The mayor of Montreal has announced an action plan to deal with homelessness in the city.

The city says it will inject $2.5 million a year for the next three years -- $1 million a year more than the city's usual annual budget -- to deal with the issue.

The plan tries to deal with many aspects of a very complex problem, one the city admits it doesn't even fully know the magnitude of.

That’s because there hasn't been on a study on the extent of homeless in Montreal since 1997, so no one knows for sure how many homeless people there are right now in the city.

One of the first goals for the plan is to create a sort of a census of the homeless, counting how many people use shelters and are out on the street permanently or occasionally and what their specific needs are.

Under the plan, the city's three largest shelters, the Maison du Pere, the Welcome Hall Mission and the Old Brewery Mission will still get $125,000 each a year with the possibility for more in extra funding.

The city's promising to invest more in mental health care and substance abuse programs, and will create a specific program for the city's aboriginal homeless community.

It also wants to provide more training for police and increase the number of specialized police units that are trained to deal with the homeless, since police are often on the front lines of this problem.

Finally, the city is promising to build 1,000 new social housing units with help from provincial and federal funds.

"It's the first time I hear the list of things that we have to tackle..I like the fact that he recognizes not only one solution," said France Desjardins of La Maison du Pere.

Mayor Denis Coderre acknowledged that while there can never be enough money earmarked to help those who are on the streets, resources to combat the problem come in different forms.

“But sometimes resources don’t mean a matter of money, it's a matter of awareness, it's a matter of political will. ... Awareness is a way to change the culture. When was the last time you asked a homeless person their name? That's my point,” he said

Most agreed with many points of the initiative, but a project this big and important was bound to have there were some criticisms.

Projet Montreal councillor Sterling Downey pointed out that aspects of the plan depend on other levels of government, which can lead to tie-ups.

“People who are suffering with situations of (homelessness) need action now, not a year from now. They need it now,” he said.

The mayor will also appoint someone from the city to be responsible for the rights of the homeless, similar to a position created in Vancouver.

Montreal's action plan on homelessness (FR)