When Faten Khemiri first moved into her apartment in Montreal's Park Extension neighbourhood, she was paying $490 per month for rent.
That climbed to $1,300 two years ago, she says.
"Rent is out of everyone's reach ... it's really unbelievable," said Khemiri, a single mother of three who says she has lived in the neighbourhood for 20 years.
Advocates say the scarcity of affordable housing in Montreal has recently hit more vulnerable neighbourhoods like Park Extension.
Concerns are especially heightened now, with less than three weeks until moving day.
"Historically a neighbourhood home to the working class and low-income immigrant communities(…)recently come under a lot of pressure from rapid gentrification of the neighbourhood," said Amy Darwish of the Parc-Extension Action Committee.
Units that used to be occupied by low-income renters are being renovated and enlarged, pushing many people out, says Darwish.
"Rents are nearly double what they were. Many tenants were paying about $500 a month in rent and are now paying rents that are closer to $900 to $1000," she said.
Renters are then forced to either pay rent beyond their means, live in units that don't fit their needs, or leave the neighbourhood altogether, she said.
Darwish is pushing for more long-term solutions like rent control and removing landlords' rights to hike the rent during lease swaps, adding, "There absolutely needs to be a significant investment in the construction of social housing."
For her part, Quebec's housing minister says there's never been so much social housing under construction, with over 10,000 units being built.
France-Élaine Duranceau apologized Wednesday for "insensitive" remarks she made about renters who transfer their leases to avoid a price hike during the changeover.
