Thank you, Ms. Chabot. I greatly appreciate it.
I was talking about a national policy. A valuable strategy was implemented, offering a wide range of tools and programs. However, to be truly effective, we also need a national housing policy. That's what we're telling the Quebec government. We've been waiting years for an action plan, but it hasn't been introduced yet. However, even before this action plan, we need a policy. Above all, the right to housing must be recognized. Once this right has been recognized, we'll need a national policy to clearly define all the actions and properly develop social and community housing.
In Quebec, the players involved in social and community housing in general are now looking at new ways to fund the construction of social and community housing and to ensure the long‑term viability of the current stock. We conducted studies in certain European countries that have successfully allocated 20% of their rental stock to social and community housing. We wanted to find out how these countries had managed in recent decades, or even in the past century, to provide enough housing to meet their residents' urgent needs.
Remember, housing is the foundation of well‑being. If you don't have a home, or if it isn't adapted to your needs, you certainly won't be as productive or active as possible. Having a home also empowers people. We're looking at different ways of doing things.
We're told that 3.5 million housing units must be built in Canada, and 680,000 in Quebec. For social and community housing to play a real part in balancing the rental market, we need to double the capacity of the housing stock. Right now, the stock comprises roughly 160,000 units, all types of tenure combined. However, we believe that an additional 173,000 units are needed to meet demand. This would bring us closer to 20% of the rental market. This would significantly help maintain the housing balance and regulate the average rent of affordable housing for people who are somewhat better off.