According to a recent study by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), it is in Montreal that 4 ½ apartments are most affordable, when one compares the other four most important cities in the country: Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax.
This information from the CMHC destroys the myth which pretends that rental rates increase too quickly in Montreal, an idea used year after year by pressure groups acting on behalf of the tenants.
The tenants from Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax spend a bigger part of their revenues on housing. The CMHC reports that in order to obtain these figures one has to compare the average tenant household income with the amount they have to earn in order to be able to pay for a 4 ½ without spending more than 30% of their earnings. Conclusion: it is in Montreal that the rental market is most affordable even if this trend has been slowing down since 2001.
Following this information from the CMHC, the president of the APQ, Mr Martin A. Messier, repeated that there is nothing new about the observation that rental rates in Quebec are amongst the lowest compared to other regions in Canada. This same observation has been made for many years now. « It is a reality that calls out to the Government of Quebec to review its housing policies by deregulating this sector more in order to allow for more equitable rental rate-setting. This would improve the quality and the maintenance of private dwellings which would be to the advantage of all the tenants, » stated the president of the APQ.