Student Survival Guide 2010

HOUSING

Not long ago, Montreal was known for its plethora of awesome and affordable abodes throughout the city. In the last few years, gentrification has rendered the Plateau, Mile-End and other neighbourhoods increasingly hostile to the student – vacancy rates have tumbled, leading to significant rent hikes and duke-’em-up battles among desperate apartment seekers. You’ll definitely up your chances of snagging a decent place and keeping it if you arm yourself with the free information and advice provided at the following sources.

Concordia Off-Campus Housing and Job Bank Job and Apartment Listings Online is a great resource, as it’s updated almost every day: http://hojo.csu.qc.ca. Or you can go in person—with a valid Concordia ID—to 1455 de Maisonneuve W. #H260 (Hall bldg. mezzanine), 848-7474 x7935. Open Mon–Thu, 10am–6pm; Fri 11am–4pm.

McGill Off-Campus Housing Website housing listings for McGill students with valid student numbers. Listings are only available online and are updated daily: www.mcgill.ca/offcampus. For more housing advice, drop by 3473 University, Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm, 398–6010.

NDG Info Depot This user-oriented project of the NDG Community Council is an information centre on low-cost housing, welfare and more. 2121 Oxford (at de Maisonneuve), Wed and Fri, 10am–3pm, 484-1471.

Store Your Dorm The name says it all: a service specifically designed for students to store their stuff over the summer. Call 1-866-636-DORM or visit storeyourdorm.ca.

GOVERNMENT-SUBSIDIZED HOUSING

With thousands of people currently on waiting lists for subsidized housing, this formerly viable option might not be as fruitful as it once was, but anything’s worth a try.

Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) Has about 20,000 subsidized rental units offered to those below the poverty line. Full-time students are not eligible unless they have children. But remember, it can take up to two and half years to get an apartment. 415 St-Antoine W., 868-5588 or www.omhm.qc.ca

Societé d’habitation et de développement de Montréal (SHDM) Owns over 5,000 residential rental units that it rents out at slightly lower than market value. Students are eligible. 800 de Maisonneuve East, suite 22. Open Mon-Fri 8:30-12am and 1-4:30pm. Call 380-7436 or go to www.shdm.qc.ca

Habiter Montreal The City’s official subsidized housing program (in English): ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=5097,16283561&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

CO-OPS

Fédération des coopératives d’habitation Intermunicipale du Montréal (FÉCHIM) Represents co-op members and provides the master list of the over 365 housing co-ops on the Island of Montreal. They’ll provide this either in person or by mail. By mail, send a cheque or money order for $7 to FÉCHIM, 3155 Hochelaga #202, H1W 1G4. Include your name, address and phone number. You can also call to check the dates for upcoming information sessions, offered in French. Currently most co-ops have waiting lists of more than 100 names. Open Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm, service slow at lunchtime, 843-6929 or visit www.cooperativehabitation.coop

TENANTS’ RIGHTS

Keeping abreast of your rights and obligations is even more advisable in today’s housing crunch. It’s also good to keep in mind that Quebec leases make you and your roommates “jointly and severally responsible” for paying the rent and generally keeping your apartment in the condition it was in when you got it. Second, it’s a good idea to get any promises your landlord makes, or other agreements, on paper. Contacting any of the following organizations before creating an open conflict or starting an official process is highly recommended.

Arnold Bennett’s Housing Hotline Bennett’s name has become synonymous with tenants’ rights in Montreal. His Tenants’ Advisory Clinic is every Sat from 11am–1pm at 6462 Sherbrooke W. #2, Sun at 11am–1pm at the downtown YMCA, Rm 516 (1440 Stanley). Hotline is open weekdays from 9am–9pm, call 488-0412 or 990-0190

Régie du lodgement This is a regional body of the Quebec government that exists to resolve landlord-tenant disputes in a court-like process. It also provides basic information on tenants’ and landlords’ rights and obligations. They’ll give you a general overview of what you can apply for and do, without getting into specifics. They also have a publicly accessible computer database of all previous Régie decisions, which means you can study your landlord before signing or messing with him or her. Reread your lease and gather all relevant documents before attempting to deal with rental disputes. 5199 Sherbrooke E. #2095, among others, call 873-2245 for addresses and info or go to www.rdl.gouv.qc.ca

Regroupement des comités logements et associations de locataires du Québec An umbrella organization that can inform you about the Comité de logement closest to you. Each Comité offers information and advice on how to deal with housing problems from discrimination, to insects, to unreasonable rent increases. 2000 St-Joseph E. #35. Call 521-7114 to get the local member group closest to you, or visit www.rclalq.qc.ca

Association des locataires de Villeray Open Mon, Wed, Thurs, 1:30–4:30pm. 7378 Lajeunesse #213, 270-6703

Comité logement Centre-Sud Open Tues–Thu, 1:30–4:30pm. 1710 Beaudry #2.6, 521-5992

Comité d’action de Parc Extension Open Tues–Fri, 9am–11:30pm and 1:30–4:30pm. 419 St-Roch #9, 278-6028

Comité logement de la Petite Patrie Open Mon–Thu, 9:30am–4:30pm. 6747 St-Denis, 272-9006

Comité logement du Plateau Open Mon–Fri, 9am–12pm and 1:30–5pm. 4450 St-Hubert #328, 527-3495

Comité logement Rosemont Open Mon–Fri, 9:30am–12pm and 1:30-4:30pm. 5350 Lalond #R1045, 597-2581 or http://www.comitelogement.org

FRAPRU A Quebec-wide resource network for tenants’ rights. The Web site is only in French at this point. 180 Rene Levesque E. #105, 868-4002 or http://www.frapru.qc.ca/

POPIR Comité logement de St- Henri Open Mon–Thu, 9am–12pm and 1:30–4:30pm but closed Wed mornings. 4017 Notre-Dame W., 935-4649

OTHER HOUSING GROUPS

Project Genesis A community activist group focusing on housing issues, particularly in Côte-des-Neiges. Offers services in English, French, Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, Arabic, German, Greek, Italian, Dutch and Yiddish. Open Mon–Tue, 9am–5pm; Thu 9am–7pm; Fri 9am–3pm; closed Wed. 4735 Côte-Ste-Catherine (at Victoria), 738-2036 or www.genese.qc.ca

L’OEIL de Côte-des-Neiges Advice on landlord-tenant disputes and issues. Open on a walk-in basis Mon 2-5pm, Wed 9:30am–12pm and 2–5pm, Fri 9:30am–12pm, or call to make an appointment for other times. 3600 Barclay #344 (metro Côte-des-Neiges then take 165 or 535 bus north to Barclay), 738-0101 or www.oeilcdn.org

NDG Community Council Landlord-tenant advice. Open Mon–Fri, 9am–12:30pm and 1:30–5pm. 5964 Notre-Dame-de-Grace, 2nd fl, 484-1471

OTHER USEFUL RESOURCES

Accès Montréal Storefront bureaucracy! Basically an agency set up by the city to allow Montreal residents to take care of business like paying taxes or tickets without going all the way down to City Hall. The telephone information service is 24 hours, and gives the addresses of their 13 offices and info on other available services. On the web, go to www.ville.montreal.qc.ca and below, under “Réseau Accès Montréal,” click on Points de service. The Accès Montréal membership card costs $7 and entitles you to discounts on both city and partner services, from tennis court rental to Centaur theatre tickets. You need to prove you’re a Montreal resident to get one. Call 311 or 87-ACCES (24/7), Mon–Fri, 8am–5pm

City of Montreal City Services Information about garbage collection, recycling, dangerous materials collection, sidewalk and street repairs, the quality of your drinking water and more. Call 872-1111, or 872-3434 (emergency) or go to www.ville.montreal.qc.ca and click on “The City and its services.”

Services-Québec Offers info on Quebec government programs and services. 800 de Maisonneuve E, RC2. Call 644-4545, or for more complete info, check out their Web site at http://www.gouv.qc.ca/portail/quebec/pgs/citoyens/

Service Canada Toll-free info service offers information and referrals on federal programs and services. Also gives the names and office numbers of Government of Canada employees and departments. National Call Center: 1-800-622-6232 (1-800-O-Canada) or check out http://servicecanada.gc.ca

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Short URL: http://www.montrealmirror.com/wp/?p=12928