The number of households homeless or at risk of homelessness continued to rise [Video]

The number of families without housing, without a lease or looking for housing has continued to rise over the past two weeks.

A few regions saw decreases, but most saw increases.

While the number reached 1,667 on July 4, it stood at 1,944 on Friday, according to the latest data from the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ). Of these, 484 households are temporarily housed by municipalities — 167 in hotels — and 317 with relatives.

However, around 10 per cent of these temporarily housed households are those who have obtained assistance as a result of a disaster, and not because of the housing crisis.

Not a surprise

“Generally speaking, we’re seeing a slight increase in the number of households that are still being assisted, and we’re not surprised by this, considering the housing shortage that’s being observed quite a bit across the territory,” said Sébastien Olivier, Director of Communications at SHQ, in an interview with The Canadian Press.

He pointed out that …