Housing has long been an issue in the Pontiac, but it is one thing to talk about it and another to truly prioritize it, highlighted Warden Jane Toller.

About 30 representatives from the community, institutional, private, and political sectors were invited on Feb. 25 to attend a forum organized by the Table de développement social du Pontiac (TDSP) and Community Development Corporation (CDC) Pontiac to facilitate a conversation about the ongoing housing shortage in the Pontiac.

The group came together to discuss housing . . .

issues in the region and share their knowledge to have a broader perspective on possible development strategies related to housing.

This housing forum is a follow up to the Social Development Forum held in November 2018, which brought housing issues to the forefront.

In addition, the CDC Pontiac launched a study on the housing situation that was tabled in February 2020 to get a better handle on things like how many buildings there are and what state they are in, explained Geneviève Has, Administrative and Communications Director the CDC.

“With the pandemic and the changes in the housing markets, the issue has become even more worrying,” she said.

The study took a look at six communities and their housing situation, and identified social or adapted housing options for certain populations.

Socio-economic indicators show an aging population (1 in 4 people are over 65 years old) that has limited income. Furthermore this population frequently spends between 30 and 50 per cent of their income on housing.

For those who can not afford housing, the rental options have been identified as minimal and given that buildings are on average 50 years old and in need of major repairs, the available housing is not always in good condition. The study identified the biggest group in need of affordable and safe housing are single people of all ages and single-parent families.

For the full report, visit the CDC website. The organization is still working on releasing the full version of the report in english, noted Has.

During the first panel the CDC discussed the findings from the study and invited the different sectors to share the impacts of housing on recruitment, services offered, and the population.

One of the representatives from CISSSO talked about how the lack of housing is impacting their hiring process, noted Has.Even if salaries increase, nurses still have to commute long distances outside the city. “We’re lacking on infinitives here,” said Has.

In a media round table on March 10, MNA André Fortin echoed that sentiment and said there needs to be better policies around developing rural housing in Quebec, which would impact the quality of care provided in hospitals in this region.

“We need affordable housing policies in rural areas just as much as you do in urban areas,” he said.

Warden Jane Toller, who spoke at the forum, brought up some suggestions. She noted that the region should look at using existing buildings, whether residential or commercial, that are currently empty to potentially turn them into rental housing. She also spoke about creating seniors housing, affordable housing, and Indigenous housing.

“So moving forward from that forum, we need to create a task force, not just made up of the MRC, but would be made up of a whole bunch of organizations,” said Toller.

The second panel addressed housing stock issues with representatives from the municipal, construction, and community sectors.

Inviting all the different members of the community to this forum was a way to create a spotlight on an ongoing issue, although it is not a new problem, said Has. This forum was a way to follow up and have an open discussion on housing, she continued.

“The community sector is already really active in the housing issues, the thing is we cannot do it alone. We need to be supported by the entire community. There needs to be engagement from all of those sectors and work together on the issues if we want to see it progress,” said Has.

Therefore the goal behind the forum is information sharing and touching base with the different sectors to get a better scope of all aspects of the issue.

In an email response, Michel Vallières, the Pontiac CDC General Director, highlighted that since the Social Development Forum, the organization has supported work done for the creation of the Pontiac OH in January 2020, they commissioned a study on housing in the Pontiac MRC, and done research on rental support programs that could eventually be useful for the development of the Pontiac OH.

“The outcome of this day is very positive. We hope to maintain a mobilization around the issue of housing and to develop, in the coming year, strategies that will allow us to provide the community with a resource dedicated to the issue of housing in the Pontiac,” said Vallières.

Through organizing that forum, Has pointed out that they did achieve their aim to get everyone in the same place and discuss housing issues. “If you want to have long term collaboration, you have to make sure that everybody understands the issue in the same way, you have to put together your knowledge about the issues and that’s what we were doing here,” said Has.

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