Housing industry partners meet with mayor of Rimouski
The Association de la construction du Québec (ACQ), the Association des professionnels de la construction et de l'habitation du Québec (APCHQ), the Corporation des propriétaires immobiliers du Québec (CORPIQ) and the Institut de développement urbain du Québec (IDU) met with Rimouski Mayor Guy Caron to discuss recently unveiled local initiatives that will enable the municipality to stimulate the creation of new housing units and thus counter the region's housing crisis. These include, among others, a framework for the construction of detached accessory dwelling units (UHAD), the introduction of a 5-year property tax credit for the construction of affordable housing for projects of 8 units or more, and the introduction of an automatic property tax credit upon approval of affordable and social housing projects of more than 20 units.
"We are pleased to have had the opportunity to meet with housing industry partners today. Tackling the housing crisis that is sweeping the province will only be possible if the various players in the field work together. Last January, we announced a plan to combat the housing shortage, many of whose actions are directly linked to government funding. Cities must speak with one voice for the benefit of our communities and to find lasting solutions to the housing crisis," says Guy Caron, Mayor of Rimouski.
"Like many cities in Quebec, Rimouski is confronted with a major housing issue, with a vacancy rate of 0.4%. Faced with this situation and to stem the crisis, the city has chosen to act by relying on incentives rather than increased taxation. We believe this is an interesting direction to take to create more housing and promote affordability," emphasize the representatives of housing industry partners Guillaume Houle of the ACQ, Maxime Rodrigue of the APCHQ, Marc-André Plante of the CORPIQ and Jean-Marc Fournier of the IDU.
The need for concerted action
While the housing shortage is responsible for soaring rental housing prices and the difficulty of accessing home ownership, the only way to reduce overheating in a sustainable way is to increase supply. Housing industry partners are looking forward to working with Quebec's municipal leaders to find solutions that will further stimulate housing construction and review the many mechanisms that are holding back new construction.
"To improve the supply situation and establish a long-term vision that will enable us to emerge from the crisis, we believe that all players in the housing sector must roll up their sleeves and look in the same direction to find solutions to increase and accelerate the development of new housing units. The voice and role of municipalities in this context seems inescapable to us", say the industry partners.
Towards a national housing action plan
Given that the municipal sector is facing critical housing issues without a suitable source of funding, the partners believe that the various levels of government must jointly conduct an objective examination of the challenges and issues responsible for the crisis in the housing sector.
To address the housing shortage in all regions of Quebec, the four organizations maintain that this joint diagnosis is essential to enable government authorities at all levels to draw up a genuine action plan in which their respective actions will be complementary and coherent. Armed with these objective findings and this plan, government authorities should be able to bring together all players, social and economic, to meet the housing challenge.
