In the initial phase of the provincial election drive, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the leader of Parti Québécois, selected Roger-Comtois High School in Quebec City as the setting to elucidate his party’s stance on reducing immigration rates. He highlighted that due to overcrowding, the school had to incorporate 24 modular classrooms, attributing this issue to Quebec’s immigration capacity surpassing expectations.
Subsequently, St-Pierre Plamondon drew a parallel between immigration and the housing crisis during a later address in Quebec City. He emphasized the negative impact of inadequate policies implemented under the CAQ, particularly during Christine Fréchette’s tenure as the immigration minister, which led to an imbalance between supply and demand, consequently affecting prices.
However, the question arises: Is the surge in Quebec’s immigration rate truly the root cause of these challenges? Most experts consulted by CBC concur that while increased immigration does contribute to supply and demand imbalances, it is crucial to acknowledge preexisting trends that have also fueled these issues.
Statistics Canada data reveals a rise in new immigrants in Quebec under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration. Notably, temporary immigration saw a significant upsurge post the COVID-19 pandemic. The influx of first-generation immigrant students, as highlighted by the Association québécoise du personnel de direction des écoles (AQPDE), has notably fueled school overcrowding in regions like Quebec City and Montérégie.
André Bernier, the president of the association, emphasized the dire situation in schools, where teachers are required to conduct classes in unconventional spaces due to the lack of adequate facilities. He pointed out that overcrowding existed even before the recent immigration surge and is prevalent in regions with minimal immigrant populations as well, underscoring inadequate investment in school infrastructure maintenance.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) does establish a connection between immigration and vacancy rates in its 2026 Housing Market Outlook report. Nonetheless, Olivier Jacques from the Université de Montréal’s school of public health asserts that multiple factors, including federal policies favoring homeowners and insufficient new housing construction, have collectively contributed to the housing crisis.
Amy Darwish, the coordinator of the Comité d’Action de Parc-Extension, criticized the predominant construction of “condo” style rentals, which fail to meet the housing needs of the majority. She emphasized the necessity for substantial investment in social housing, tenant protection measures like rent control and freezes, and a moratorium on evictions to truly address the affordability issue, dismissing the trend of political parties scapegoating immigrants for popularity gains.