Social housing tenants were insulated from the 10.2% jump in advertised private rental prices in 2022. However, the proportion of people in social housing (an umbrella term covering public and community housing) fell by a fifth, from 4.6% to 3.7%, over the past decade. The Productivity Commission reports social housing waiting lists grew by over 17% in just three years, from 148,520 in 2019 to 174,624 in 2022.
A project to create new Montreal social housing units for women is closer to becoming a reality. Chez Doris, a non-profit women's shelter foundation, is set to receive $7.5 million in funding from the City of Montreal to purchase two neighbouring buildings in Ville-Marie. The plan is to turn the properties into 19 units reserved for "vulnerable women who have experienced, or are at risk of, homelessness."