A new project by the Fédération des Coopératives d’Habitation Intermunicipale du Montréal Métropolitain (FECHIMM) will help newcomers find affordable housing.
The program will show newcomers how to look for housing and accompany them as they apply. It will also explain how social housing, co-op housing and non-profits operate. FECHIMM Head of Communications Richard Audet says the project is intended to better integrate people, not create more social housing units.
Currently, 20,000 families in Montreal live in co-ops. Another 2,000 names were on the waiting list as of October. FECHIMM’s program intends to make housing in this competitive space more accessible for newcomers and reduce any discrimination faced when applying.
The program will be financed by the City of Montreal and Quebec’s immigration ministry. It will be conducted as a collaboration with the Centre social d’aide aux immigrants.