A few days before July 1, the City of Montreal expects to have to untie its purse strings to accommodate households who will lose their homes without having found a new roof.

The Montreal Municipal Housing Office (OMHM), which has the mandate to support tenants in their apartment searches, is currently supporting 250 households, compared to 120 last year at the same date, revealed Mayor Valérie Plante, Tuesday at a press briefing.

“It’s a stressful time for many people because of the housing crisis,” said Ms. Plante.

Currently, 17 households who lost their apartment are housed in a hotel under the OMHM emergency accommodation program. But this number is likely to explode on July 1, when several leases expire.

Benoit Dorais, the elected official responsible for housing on the executive committee, recalled that the City had increased funding for emergency accommodation to 3.5 million for this year. In 2023, costs amounted to 2.95 million.

“If it costs more, we’ll pick up the tab. We also expect to have to disburse more,” said Mr. Dorais, who is also mayor of the South-West district.

Asked about the proliferation of camps set up by homeless people, in a context where homeless shelters are overflowing, Mayor Plante reiterated that the City does not tolerate them and that they will be dismantled.

Why, then, tolerate protest camps in a public place like the one in Victoria Square? “People who are campaigning for a specific cause don’t intend to stay there long term,” she replied. “Protesters usually have accommodation where they can go back to eat, take a shower. But we can’t let people live on the streets without running water and without toilets.”

Ms. Plante reiterated her demands for an increase in government funding for social housing, affirming that the City of Montreal was doing its part by purchasing land and buildings that could be used for such projects.

A coalition of community organizations, which held a press conference Tuesday morning, agrees with this request and goes even further: the share of social housing in the housing stock should be doubled over the next 15 years for ‘it reaches 20%. “It’s realistic, we should build 10,000 social housing units per year,” underlines Stéphanie Barahona, of the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU), who pleads for a “socialization” of the housing stock.

Citing data from the latest census, Ms. Barahona points out that 128,000 Quebec tenant households spend more than half of their income on their housing, which places them in a very precarious situation.

The members of this coalition are also concerned about the link made between immigration and the housing crisis, which could lead decision-makers to choose bad solutions.

“It’s easy to blame immigration, but the city of Shawinigan is one of the least multi-ethnic in Canada and the housing crisis is still wreaking havoc there,” notes Mostafa Henaway, community organizer at the Immigrant Workers Centre.

The group also fears the possible election of conservatives at the head of the country, stressing that Pierre Poilievre’s speech in favor of a greater place for private enterprise in real estate and less intervention by the State could result in by a catastrophe for the most deprived.

In the meantime, homeless organizations are expecting an influx of customers after July 1. “Already, we see around 10 new faces every week,” says Maggie Chittspattio, community worker at Résilience Montréal. “For these people, we are the last resort. »