Planning and Public Domain Committee Chair Sébastien Schneeberger closed consultations on housing Bill 31 this Thursday with the submission of the committee report to the National Assembly. 

During three days of consultations over two weeks, committee members heard from interest groups representing landlords and tenants, as well as cities, students, and workers in the province. 

In their presentation, the City of Montreal offered a dozen recommendations for the bill to better address the housing crisis. These included sustained support on social housing, harsher penalties for fraudulent evictions, more resources for Quebec’s housing tribunal – and an end to the threat to lease transfers. 

The threat to lease transfers has been the main source of contention in the bill. Lease transfers were initially enshrined as part of tenants’ right to movement, but are now an important tool to keep rents in the province low.

Lease transfers aren't all that's at stake: the bill also touches on matters like evictions, leases, and proceedings at the housing tribunal. It’s the changes to representation at the TAL that provoked comment from the Barreau du Quebec, which represents lawyers in the province.

Bâtonnière Catherine Claveau approves of the bill’s changes, which broaden the scope of potential representatives at the TAL. But she says the legislation needs tweaks to prevent tenants from potential abuse. 

“Any representative, other than that of a lawyer or a professional, must be free of charge.”

Following the submission of the committee report to the national assembly, Bill 31 will return for close reading by parliamentary commission. If there are any amendments, that’s when the public will start to see them.

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