The Native Women's Shelter of Montreal has unveiled plans for a new development project that it hopes will be funded by the federal government.
The shelter's director, Nakuset, has sent a letter to the Prime Minister asking for $7 million in funding.
Nakuset said the shelter wants to build a housing project, something it has been planning for a decade but has never had the funding to do so.
Last year Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the United Nations that Canada had to do better by its Indigenous people to improve their lives, and to work toward reconciliation.
Nakuset hopes that promise, along with a federal promise to fund infrastructure, will be enough to support its plan for a 30-unit building in Montreal.
It would would include one bedroom and three-bedroom apartments along with a common area for workshops, and have staff on hand to perform the services the shelter already provides.
Nakuset said many poor families struggle to find affordable housing, and in some cases parents lose access to their children because they do not have access to three bedrooms.
"Honestly in Montreal there is nothing like this. A lot of women get penalized through youth protection, that once they leave the shelter they need to find a three-bedroom apartment. If they don't have the funding if they don't have the money to find a three-bedroom apartment then they don't get the kids back," said Nakuset.
She said if the shelter can construct a building, it would be able to guarantee room for families.
"If we have the second-stage housing and they're mandated to have a three-bedroom, we'll have that for them," said Nakuset.
She expects women would stay in this assisted housing for two to three years before moving on.
Nakuset said she has also been in contact with other potential funders in case the federal government does not fund this project.
