The RQRA Calls on the Ministers Responsible for Housing and Seniors to Adapt Rent Control, the Civil Code, and the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec (TAL) to the Realities of Private Seniors’ Residences (RPAs)

January 21st 2025

MONTREAL, January 21, 2025 – The Quebec Seniors’ Residences Association (RQRA) is calling for a new legislative framework that would ensure alignment between seniors’ ability to pay and the financial viability of private seniors’ residences (RPAs) committed to providing care and services.

The balance is currently broken for many of them. The existing legislative framework does not take into account the high proportion of care and services for seniors living in RPAs relative to their total rent, which results in a reality very different from that of traditional multi-unit buildings without services. In some cases, it can even be said that housing is merely ancillary to the services.

The Rent Setting Criteria Regulation, the Quebec Civil Code on residential leasing, and the Residential Tenancy Board (TAL) were all created before the emergence of seniors’ residences, around forty years ago. “Since this legislative framework was not designed for RPAs, we face major issues, exacerbated by the increasing needs of seniors. This results in the deterioration of the availability of RPA units, both financially and functionally,” explains Hans Brouillette, Director of Government Affairs at RQRA.

Among the main challenges, RQRA highlights the following:

• The rent-setting method does not allow RPAs to account for increases in their expenses in several situations: rising regulatory requirements from the Ministry of Health, hiring additional staff, and the imminent end of compensation programs (insurance, labor);
• The useful life of building components and equipment in RPAs, where residents live 24 hours a day, is much shorter than the amortization period for major works set by the Rent Setting Criteria Regulation;
• The rent-setting method discourages technological innovation initiatives that, in fact, improve the quality of life and safety for seniors living in RPAs;
• The TAL declines jurisdiction when RPAs approach the tribunal to address issues related to care needed by residents that may compromise their ability to remain in the residence;
• The inability of RPAs to include services in the lease that would be partially paid through rent and partially supported by home care programs for seniors;
• The misalignment of the rent-setting method and leases with the realities of care units in RPAs.

In early December, RQRA sent a letter addressed jointly to the Minister responsible for Housing, Mrs. France-Elaine Duranceau, and the Minister responsible for Seniors, Mrs. Sonia Bélanger, requesting the creation of a working committee to reform the legislative framework under the TAL’s jurisdiction regarding RPAs.

For the past 6 years, an average of a hundred RPAs have ceased operations each year, in addition to those that change their category, opting not to offer care to seniors due to the excessively demanding regulatory and financial framework.

About RQRA

The Quebec Seniors’ Residences Association (RQRA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to represent and bring together private seniors’ residences in Quebec, in order to offer seniors the quality of life they deserve. The RQRA represents nearly 800 members among the 1,360 remaining private seniors’ residences, totaling 108,000 (80%) of the 135,000 RPA units in Quebec. Its members provide a quality living environment for independent seniors as well as assistance services and healthcare for those who have lost their autonomy.

Sources: RQRA
Ahmed Cherif
Director of Communications and Marketing
Cell: 514-549-1633
acherif@rqra.qc.ca

Source : RQRA