It’s moving day almost everywhere in Quebec, Wednesday, but the pandemic, combined with a shortage of housing, makes things worse this year.
Because the COVID-19 pandemic did not reduce the number of moves during this summer period. On the contrary, after a certain break in March and April, activity has resumed for the past few weeks, says the owner of Déménagement Le Clan Panneton, Pierre-Olivier Cyr.
“Surprisingly, it’s the same as last year and others before,” he notes. But usually, our peak period ends between June 15 and July 15, but here we see a sprawl that goes until the end of August, beginning of September. ”
photo-source position-absolute" itemprop="copyrightHolder"> MAXIME DELAND / AGENCE QMI
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Pandemic forces, several health measures must also be taken by the movers who are hired. The Panneton Clan requests that only one person be present in order to limit interactions between the movers and the customers.
Those who prefer to call on friends or family should also apply sanitary measures such as thorough cleaning of surfaces and a reduced number of participants.
“Normally I would have invited seven to eight people, but today, I have to limit myself to three people for safety reasons,” explains a tenant I met near Trois-Rivières, where many students packed up. this year.
Several of them have had their sessions cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Others, whose courses will be taught remotely the next session, do not need short-term accommodation near CEGEP or the university.
In certain apartment buildings popular with students, TVA Nouvelles was able to observe up to five simultaneous moves. What complicate travel in the corridors of the building.
“We are doing our best, we are going to clean the apartment really well to be sure that we will not be contaminated once there, but it is not that obvious,” admits one of these students in the middle of moving .
July 1 is also synonymous with animals abandoned for all kinds of reasons by tenants. This year is no exception: the Montreal SPCA is once again bombarded with calls from owners unable to continue taking care of their little beast.
“This year is special because there are several people who have lost their jobs and the vacancy rate is particularly low in the Montreal region. What we seem to have are people who did not expect to find themselves in this situation ”, explains the director general of the Montreal SPCA, Élise Desaulniers.
The vacancy rate in Montreal hovers around 1.4%, unheard of. This situation pushes up the price of rents and forces some owners who have not found accommodation accommodating animals to turn to shelters.
“It is often a heartbreaking decision. These people are literally in tears, ”said Ms. Desaulniers.
The exceptional situation this year also causes complications for landlords when some tenants, who have not managed to find new accommodation, refuse to move despite the end of the lease.
According to a survey by CORPIQ, 5% of owners have been warned by at least one tenant that they will refuse to move.
“Concerned landlords have even informed us that they are keeping vacant accommodation as a preventive measure rather than re-renting it, since they expect to need it to temporarily house new tenants who will not be able to take possession of their accommodation in because of an occupant without rights ”, explains the director of public affairs of the CORPIQ, Hans Brouillette.
While it is usually quick enough for a landlord to obtain an emergency eviction order from the Régie du logement, the pandemic has caused significant delays in processing such requests.
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