Montreal's 'largest housing building' to combat homelessness inaugurated

Elected officials were in downtown Montreal Monday morning to take part in the inauguration in downtown Montreal of what is being described as "the largest housing building dedicated to the fight against homelessness in Quebec."

The 'Christin' building, located on Christin street between Sainte-Catherine street and René-Lévesque boulevard, will provide nearly 100 people in vulnerable situations with access not only to housing, but also to on-site psychosocial support, said Quebec's Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant.

More than 80 per cent of tenants in the 114 units will benefit from rent supplements, enabling them to pay 25 per cent of their income towards housing.

Avoiding sleeping rough

Monique Charrette, 67, has been a tenant at Le Christin since Dec. 15.

She told The Canadian Press that she had been "kicked out" of the apartment where she had lived for 15 years "because of renovations and evictions."

She ended up in various short-term shelters for people in difficulty, before being accepted as a tenant in the new building in the Latin Quarter.

"My God, it's a total relief," said the woman, explaining that she used to get "a little depressed" when she had to sleep in emergency shelters. "I couldn't see myself, at 67, starting to sleep on the street."

Housing construction

At a press conference, Carmant said that in the last economic update, the Quebec government had announced that "500 housing places for people experiencing homelessness in Quebec would be added" and that currently, there would be between 300 and 400 "units in the pipeline."

"All we want to do is take the pressure off shelters and transitional housing. So every place that is added for us is welcome," he said.

But according to Fiona Crossling, executive director of Accueil Bonneau, Montreal needs "several thousand more units" for people at risk of homelessness.

She explained that the latest census on the subject, which dates back to 2022, reported 10,000 people experiencing homelessness in Quebec, and that half of these homeless people are in Montreal.

"This count was of visible people we managed to count in one night. So we know the number is much higher," said Crossling.

She added that "the crux of the matter" is "the construction of housing of all kinds, but mainly for affordable housing, social housing and housing that organizations like Accueil Bonneau will be able to manage for vulnerable people."

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 5, 2024.