Construction starts on Lachine housing project to help homeless population
Construction has started on a new housing project aimed at helping Montreal's homeless population find their footing.
The undertaking was made possible after the Tenaquip Foundation donated $5 million to construct the 18-unit building in Montreal's Lachine borough.
It's a project that has been in the works for three years.
The foundation has been a long-time supporter of the Mission, but said it wanted to find a more permanent way to help the city's homeless population.
Together with James Hughes, president and CEO of the Old Brewery Mission, they searched for properties around the city before landing on a dilapidated building on the corner of 6e Avenue and William-Macdonald Street.
Lachine borough officials approved the project, with the Old Brewery Mission in charge of managing services.
The goal is to connect those facing homelessness to anything they may need to get back on their feet.
"Housing is so complicated. We know we're in a housing crisis, so it's difficult to find really affordable rooms or units across the city," said Hughes. "The average stay for people in our units is a year or two. Over the course of a decade, we're going to be helping over 100 people in that facility to get out and stay out of homelessness."
Hughes acknowledges this is one of the largest donations the Mission has ever received, adding there needs to be more collaboration between the non-profit and private sectors to solve Montreal's housing crisis.
If all goes according to plan, the building should be ready by the fall.
It's an example of what can happen when the private sector joins forces with non-profits, according to Hughes.
"This is really a life-saving gesture that the Tenaquip Foundation is making for hundreds of people in the long term. We want that message to go out to Montrealers. We need more housing than these 18 units, we need 180," he said.
"There are 4,700 people homeless, minimum, tonight in Montreal. So this is exemplary in terms of a gesture but we need to do way more so our city sees less homelessness in the future."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.