As the price of living increases, housing affordability is affecting several people, namely the young population. Currently, in Montreal, the state of the housing crisis has been at its worst ever since the early 2000s. According to a survey conducted by Royal Lepage, a real estate company, the price of houses has increased by 18.5 per cent, and that is only for the start of 2022. The issues surrounding the price of living in Montreal are only deepening. Some examples of this are the increase in the number of homeless people, which went up by 4 per cent since 2018. The new challenges involving moving day are also a factor. The price of rent is now making people see it as an obstacle. This clearly demonstrates how the housing crisis in Montreal has not been improving, in fact it has been getting worse. 

While there is a significant problem arising concerning a crucial part of society’s well-being, there are some policies that have been thought about to ease this crisis. After the re-election of the CAQ government for a second term on October 3rd, 2022, many citizens were left wondering if there would be anything done concerning the housing crisis. In 2018, during his first time as Prime Minister, François Legault had “promised to subsidize rent for 7,200 units” only if he got re-elected. Mrs. Andrée Laforest, the minister for the municipal affairs and housing, has said that the government is closely following the situation and that they have plans to help with the increase in housing unaffordability. There is also talk about how much money in the yearly budget has been put into helping the housing crisis. 260 M$ has been set aside in the budget to help the AccèsLogis Québec program. This program aims to bring in several affordable housing units. However, it has not been seen in action as of 2022, even though it was announced more than 3 years ago, back in July of 2019. 

Alongside the policies suggested by the provincial government, the Liberal Party of Canada has also been trying to implement policies to aid with the crisis. The housing crisis affects many bigger cities in Canada, like Toronto and Vancouver, not only Montreal. Therefore, the Trudeau government is providing 500$ to Canadians that are struggling to pay rent as well as building new homes that are affordable. The 500$ payment to Canadians who are struggling with the housing crisis was promised as a part of the 2022 proposed budget. However, there has been no further evidence of the payment, nor is there any information about when it should take place. Since this is a part of federal policy, every Canadian should be affected equally. It is also important to note that this payment is not a long-term aid to this complicated issue. After receiving the 500$, there is no promise that it will come through to citizens every month, or even every year. We can also see how it can be problematic for those with a high rent fee, 500$ might not make the biggest dent in a rent that costs around 2,000$ a month. 

There does not seem to be a bright future ahead for housing affordability: the prices are not going down. The governments, federal and provincial alike, need to put their heads together to take action in order to aid with the housing crisis, or even prevent one moving forward. The future of housing affordability does not look good; the governments will have their hands full for a few years. The question of government involvement is a big one, but will they succeed?