2,500 Quebecers evicted from private seniors' residences in one year: report

More than 2,500 Quebec seniors were evicted from their private seniors' residences (RPAs) between 2022 and 2023, according to a report published Tuesday.

The report, conducted by the retiree association AQRP, found that 88 RPAs closed their doors between October 2022 and September 2023.

Half of the evicted tenants were from the Montreal and Quebec City regions, representing just over 1,200 seniors.

The numbers may actually be higher as the Montreal Centre-Ouest and Centre-Sud health centres (CIUSSS) did not disclose their data.

AQRP provincial president Paul-René Roy said vulnerable seniors shouldn't be in this position and called on Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau to take action.

The AQRP says it wants a clause added to Bill 31, currently under study, to prohibit evictions from private seniors' residences.

It says the bill's plan to offer financial compensation to those evicted is not a step in the right direction.

"This legislative proposal risks having harmful consequences on the well-being of RPA residents, forcing them to move and exposing them to psychological after-effects such as the loss of a taste for life and the feeling of being uprooted," said Paul-René Roy in a press release.

Members of the National Assembly are studying Duranceau's controversial Bill 31, which has been significantly modified since its introduction.

In an open letter published at the end of December, seniors' advocacy group Réseau FADOQ called on the government to intervene regarding RPA closures.

"We have also proposed measures to stem the tide of small RPA closures," wrote Réseau FADOQ President Gisèle Tassé-Goodman. "Let's remember that small RPAs are generally located in the regions, and that their closure can uproot tenants who then have to move to larger centres."

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 10, 2024.