social housing – Project Genesis

Campagne de visibilité FRAPRU

PG — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 17:20:22 +0000

La clé, c’est le logement social !

Fighting poverty by fighting for social housing

PG — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 21:34:00 +0000

Kim, volunteer on Project Genesis’ Housing Rights and Anti-Poverty committees

“The most important way of fighting poverty is by fighting for housing.”

“When I first came to Project Genesis I had problems with housing. My building was sold and the new owner wanted to increase the rent by $20/month. Which maybe to her was a small amount but for me it was a big amount; at that time I had lost my job so I was already sacrificing a lot to pay the rent. When I lost my job I became a poor person. When I went to the CLE I was treated badly. That made me upset so I wanted to get involved in an organization that fights poverty.

When I worked, I realized that most of my salary went to pay rent. This is why for me, the most important thing is social housing. This motivates me to participate in supporting social housing, when I have time. If there’s no social housing, when people lose their jobs it’s very easy to become homeless.

Last year, I went to the FRAPRU Congress. Many different groups participated and helped me to know that many different kinds of people need social housing. The FRAPRU is very well organized and has done a lot to tell the government that social housing is important. Each group that attended had a chance to participate in the decisions. That’s democracy to me. With the FRAPRU, we get together to be a big group and that makes us stronger. We also got some outcomes this year – the federal government accepted to fund social housing (through the Accès-Logis program) for two years more. We’ll continue to fight for this and maybe after two years, they’ll continue the program.

The most important way of fighting poverty is by fighting for housing.”

Kim, volunteer on Project Genesis’ Housing Rights and Anti-Poverty committees

CSL asked to urge renewal of federal social housing subsidies

PG — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 13:45:00 +0000

The Suburban – April 22, 2015.

Côte St. Luc council was asked by a representative of Project Genesis to pass a resolution urging the federal government to renew and restore subsidies for social housing.

The group’s Molly Tenzer, speaking at the April council meeting, explained that social housing units built before 1994 benefitted from federal subsidies annually, which have been used to reduce the rent of low-income tenants, and for maintenance work. But she said the agreements are ending for those pre-1994 residences across Canada, “be they cooperatives, non-profit or low-cost housing,” and some Côte St. Luc residences are impacted.

“That’s 585,000 units across Canada,” she added. “Two of the Caldwell residences — one of which is in Côte St. Luc — lost their subsidies in 2014. And the other two buildings will lose their subsidies in 2023. Already, new tenants at Caldwell have to pay full market rent. Right now, in Côte St. Luc, two houses out of five pay more than the standard 30 percent of their income towards housing, and tenants wait years before they can have access to social housing. The potential loss of existing social housing projects only worsens the situation.”

Mayor Anthony Housefather said he would personally support such a resolution, but that it has to be discussed with council first.

“It’s a very serious issue,” he said. “The council is now looking at other options to enhance the amount of housing in Côte St. Luc, in different ways with different groups. I’m hoping, in the next few years, there will be more options in Côte St. Luc and allow for a lesser waiting list and a more modern facilities. But I’ll leave it to those groups to eventually announce where they’re going to locate and when, and if the rezonings go through. For sure, I will bring your proposed resolution to an in-committee [council] discussion, and if we have a consensus, we’ll bring it back and let you know.

“But you have my personal support.”

Joel Goldenberg

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Lettre : «Quand ils parlent d’économies, c’est sur l’dos des démunis»

PG — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 14:25:13 +0000

(In French)

Les Actualités – 16 avril 2015

C’est sur ce slogan que nous Projet Genèse et habitants de Côtes-des-Neiges, avons exprimés nos inquiétudes à quelques jours du budget provincial, le 21 mars dernier, à l’appel du FRAPRU. Nous étions une trentaine à joindre plus de 500 personnes pour réclamer le financement de logements sociaux, entre autres par le maintien du programme AccèsLogis. AccèsLogis est le seul programme qui permet encore la construction de logements coopératifs et à but non-lucratif au Québec.

La colère et l’espoir nous animaient lors de cette marche. Colère face aux menaces contre AccèsLogis, mais aussi espoir que le gouvernement comprenne enfin l’importance du logement social. La fin du programme AccèsLogis serait une catastrophe dans le quartier. Plusieurs projets à venir comme les 2500 logements sociaux de Blue Bonnet seraient sérieusement compromis sans l’appui de ce programme. Mêmes les élus municipaux en sont conscients !

Pour des milliers de personnes d’horizons différents, un logement social ferait toute la différence; pensons à des personnes à mobilité réduite ou qui avancent en âge et qui ne se trouvent pas d’appartement adapté, à des personnes gagnant de faibles revenus ou encore à des immigrants récents qui doivent se trouver un logement abordable. Plusieurs d’entre eux étaient à Québec et attendaient le budget et le sort réservé AccèsLogis de pied ferme «pour voir si les politiciens croient vraiment à la justice».

Le jeudi 26 mars, le verdict tombe avec l’annonce du budget : AccèsLogis reste mais est sérieusement amputé. Nos craintes étaient fondées : justice ne rime pas avec austérité.

Dans son budget, le ministre Leitão annonce que le programme AccèsLogis est coupé de moitié. Seulement 1500 logements sociaux seront construits cette année sur l’ensemble du territoire, soit la moitié du nombre déjà minimal d’unités construits en 2014. Le montant «économisé» est injecté dans 1000 subventions au loyer. Cette solution a pourtant été souvent critiquée. Ces subventions aident certes à payer le loyer mais elles n’incitent pas non plus les propriétaires à entretenir et réparer les logements, au contraire. Sans un bassin de logements abordables disponibles, les locataires restent dans des appartements mal-entretenus, voire insalubres, et les payent… avec leur supplément de loyer. Dans de nombreux pays comme en France ou aux États-Unis, ces subventions ont fait augmenter les loyers !

Les locataires ont déboursé davantage pour des appartements de plus en plus en mauvais état.

Dans des quartiers comme Côte-des-Neiges, le supplément au loyer n’apporte pas non plus de solution au manque criant de logements pour les familles. Selon nous, le budget Leitão fait clairement fausse route. Nous ne comprenons pas le choix du gouvernent : le logement social a de nombreux avantages que n’aura jamais le privé. Il permet par exemple d’augmenter le nombre de logements disponibles pour les familles, de mettre de la pression sur les propriétaires pour assurer la qualité et la salubrité des appartements. Le gouvernement fait des petites économies sur le dos des plus démunis : alors que les investissements en logement social représenteraient relativement peu d’argent, ils auraient un impact majeur dans la vie des gens du quartier. AccèsLogis reste un programme pertinent qui soutient les personnes les plus vulnérables. Les gens du quartier continueront de se battre, non seulement pour le garder mais pour le bonifier.

Alexandra Pierre,
Organisatrice communautaire,
Projet Genèse

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Quebec’s sole housing program slashed

PG — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 14:36:00 +0000

The Suburban – April 1, 2015

‘Real social effects’

It’s not the wholesale scrapping advocates feared but it’s almost that bad.

The province’s only social housing program was slashed in half last week in the Liberal government’s budget. AccèsLogis provides 40-50 per cent of the costs to create rental housing in partnership with community groups, municipalities and private developers.

With annual budgets of around $250 million, it helps create some 3,000 housing units each year, but Minister of Finance Carlos Leitão announced only $126 million for the construction of 1,500 units, part of an overall $284 million social-housing envelope.

Most of the balance—$123 million—will go to rent supplements, direct payments to qualifying tenants to obtain private rental housing, and another $35 million to help adapt homes for low-income families.

Social housing advocates are decrying the partial shift to subsidies as a transfer of the social responsibility to create decent, affordable housing in viable communities to the private market.

What Sheetal Pathak of Project Genesis finds disconcerting is that the Liberal government announced a first year’s 1,500 social housing units but rent subsidies for 1,000 then 1,200 new subsidies over the next four years. “They are talking about rent subsidies for the coming years but nothing about AccèsLogis, which tells us that they may be phasing it out.”

Pathak and other critics say private subsidies don’t ensure quality, has no long-term gain and may actually increase rents, while building housing can stabilize rents and boost quality of private properties.

“We think this is a step toward privatizing housing services with no guarantees of quality and will encourage slumlords who will not feel compelled to improve conditions.”

Competing with social housing for tenants compel disreputable landlords to improve their properties, but that won’t be necessary says Pathak, because they have ‘become’ social housing. “In that way it is a gift.”

“Studies show that subsidies put upward pressures on rents, whereas building social housing creates a societal asset.” She says that the move might reflect a combination of shortsightedness and ideology, given that in the long-term, the economics and social benefits favour social housing.

The government’s own figures show that every social housing dollar spent generates $2.30 of wealth through employment, construction and other spinoffs, while annually saving taxpayer cash—estimated at $130 million—in social programs related to homelessness, seniors, the handicapped and mental illness.

For the Quebec Federation of Housing Cooperatives (CQCH), cutting AccèsLogis is incomprehensible.

“The need remains significant. More than 225,000 Quebec tenants spend more than 50 per cent of their income on housing,” said president Jacques Côté, adding the government should closely monitor their program over the next year for “the real social effects and economic impacts of this decision.”

Rental vacancies are quite low in many of Quebec’s urban centres, particularly for large families—about three per cent—as is the dismal case of Côte des Neiges, where almost 15 per cent of tenant households spend more than 80 per cent of their income on rent, and where above-average rents meet below-average incomes. (In NDG, average rents also outpace the Montreal norm.)

According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation only 12 private rental homes were created in the area between January 2011-September 2014, compared to 1,597 condominiums, and the vacancy rate of three-bedroom rentals in CDN stands at a dismal 1.3 per cent.

Groups also fear that as vacancy rates vary from year to year, a sudden drop may prompt landlords to drop out of the program.

“If a landlord finds that they can charge a lot more, says Pathak, it could be really difficult to find apartments.”

Pathak says Project Genesis will be educating the public on the new changes and what they mean, “and we’ll continue to pressure the government to change their mind, if not this year then next year.

Joel Ceausu

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Members of Project Genesis stand together

PG — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 17:24:00 +0000

Nola, Housing Rights volunteer

“Project Genesis never backs down. We go to Ottawa, to Quebec City – we go everywhere for social housing, and we stand together and make sure that people’s rights are not trampled upon. We all want the same thing: we want social housing for everyone.

“Project Genesis never backs down. We go to Ottawa, to Quebec City – we go everywhere for social housing, and we stand together and make sure that people’s rights are not trampled upon. We all want the same thing: we want social housing for everyone.

I don’t give Genesis a hundred percent – I give Genesis a hundred and ten! Anyone can come here and we won’t turn you away. I am proud to be a member of Project Genesis.”

Nola, Housing Rights volunteer

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Housing Rights

Quebec’s only social housing program may be closed

PG — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 13:54:00 +0000

The Suburban – March 19, 2015

Activists sound alarm

Dramatic, disaster, catastrophic.

That’s how local advocates characterize the threat to AccèsLogis, Quebec’s sole program for social housing projects.

“We’re sounding the alarm,” says Jennifer Auchinleck of the Community Development Corporation of Côte des Neiges, which along with other groups denounce the possibility that Quebec will halt the program this year.

AccèsLogis provides 40-50 percent of the costs to create rental housing in partnership with community groups, municipalities and private developers. With an annual budget of $250 million, it typically helps create some 3,000 housing units each year.

Advocates say indications from Quebec City suggest the Liberals may replace it with rent supplements, although the minister responsible for housing Pierre Moreau has not stated that AccèsLogis is doomed, nor has the Société d’habitation de Québec (SHQ), which runs the program. “The SHQ has made no new announcement about AccèsLogis,” spokesperson Sylvain Fournier told The Suburban. “We are waiting for the announcement of the next provincial budget. Currently, the program is still active according to its normal parameters.”

“All we hear is that everything is on the table,” says Mazen Houdeib of non-profit housing group ROMEL. “We see private developers telling government that individual subsidies are a better option, but there’s no proof to back that up.” He says 300-400 planned rental units are in jeopardy if AccèsLogis folds.

Housing advocates and tenants say cancellation of program may spell the end of social housing. (Photo: Suburban)

Project Genesis’ Sheetal Pathak says replacing social housing with individual assistance can increase rents and worsen conditions, confirmed by experiences in other jurisdictions, including the U.K., France, Finland and the U.S., adding “more social housing would force slumlords to clean up their properties to compete.”

Market for unclean housing

“Unfortunately,” says Annie Lapalme of housing information group OEIL, “there is a market here for unclean, unsafe housing, because it is cheap, and landlords know it.”

The government’s own SHQ says every dollar invested in social housing generates a return of $2.30 to the economy. “As a partner with private industry, social housing is a generator of the economy,” says Houdeib. “We are part of the machine of construction, of jobs,” while generating annual savings up to $129 million for government, as seniors become more autonomous, students are more successful in school, and people with reduced mobility can contribute and integrate into society. “It’s an investment, not an expense.”

Pathak agrees: “It’s the best solution here and across the province, because it is long-term, and benefits not only current tenants but future generations.”

The issue resonates province-wide but the loudest voices come from Côte des Neiges, where almost 15 percent of tenant households spend more than 80 percent of their income on rent, and where above-average rents meet below-average incomes.

According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation only 12 private rental homes were created in the area between January 2011 and September 2014, compared to 1597 condominiums, and the vacancy rate of three-bedroom rentals in CDN stands at a dismal 1.3 percent.

It’s dramatic, says Lapalme: “Poor conditions, unclean, too small for families and a worrying increase in homelessness.” (More than 38 percent of CDN tenant households with children under 12 have mold or humidity problems, and almost a quarter have cockroaches or rodent infestations, according to Montreal’s health agency.)

Some 2,500 households are waiting for housing in the borough, says Auchinleck, the same number of units advocates have demanded for the Hippodrome development, the borough’s last available land for development. If AccèsLogis goes, she says, “That’s it, no more social housing here,” with grave implications for people’s right to remain in their neighborhood. “We see it in the Triangle, so many condos going up on the scarce land available, what happens to those who cannot afford it? They have to leave or accept even worse conditions.”

The group hopes austerity measures don’t push the Liberals to act penny-wise and pound-foolish, and are asking local MNAs to stand up for the interests of their population, noting the city, along with the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal and the Fédération Québécoise des municipalités support maintaining AccèsLogis says Auchinleck. “The block is really the provincial government.”

Joel Ceausu

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Les organismes communautaires inquiets

PG — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 12:42:00 +0000

Les Actualités – 19 mars 2015

(In French)

À l’approche du budget provincial, plusieurs organismes communautaires de Côte-des-Neiges sont inquiets du refus du gouvernement provincial de reconduire AccèsLogis, le seul programme permettant la construction de logements sociaux.

«La réduction ou l’abolition de ce programme serait un désastre pour Côte-des-Neiges et pour les locataires de partout au Québec», a souligné Annie Lapalme, intervenante communautaire à l’Organisation d’éducation et d’information logement (OEIL).

(Photo: Marie Cicchini)

Pour chaque dollar investi en logement social, 2,30 $ a été injecté dans l’économie, d’après une récente étude de la Société d’habitation du Québec.

Les organismes qui pressent le gouvernement à reconduire AccèsLogis craignent que les locataires à faible revenus ne soient totalement exclus des développements sur le site de l’ancien hippodrome, où la Corporation de développement communautaire (CDC) réclame 2500 logements depuis 2005.

Dans Côte-des-Neiges, 14,8 % des ménages locataires consacrent plus de 80 % de leurs revenus pour se loger.

Ils craignent également qu’AccèsLogis ne soit remplacé par des programmes d’aide à l’individu comme le supplément du loyer dans le marché privé, puisqu’ils contribuent à l’augmentation des loyers et bénéficient plutôt aux propriétaires qu’aux locataires, selon Sheetal Pathak, organisatrice communautaire.

La privatisation de l’aide au logement n’apporterait pas de solution aux besoins en termes de logements salubres et pour familles dans le secteur comprenant Côte-des-Neiges. Entre janvier 2011 et septembre 2014, seulement 12 logements ont été mis en marché comparé à 1597 condominiums, selon la Société canadienne d’hypothèques et de logement.

Marie Cicchini

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Opinion: Everybody needs a place to call home

PG — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 18:55:00 +0000

Montreal Gazette – March 6, 2015

(En anglais)

As members of the housing rights committee of Project Genesis, we are alarmed to hear that the AccèsLogis program, the only program building social housing in the province, might be cut this year. All over Quebec, people and organizations are urging the government to keep this program going, including the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal.

In Quebec, housing is a basic human right in jeopardy. In Côte-des-Neiges alone, 5,060 households are allocating more than 80 per cent of their income toward rent. What is it like to pay too much of your income in rent? It means not having enough for other necessities, basic things like public transport, heating, food, telephone bills, clothing, and medical and dental care. For parents, it’s a struggle paying for school supplies or new clothes when kids grow out of old ones. Mortgages and home loans (if interested, get info here) have become the go-to option for the new lot of homeowners in America. The older generation of owners, who do have such credit, might opt for refinancing them, but the question remains – how much of your income goes into your house? The answer – less than what you would ideally want! Hopelessness among tenants and homeowners tends to settle in: it’s a big cloud coming down and there is no way out. For many, physical and mental health problems ensue: depression, isolation, addiction, diabetes, heart problems, to name a few.

A balcony with a For Rent sign on an apartment building on Barclay avenue in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges in Montreal on Saturday, November 8, 2014. Dario Ayala / Montreal Gazette

Who needs social housing in “Condo Nation?” Seniors on pension, people with health problems or with disabilities, newcomers to the country, single parents, the working poor, those who are unemployed, people on welfare, and caregivers. Social housing is the solution for them. Here are the stories of two Housing Rights Committee members:

Ms. C lost her job as a translator many years ago. Getting social housing has meant feeling finally at home, safe and secure, after a series of very difficult experiences with roaches and mould-infested slums. “That’s what happens when you don’t have money in this city, you have to accept substandard housing,” she explained. For Mr. P, when he arrived in Montreal as a new immigrant, he had great dreams about what living in Canada would be like. Instead, after working for a few years, he and his wife developed severe health problems. He ended up living for 20 years in an apartment that was infested with cockroaches. His place was in a general state of disrepair. Year after year, his rent increased: in 20 years, it almost doubled, but the state of the apartment remained the same. “I would clean and clean my apartment but never feel like it’s enough. In 2014, I found social housing and it feels like heaven. I feel like 20 years later, the dream I had about Canada finally came true,” he said.

These stories are far from unique. Social housing is a long-term solution to poverty, a societal investment. Building new social housing units with AccèsLogis costs about $250 million a year, only about 0.38 per cent of the program expenses of the government last year. Recently, the Société d’habitation du Québec sponsored a study that found that for every dollar invested in social housing, $2.30 of wealth is created in the economy. Not only does social housing give us great return on investment, but for people struggling to get by at the end of the month, month after month, it can be a lifesaver.

“Home sweet home,” the saying goes. But with the Liberal government considering cutting funding to AccèsLogis, the adage rings less and less true. We need to fight for social housing and stand up for the members of our society who can’t afford dazzling condo high-rises.

Susan Fitch, Claude Hopfenblum, Kurt John, Sheetal Pathak, Nalawattage T. Pinto and Molly Tenzer are members of the Housing Rights Committee of Project Genesis.

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Hard times for renters in Côte-des-Neiges

PG — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 21:20:24 +0000

Montreal Gazette – November 11, 2014

Marina can’t sleep.

She is two months behind on her rent, her phone has been cut off for nonpayment, and she is behind on her electricity bill by six months.

Sixty-five years old, single and childless, Marina has not been able to find work for several years now. Originally from the Philippines, Marina worked as a nanny when she first came to Montreal as a young woman. Eventually, she managed to start a small business as a dressmaker. She cobbled together a decent living with that and working as a school lunch monitor and a caretaker for the elderly at a hospital in the evenings. But in the past decade, all of that work has dried up.

MONTREAL, QUE.: NOVEMBER 8, 2014 — A balcony with a For Rent sign on an apartment building on Barclay avenue in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges in Montreal on Saturday, November 8, 2014. Rent prices in the borough are higher than elsewhere in Montreal and the average income of tenants is lower. (Dario Ayala / Montreal Gazette)

“It’s coming down, down, down, my situation,” says Marina, who asked the Montreal Gazette not to print her real name as she fears she would be evicted if her landlord realizes just how hopeless her financial situation is.

The rent on her tiny 3½ in Côte-des-Neiges is $715 a month. Her income is $868 per month ($573 in welfare, $215 from her Quebec Pension Plan and $80 in shelter allowance) which means she devotes 82 per cent of her monthly income to keeping a roof over her head.

She eats one or two meals a day at MultiCaf, a community cafeteria and food bank. For dinner, Marina generally hopes for an invitation from one of her many “big-hearted” friends, some of whom she has helped in the past when her own situation was less dire. She borrows money from friends, too, but always pays them back.

Even with the free food and the loans, Marina’s financial situation is simply untenable. She clings to hope that she will soon get a coveted spot in an HLM, subsidized housing in which tenants are charged 25 per cent of their income toward rent. For six years, she has been on the waiting list, which is 2,558 names long in Côte-des-Neiges alone. She got to 17th from the top two years ago, but the list is operated on a points system based on need, and others in even more dire need keep leapfrogging over her. Now she’s number 58.

The saddest thing about Marina’s story is that it is so shockingly common, in Montreal in general, but in Côte-des-Neiges in particular.

Most people rent rather than own their dwellings in Côte-des-Neiges; almost 80 per cent of the households are rentals. There are 5,060 households in which the tenants devote more than 80 per cent of their household income to rent. That is 15 per cent of tenant households in that neighbourhood, compared with 11 per cent in the city of Montreal as a whole.

Last week, the housing group FRAPRU released new statistics on the rental housing crisis in Côte-des-Neiges. The group released its alarm-raising “Dossier Noir” report on the rental housing situation across the province in September based on data from the National Household Survey for 2011. But FRAPRU asked Statistics Canada for more detailed data on some of the hardest hit areas, and is now doing a Quebec-wide tour to highlight these findings as they come in.

The scale and gravity of the rental housing situation in Côte-des-Neiges “surpasses by a wide margin the already difficult conditions seen across the city of Montreal,” says François Saillant, coordinator at FRAPRU.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, tenants who pay more than 30 per cent of their income toward rent will be forced to cut in other basic areas such as food, clothing and school supplies.

In Côte-des-Neiges, 46 per cent of tenants are in that position.

Higher than average rents combined with lower than average tenant incomes are what makes Côte-des-Neiges Quebec’s capital of misery for tenants. The median household income in 2011 was $29,855 in Côte-des-Neiges, compared with $32,629 in Montreal as a whole. Median rent was $716 in this neighbourhood in 2011, and $684 in the city as a whole.

So if things are so bad for tenants in Côte-des-Neiges, why don’t they just move to a neighbourhood where rent is cheaper?

Lots of reasons, says Chris Schultz, community organizer with Project Genesis, a housing advocacy group in Côte-des-Neiges.

First, moving is expensive. Second, people with very low incomes need to rely on neighbours and friends, as well as services like MultiCaf and Project Genesis to get by. Third, landlords in Côte-des-Neiges have offered rental housing to generations of immigrants, so they may be less likely to discriminate or require credit checks than those in other parts of the city.

For Marina, it’s also a sense of belonging to the place she has called home for over 30 years. Her brown eyes fill with tears when she speaks about the difficulties of those early days, when she had trouble with her employers, knew no one in Montreal, and barely spoke French. But she has built a community now, by helping others when she can and volunteering for community groups like Project Genesis. She desperately needs help now, and she is getting some in this neighbourhood.

Schwartz says for people like Marina, the only real solution is to build more social housing in Côte-des-Neiges. That’s why housing groups have advocated for years for social housing to be built on the old Blue Bonnets racetrack site. Mayor Denis Coderre confirmed recently that a housing development with some social housing will go ahead on that site, but housing advocates want a firm commitment for 2,500 units.

“There is nowhere else. It is pretty much the last large stretch of undeveloped land in the core of Montreal, and it’s near transit and it is publicly owned,” Schwartz said. “Once this site goes, that’s it. Where else can you put all these people?”

Michelle Lalonde

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