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While the rest of Canada celebrates the country’s birthday Monday, thousands of Montrealers will whiz through the city in ramshackle trucks to partake in our most notorious civic pastime: moving day.

Movers will exploit the generosity of their friends, enlisting them to squirm appliances up a spiral staircase or unload countless boxes into a flat that boasts a partial view of a Home Depot parking lot off Parc Ave.

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It is menial, frustrating labour, but given Montreal’s reputation as a renter’s city, the pain is worth an affordable apartment near downtown. But will it stay that way?

Two experts and a recent study suggest Montreal’s status as a mythical renter’s paradise is exactly that: a myth.

“The days of affordable rent and an abundance of rental stock in Montreal, those days are over,” said David Wachsmuth, assistant professor at McGill School of Urban Planning. “We’re seeing the lowest vacancy rates we’ve seen in 20 years, we’re seeing rent prices trending upwards and the balance of power has shifted dramatically in favour of landlords.”