As Quebec faces an unprecedented housing crisis, the Alliance des corporations d’habitations abordables du territoire du Québec (ACHAT) is making a strong call for a transformation of the housing sector—one that must involve a significant increase in the proportion of non-profit housing in the province to achieve real affordability for all. To this end, ACHAT proposes making the achievement and long-term maintenance of a minimum target of 20% of the rental market protected from speculation a collective priority.
According to demographic projections, Quebec will need to add approximately 231,000 non-profit housing units within five years and 323,000 units within 25 years to reach the 20% target. Ambitious, province-wide action is urgently needed to ensure steady, realistic progress toward this goal. Only a vigorous, planned, and calculated approach can guarantee long-term intergenerational equity and residential stability for all. This human-centered vision must guide the sector’s transformation.
To build the sector’s capacity for autonomy, necessary to achieve and sustain the 20% target, ACHAT proposes launching a national initiative built on four pillars:
- Undertake a large-scale consolidation and merger exercise
- Increase professionalization and stimulate the growth of housing NPOs
- Accelerate acquisitions and intensify rental housing construction
- Mobilize strategic partnerships between housing NPOs and the public, community, and private sectors to maximize collective impact
As non-profit housing in Quebec is currently managed by approximately 2,550 different building owners, it is crucial that existing structures maximize their effectiveness and impact by undertaking voluntary and progressive consolidation, following the example of the Offices municipaux d’habitation, the number of which was successfully reduced from 500 to 100 in the span of ten years. This strategy would also strengthen the sector’s resilience and give it the leverage needed to meet the growing demand for affordable housing.
“Non-profit housing is a sustainable solution to the recurring housing crises. Yet at the current pace, reaching 20% of the market remains a significant challenge. To succeed, we must consolidate our sector and accelerate the scaling-up of large, professional, non-profit corporations to maximize the impact of every dollar invested,” said Sébastien Parent-Durand, Managing Director of ACHAT.
Reaching and maintaining a minimum threshold of 20% non-profit housing in Quebec’s rental market, owned by housing NPO’s, would bring numerous benefits, including a reduction in real estate speculation, long-term rent stabilization and affordability, decreased dependency on public subsidies over time, and improved preservation of the existing housing stock.
“While we need tens of thousands of non-profit housing units, our sector must transform to attract significant capital in order to deploy volume-based development strategies,” stated Louis-Philippe Myre, Chair of ACHAT’s Board of Directors.
A social economy model proven here and abroad
There is now a clear consensus on the challenges facing social and affordable housing: there is a shortage of supply and diversity of models across Quebec. A significant portion of the population is in precarious situations—families, single mothers, low-income households, students, seniors, or people living with physical or mental disabilities. Non-profit housing organizations develop and operate long-term housing projects to meet these needs.
Many are already well established and have a lasting, positive impact across Quebec, such as:
- Interloge – providing quality social and affordable housing to low-income individuals and families for 45 years
- Corporation Mainbourg – managing 1,200 housing units, including a 48-room intermediate resource, and contributing to the development of three childcare centres
- Logement HAN – developing low-rent housing adapted for people with physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, or mild loss of autonomy
- La Bouée – effectively protecting affordability for low-income households in the Capitale-Nationale region
- UTILE – multiplying real estate projects for the student population
Transforming the housing sector: a shared responsibility
While public authorities have a leading role to play, frontline actors in the social economy share a responsibility to drive change. The sector is already moving forward—ACHAT and its members are prime examples—but efforts must be intensified. ACHAT is therefore putting forward a set of cross-cutting recommendations for all three levels of government to ensure that every public policy aimed at increasing the market share of non-profit housing is both coherent and complementary.
To read the full report Non-Profit Housing | Developing a New Model for Quebec, which presents ACHAT’s proposal for transforming the housing sector:
20% TargetAbout ACHAT
The Alliance des corporations d’habitations abordables du territoire du Québec (ACHAT) is a group of collective enterprises in real estate (owners, operators, and developers non profit, coops and parapublics organisations) unique in the national social economy network. ACHAT’s actual 25 member organizations collectively hold 10,400 units with an estimated market value exceeding $2 billion, 7,352 of which are in development.
Source: Alliance des corporations d’habitations abordables du territoire du Québec (ACHAT)
Contact: Marie-Rose Desautels – Marie-Rose@morinrp.com – (819) 580-9235