statement released this week, Martinez Ferrada said the investment would “empower community organizations and expand successful housing initiatives,” targeting vulnerable populations, particularly during the city’s challenging July 1 moving period.
“I want July 1 to no longer be a tragedy where families end up in hotels for months or on the street. These are preventable situations,” she said.
Among the supported programs is La Maison du Père’s rent assistance bank, which offers interest-free loans to cover up to three months of unpaid rent, repayable within five years.
Martinez Ferrada, who previously served as federal tourism minister, also promised to establish a municipal housing bank that would reserve affordable units on the private market and facilitate lease transfers to households without shelter. This proposal mirrors a similar idea introduced in Ensemble Montréal’s 2021 platform.
She further committed to developing a municipal rental registry to better protect tenants’ rights. The current system, led by Vivre en Ville, remains voluntary. A party spokesperson clarified that while the housing bank and funding would begin within the first 100 days of her mandate, the rental registry would “take more time” due to the complexity of its implementation. “All options are on the table” regarding whether it would be mandatory, the spokesperson added.
The announcement comes amid criticism of Martinez Ferrada following a report in the Journal de Montréal that she collected a security deposit from a tenant in violation of Quebec law. Despite the controversy, she reiterated her focus on housing, a position that earned her the self-applied label “mayor of housing.”
Her plans include scrapping the city’s “Bylaw for a Diverse Metropolis,” a measure that required developers to build social housing but has failed to yield results after two years.
Meanwhile, Projet Montréal candidate Luc Rabouin has also unveiled a $100-million guarantee fund to help non-profit housing developers access financing. His party’s plan includes city intervention for tenants facing eviction and streamlined construction permit processing.
Recent data from Statistics Canada shows Montreal’s average asking rent has risen by nearly 71% since 2019, intensifying pressure on municipal leaders to address housing affordability.
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