On October 27, 2020, the Table des groupes de femmes de Montréal published an open letter supported by 46 groups demanding that the CAQ government consider women as a priority for social housing. We met with PQ deputies Harold Lebel, spokesperson on housing for the third opposition group, and Méganne Perry Mélançon, spokesperson for women's issues for the third opposition group, to provide them with information on our demands. They showed their support by submitting this question to the National Assembly, to which the government is now obligated to respond:
On October 6, 2020, the Canadian and Quebec governments announced the conclusion of a ten-year housing agreement of close to $3.7 billion. If we examine the terms of this agreement, it provides for a total federal financing of $1.84 billion dollars and involves a matching financial commitment from Quebec for the three categories of the Agreement:
- $272.25 million for the category “Quebec Priority”;
- $1.12 billion for the category “Federal Community Housing Initiative”;
- $454.3 million for the category “Canada Housing Benefit.”
We understand that the shared objective of this agreement is to reduce the number of households experiencing housing needs, but we would like to clarify the following points:
- How does the Quebec government plan to distribute the $272.25 million according to "Quebec Priorities"? How many new social housing units will be created in addition to those that have already been announced?
- Considering that the Canadian government's National Housing Strategy was developed using Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) and is part of the Federal Plan for Gender Equality, allowing 25% of funds associated with the Strategy to be dedicated to projects targeting the specific needs of women, girls and their families, do these targets fall under the established Quebec Priorities? If yes, how will these funds be attributed, and will you carry out a differential gender-based analysis with an intersectional perspective for the social housing programs, policies and actions carried out with this funding?