Thank you, Mrs. Chair.
Good morning everyone.
I am here to speak on behalf of FRAPRU, the Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain, a Quebec City organization, as well as the Regroupement des OSBL d'habitation et d'hébergement avec support communautaire de l'Outaouais.
Our main concern relates to the impact that the withdrawal of the mandatory questionnaire will have on our knowledge of housing issues--our colleague just referred to that--and especially on our ability to raise those issues with government.
The data collected through the long-form questionnaire is absolutely essential for us. I refer here to the rates of ownership, the quality of our housing stock, the rent paid by households, the number of renters having to pay too much of their income for rent, and the issue of overcrowding.
After each census, our organization issues a Black Book on housing in which we take stock of the housing situation, especially in Quebec, and compare it to the previous census. For example, we found that, year after year, people spend an always increasing share of their income for housing, up to 30% to 50%, and even 80% in some cases.
Our concern is that, with the new questionnaire, we will not be able to put as much pressure on government and that the data collected will not give us an accurate portrayal of our population and families. If we do not get accurate data, we fear that we will not be able to make good representations to government. FRAPRU as well as our collective and the 130 members it represents have been using this type of data for 20 years.
On the basis of the census data, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is able to target the dire housing needs--that is to say the percentage of their income that families pay for rent--and then to allocate funds between the provinces. In other words, the direst the housing need, the more money the province gets for housing.
So, we are concerned and we ask your committee to use its powers to ensure that the long-form questionnaire is included in the next census.
Thank you.