A group is calling on the government to enshrine the right to housing in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, as part of a major reform to end homelessness.
In a list of recommendations made public Wednesday, the Quebec Collective for the Prevention of Homelessness (CQPI) also calls for a ban on short-term tourist rentals such as Airbnb, and also demands a “public, universal, mandatory and accessible” rental registry.
According to McGill lawyer and professor Pearl Eliadis, who chaired this CQPI project, a strengthened legal framework is needed in light of the scale of the current crisis.
In 2024, the Legault government had closed the door to recognizing the right to housing as a fundamental right, even though the Federal Housing Advocate’s Office urged each province to recognize in law “the right of the person to adequate housing as defined by international law”.
Reform is needed “in order to hold the state legally accountable and to allow people who are truly in need to exercise recourse” if they are left homeless, argued Eliadis in an interview with The Canadian Press.
Furthermore, legal obligations would force the State to provide “genuine accountability” to ensure that “the measures taken actually reduce homelessness,” she said.
“Real, clear, binding reduction targets” could thus be set in law, added Professor Max Bell of McGill’s School of Public Policy.
This plea for legislative reform is made public a week after the publication of an open letter from several prominent figures, initiated by former Premier Pauline Marois, asking each of the parties to commit to holding a summit on homelessness if they form the government in October.
In the 2025 census of people experiencing homelessness, no fewer than 12,000 people were counted throughout Quebec.
According to official data, five regions in Quebec experienced an increase in homelessness of more than 50 per cent between 2022 and 2025.
The CQPI document also calls for the recognition of a “duty of assistance”, inspired in particular by what exists in Wales.
Thus, when a person leaves an institution managed by Quebec – hospital, prison, youth centre – the State should ensure through follow-up that the person “has at least a temporary residence” and “offer assistance to the person if they wish”.
Because we know that many people who end up on the street today are there because they left an institution without any safety net, noted Eliadis.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
