Airbnb is causing a shortage of access to long-term affordable housing in Montreal and, as a result, also rising rent prices across the city.

Catherine Lussier, Community Organizer at housing rights group Le Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) says the first thing we can see in Montreal as a result of Airbnb is loss of access to affordable long-term housing.

Lussier said different studies have shown that Airbnbs increase rent in surrounding areas.

"Airbnb is a profitable way for landlords to make money so we have lost affordable housing because these places have transformed into Airbnbs," she said, adding that tenants have also been evicted.

She said that some tenants can't even afford to live in their neighbourhood anymore. As a result of climbing rent prices, some tenants in Montreal have been priced out of neighbourhoods they've lived in for years – some even decades – forcing them to move off-island in some cases.

Lussier said as a result of the pandemic, the amount of Airbnbs have been reduced, but it still is very high. She said that some landlords have decided to not rent again with tourism coming back amidst reopening.

So why do some landlords prefer Airbnb?

Lussier said any type of platform is more profitable for landlords than renting long-term.

Airbnb is tempting for property owners, as the average listing on the website charges $127 a night. And the average 1 bedroom apartment in Montreal is being rented for $1,450 – so if a listing at this rate is booked every night in a row through Airbnb for a month, a landlord will make that much in less than two weeks.

She said Airbnb doesn't only have high consequences in the City of Montreal, but also the whole province and other major Canadian cities.