Ensemble Montréal mayoral candidate pledges $1M for community housing initiatives

Mayoral hopeful Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the leader of Ensemble Montréal, said that if elected she would allot $1 million to "empower community organizations and expand successful housing initiatives" to prevent families from ending up on the streets.

Community organization programs she aims to reinforce include La Maison du Père's rent assistance bank, which provides interest-free loans covering up to three months of unpaid rent. Those loans must be repaid within five years.

"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," Martinez Ferrada said in a news release published on Wednesday.

The former federal tourism minister and self-proclaimed "mayor of housing" found herself in hot water after the Journal de Montréal reported on her collecting a security deposit from a tenant who is renting out her family home — a violation of Quebec law.

She previously announced her intentions to abolish the city's "Bylaw for a Diverse Metropolis," which aimed to have developers include social housing in new projects but failed to produce any such unit within two years of its implementation.

Martinez Ferrada said at a news conference on Wednesday that she is committed to creating a housing bank to reserve affordable housing units on the market and transfer the leases to "nearly 100 households without housing on July 1" — an initiative presented in Ensemble Montréal's 2021 campaign.

She said her party would create a reliable municipal rental registry to protect renters' rights, noting that the current registry is spearheaded by Vivre en Ville and is not mandatory. 

A spokesperson for Ensemble Montréal said in an email that the housing initiatives Martinez Ferrada announced on Wednesday would be underway within the first 100 days of her term if she is elected.

But the creation of a municipal rental registry would "take more time" because of "all the specificity related to the implementation," the spokesperson wrote. Asked whether the registry would be mandatory, the spokesperson said "all options are on the table."

A report by Statistics Canada released last week shows the average asking price of rent in Montreal has shot up nearly 71 per cent since 2019. 

Projet Montréal commits to new guarantee fund

Martinez Ferrada's announcement follows that of Projet Montréal mayoral candidate Luc Rabouin.

Monday, Rabouin said his party would implement a $100 million guarantee fund to help non-profit organizations secure funding for affordable housing.

"We will guarantee from 10 to 15 per cent of the amount of the banking loan to be sure they get all the money they need," Rabouin said.

He noted that his party would mandate the city's municipal housing office to contact all tenants for whom Quebec's rental tribunal (TAL) issues an eviction notice to assist them in finding another residence.

Rabouin said he intends to do more to reduce the wait time for issuing construction permits.

As of January, the city implemented a 120-day service standard for residential projects in all boroughs.