Bill 31: Lease Transfers Under Threat in Montreal and the Rest of the Province

Bill 31 poses a threat to a tactic tenants use to keep rents low: lease transfers. Lease transfers allow for tenants to leave before the end of their lease by transferring their current lease to someone else.

This keeps rents low because rent stays the same for those receiving the lease transfer and only allows landlords to raise rent within the legally limit. Rents raises are often outside the legal limit when a tenant leaves and the landlord finds a new tenant. 

CUTV invited Adia Giddings from Housing and Job Resource Centre (HOJO) and Cedric Dussault from Le Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) to discuss Bill 31.

RCLALQ organized a mass protest two weeks ago to denounce Bill 31 and the possible end of lease transfers. This drew a crowd of thousands in Montreal's neighbourhood of Parc-Extension. 

Last year, around 600 households were without housing on July 1. July 1 is annually the biggest moving day in Quebec. This year, at least 107 families were unable to find a home before July 1. Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante called this “unacceptable”.

Dussault said the problems won't stop after July 1 – citing that tenants face many issues finding housing year round. He says that emergency support for those seeking housing is more difficult in months outside of July, especially in winter months. 

Giddings said during the pandemic many rental spaces were bought by large companies, contributing to rising rents. 

Dussault also spoke about the concentration of ownership of housing in Montreal, discussing how a small portion of people have a monopoly over some of the housing in the city. He cited a study recently came out stating that 31.7% of the rental stock in Montreal and that this number is increasing.