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Tenants are losing their homes on an unprecedented scale as owners evict them for renovations, Québec solidaire MNAs and housing organizations said at a press conference Sunday.

Landlords are exploiting loopholes in the housing law to get rid of occupants so they can jack up rents, repurpose apartments as short-term tourist rentals or turn them into condos, said Ruba Ghazal, member of the National Assembly for Mercier, which includes the sought-after Plateau-Mont-Royal and Mile End districts.

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“It’s a real housing crisis,” said Ghazal, who was accompanied by the party’s housing critic, Andrés Fontecilla, as well as some displaced tenants and housing advocates.

The MNAs called on the Coalition Avenir Québec government to declare a moratorium on evictions for the purposes of altering or repurposing housing units in areas where the vacancy rate is under three per cent.

They also want the government to set up an emergency committee to help displaced tenants find homes and to tighten the rules on evictions in Quebec’s Civil Code.