PHAQ Stream 1: The Call for Projects Closed on October 14, and What Happens Now

In brief: The PHAQ Stream 1 call for projects, opened on August 5, closed on October 14, 2026 at 2 p.m. The SHQ will announce the selected projects "in the coming months," under a new minority government. If your nonprofit filed with the municipality's letter of interest, the next stage will require, if the project is selected, a municipal contribution of 40% of the grant according to the UMQ and a construction contract that can be signed within 12 months of the selection letter.

A call for projects that closes does not close the file. For a municipality that backed a nonprofit, the period that opens now is when promises turn into resolutions, land and schedules. This article recaps what the Stream 1 call required, what happens after the close and what a council can prepare before learning the result.

PHAQ Stream 1: what closed on October 14

The Programme d'habitation abordable Québec (PHAQ) has four streams, says Quebec.ca. Stream 1 funds the construction of housing for low- or modest-income households. Its call was published on August 5, 2026, according to the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ), by the Ministère de l'Habitation, with the Société d'habitation du Québec (SHQ) choosing the projects. An information session was held on September 3, and the close fell on October 14 at 2 p.m., ten weeks later and nine days after the general election.

Eligible applicants were housing cooperatives, housing offices, nonprofits, private companies and postsecondary institutions. The target groups are families, single people, autonomous seniors or seniors with slight loss of autonomy, and students. A project that includes units for people with particular housing needs falls under Stream 2, not Stream 1.

The number of applications filed has not been published.

The rules that matter to a municipality

A contribution of at least 40% of the base grant

The UMQ recalls that projects must meet a local need, win the support of the municipality where they are built and respect the maximum rents set by the SHQ. It specifies that the municipal contribution is required and equals 40% of the PHAQ grant. It can take the form of a land donation, a financial contribution, infrastructure work or property tax credits, and these forms can be combined.

The Quebec.ca page does not cite that percentage. It says the municipality must attest that the project complies with zoning and that it would support the project financially if selected. The detailed calculation, with the regional factor and worked examples, is in our article on the municipal contribution to PHAQ.

How the grant is calculated

Again per Quebec.ca, the base grant is calculated from an eligible amount per unit, multiplied by a municipal weighting factor and by a rate of 10% to 60%, which depends on the length of the applicant's commitment. Additional grants exist in four cases: municipalities where rents are too low to make a project viable, demonstration projects, high-cost land and environmental measures. Caps are generally 80% of total cost for cooperatives, nonprofits, housing offices and postsecondary institutions, and 60% for private companies, subject to exceptions.

The eligible amount per unit, your region's factor and the maximum rents are in the documents linked from the page. We do not reproduce them here, because they change with the program frameworks.

A construction contract to sign within 12 months

This is the requirement that matters most for modular. The file had to include a schedule showing that a construction contract can be signed within 12 months of the selection letter. The other items: architectural plans (site plan, floors, units, common areas), board resolution, the municipality's letter of interest, incorporation documents. Soil studies are not mandatory, but the page strongly recommends them. The applicant must also hold the building permanently, or under a lease of at least 50 years.

Twelve months is short for a project that does not yet have final plans, controlled land and validated costs. It favours projects that are ready.

What happens now

The SHQ has given no date. Quebec.ca says selected projects will be announced "in the coming months." For Stream 3, the page specifies a 90-business-day period after the close for the status letter, but that period is not stated for Stream 1. Do not assume it.

Here is the sequence the page describes for a selected project:

1. The applicant receives a selection letter.
2. It supplies additional information and documents.
3. It signs a construction and operation agreement, which confirms the grant.
4. It may request reserved units from the Programme de supplément au loyer Québec (PSLQ).
5. Additional financing tools, such as loan guarantees or repayable contributions, may be added to the plan.

For the municipality, the specific council resolution committing the contribution is the step that counts. Our guide to transferring municipal land to a nonprofit describes the paperwork.

The political context: a call launched under one government, decided under another

The call was published under the CAQ government and ends under the Parti Québécois. The PQ won 59 of 127 seats on October 5 and will govern as a minority. Our article on what its plan changes for municipalities goes through the commitments.

What has been published so far is limited. The FRAPRU asks that PHAQ be amended now rather than suspended, so projects already funded are not delayed. That is an organization's request, not a government decision. Nothing in the SHQ pages cited here announces cancellation of the call or a rule change. A filed application therefore stays in the process until an announcement says otherwise.

What it changes for a modular project

The Stream 1 page mentions no construction-method requirement. Stream 3 works differently: selected projects are matched by the SHQ with a design-builder chosen in a qualification call, and no call is open there today. Our article on PHAQ Stream 3 explained for councils details that route.

Three points concern a sponsor considering modular under Stream 1.

• The 12-month deadline. A prefabricated project needs its plans frozen before the factory order. If the filed application already includes architectural plans, as required, the design stage has begun. Our page on the timeline of a modular project explains the sequence between signing and delivery.
• Costs. The eligible amount and the 80% or 60% cap apply to project cost whatever the construction method. For an order of magnitude on a 6, 12 or 24 unit building, see our cost guide and our multiplex page.
• The real schedule. In Grande-Vallée, a Stream 3 project announced in August 2025 opens its site in October 2026: see what that schedule shows. Stream 1 is not Stream 3, but the lesson about upstream preparation holds in both cases.

What to prepare before results are announced

A council does not have to wait to move on three fronts.

1. The site. Clear title, survey, compliant zoning, nearby services. This is the step that blocks most often.
2. The contribution. Decide which form it will take (land, cash, infrastructure, tax credit) and what your budget can absorb, using your region's weighting factor.
3. Plan B. If the project is not selected, what other routes exist? Our funding guide, our article on pooling municipalities into a portfolio and our small-municipality housing guide describe several. Cooperative sponsors can also read our page on housing cooperatives and modular, and nonprofit sponsors our page on modular for affordable and community housing.

If your municipality or nonprofit wants to price a project while waiting for the SHQ's answer, we can prepare a quote together.