That being said: the latest figure for Montreal is 3% (blended) and rent has beaten inflation every month of 2024 so far. What we’re after is really rent deflation, which is probably something that can only happen with strong competition for renters. It doesn’t look like 3% vacant = a buyer’s market

A market temporarily at 7% vacancy might not have the same deflationary pressure as a market hitting 3% if all actors trust the government will take active measures to keep that rate around 3%. If Montreal added 1000's of units as a one-time deal, some landlords would wait with empty units.

Ah, I think I misunderstood. I agree, tying low vacancy rate to upzoning can be useful. Although that begs the question why we had to wait for things to get bad to upzone. But one step at a time.